'We spent 10 years turning a toilet into a lovely home by the beach'

Have you ever passed an unusual building that's for sale and been tempted to spend a penny or two transforming it into something amazing?

If so, just stop for a moment and remember the story of Elaine and Alan Taylor, who had their lives changed by a stroll along the seafront in Barmouth in Wales.

But this was not before a decade of stress as around £290,000 was flushed down a renovation hole that only now has rewarded them with a very impressive outcome.

Elaine explains: "We have a love of Wales, a love of Barmouth and a love of the ocean. We were on holiday in Barmouth and the council had put a for sale sign up on the building. We thought that it would amazing because of its proximity to the sand dunes and the sea, and what an opportunity to renovate something and improve the area, take something that's unloved, unused and make it into something really nice."

The couple stalked the council's website for months waiting for the bog by the beach to be released for bidding to buy to begin and when it did they weren't sure what the right level of offer would secure the building.

They ended up offering in a blind bidding process £33,000 which was accepted, back in 2015. Elaine says: "A lot of people told us 'that's an interesting choice!' and I think you hear about things like this a bit more now but when we bought it I think it was quite unusual and people kept asking if we were keeping them as toilets!"

Elaine says that obviously weren't going to do that, especially as the town had beach public toilet that were well established but they were hoping to realise a personal dream.

Elaine explains: "We had always thought about buying a property by the seaside but we'd always resisted because I understand why it's not a good