The Home Front! Former WWII Bunker Used to Guard Britain's Cliffs Against the Nazis Converted into Three-Bedroom Bungalow...
Now it Could be Yours for £275,000 (US$412,500)
Former listening post in St Leven, Cornwall, was manned 24 hours a day
Built in 1942 to navigate pilots, monitor the skies and protect nearby cable
Now a fully-functioning home after £100,000 renovation
By Daily Mail UK, 7 September 2013
Elizabeth Strutton, 42, (right) lives in a World War II bunker in Land's End, Cornwall. It was used as a listening post to connect pilots and men on the ground.
From the outside the property, has barely changed at all. But inside it has undergone a complete transformation (top left) and looks just like any other three-bedroom bungalow. Ms Strutton renovated it and planned to move out - then the property market crashed. She is now selling it for £275,000.
t was a conversion that would make even the hardiest property developers shudder.Made to resist a bomb - let alone a drill - this was nothing like your average makeover.
But once Elizabeth Strutton set eyes on the former World War II bunker, she was itching to give it a go.
Fortress: Liz Strutton outside the front of her home in St Leven, Cornwall, a converted WW2 bunker
World War II listening post: From the outside the bunker looks like it has barely changed - but the interior has undergone a complete transformation
After the war the shelter lay derelict for decades - only used by a farmer for his potatoes - until Ms Strutton saw it in a Penzance estate agent's window
Set on the cliffs of Land's End in Cornwall, the secluded tunnel, built in 1942, was used to find out about enemy activity.
This included discovering information about enemy patrols, wiring parties, or sniper positions and relaying them to pilots and commanders.
It was a notoriously dangerous place to be as Germans would target any 'sap-heads', as they called these dugouts, to stop them interfering.
In this particular dugout, workers are said to have been protecting the nearby cable tower - though many facts are still classified until 100 years after they were filed.
After the war the shelter lay derelict for decades - only used by a farmer for his potatoes - until Ms Strutton saw it in a Penzance estate agent's window.
Liz Strutton on the roof of her home in St Leven, Cornwall, with her sun vent and her satellite
Transformed: Liz Strutton spent years working on the heavy duty concrete to turn it into her ideal home
Ms Strutton describes the bunker as 'paradise' saying the property which has no windows is 'a magical fortress'
A room with a view: There is a panoramic view of the surrounding fields and cliffs standing on top of the roof
Having bought it for £143,000, Ms Strutton needed to spend five years and £100,000 making the necessary changes. Now it is a fully functioning family home.
The three-bed bungalow has two bathrooms and a wet room.
A 23ft open plan living area, with a kitchen and lounge, is lit by purpose-built sun tubes that poke through the sturdy ceiling.
Beyond her private drive and large garden, with a garage and shed, Ms Strutton can peer over the open countryside.
Secluded: the dugout used to spy on the skies and protect our vital cable tower was purposely difficult to find
Buried: The bunker under grass and shrubs before work began. The builders had never seen anything like it
The bedroom was once an air circulation unit ventilating the hideout, which was manned 24 hours a day
The bunker had been untouched for years when Ms Strutton, 42, began construction on it
It is secluded, with no windows, but Ms Strutton, 42, calls it paradise.
'It is a magical fortress,' said Ms Strutton, who lives in the sentinel with her two Basset Hounds and a German Shepherd.
'You are at the end of the world and living history.
'You don't know what you're letting yourself in for when you take this kind of thing on, but I know I live in the best place in the world now.
Still the same: Despite the orange walls, modern lights, and carpeting, a veteran recognised the exact lay out
You can hardly imagine the scenes in 1942 as men and women sat here frantically protecting Britain's borders
Former property developer Ms Strutton was planning to renovate and move on but the market crashed
'We get a lot of family and friends visiting. Because of where it is and what it is, it's quite a novelty. Kids love it and blokes love it because they never grow up really.
'Sometimes it's worth going over the top for something.'
A former property developer, Ms Strutton, 42, had been planning to renovate and move on when she bought the dugout in 2007.
But when the market crashed, she was forced to sell up her normal, more marketable home and settle in the 1942-built war den.
It took more than a month to get through the concrete roof to fit an emergency fire sprinkler - needed to make up for the lack of windows and fire escapes.
And hidden under a three-foot mound of soil, the whole place had to be insulated to curb any damp.
Modern: Despite the change of plan it is now a perfect home - clean, clear and stylish, with no trace of dust
Thanks to the nearby Porthcurno BT tower, Liz Strutton has perfect wireless connection in her secluded paradise
What is now the bedroom was once filled with an air circulation unit.
The hallway was a tunnel to another bunker.
Ms Strutton, now a jewellery maker, said: 'Really it was a blessing in disguise. But it has taken years to make it right.
A mammoth project: It has taken five years and £100,000 to shape this den into perfection
'It was always just a holiday home and always on the market.
'At first it was just an unmissable opportunity - this is like the highlight of someone's career. I was always going to move on and continue with the business.
'Then the crash happened and I was stuck. It was very poor timing.
'I had other properties - three-bed semis - that I would have lived in. But in an economic crisis those are far more sellable.
'The building process was very difficult.
'It hasn't been done before so the builders weren't used to this kind of space. It took much longer and much more money than expected.'
Despite the changes - orange walls, cable TV - it still looks exactly the same as the bunker intelligence officials used to protect Britain's essential cable station in nearby Porthcurno.
And there is no shortage of interest from scholars and veterans wanting a peek around.
'We have had a lot of interest,' Ms Strutton explained, 'a man studying bunkers of that era came round and I learned a lot about my home that I never knew.
'Amazingly, the family of a veteran came down the other week. They said their mum now has dementia but told them she worked here during the war.
Sleek: One of the two bathrooms. They are now colourful, sleek and stylish despite being built in 1942
Colourful: The house has more style to it than veterans will remember of their 1940's sentinel
'They didn't believe her but once they were in, it was exactly as she had described it.
'Their mother was very happy about it apparently, and it was so interesting for me to hear.
'Living in here you do really appreciate the way people fought - you feel a sort of connection with what they were doing. It is something I don't want to take for granted and one of the best things about the place.'
Reluctantly selling up to be closer to work, Ms Strutton's historical abode is on the market for £275,000 with Miller&Son.
Ms Strutton added: 'Sometimes you do have to move on, but really I could live here forever. It is beautiful and special.'
WWII Bunker Turned into Beautiful House
