Abbi Murray
When Terry Edgell asked his wife Jude to go for a ‘serious chat’, she could only assume the worst, fearing divorce was on the cards.
Instead, she was met with the overwhelming news that the pair now owned a castle.
Recalling the moment she found out, Jude said: “I didn't believe him, so I checked on Rightmove and it said ‘sold subject to contract’.
“I said: ‘Is that us?’ and he said yes.”
The pair had previously been searching for a holiday home in Spain, but casually decided to view 200-year-old Penllyn Castle instead.
Much to Jude’s surprise, her husband secretly snapped up the fairy-tale castle for £775,000, despite it needing a lot of work.
Jude said: “I wasn't cross, I was happy because I'd always loved it but I was very scared as well, I knew it was going to change things.
“I've always known about the castle, I have lived by it, but never been in it.
“I remember when I was about 25 riding by it and I thought: ‘Oh my god, I can't believe people live in houses like that.’
“When I walked into the drawing-room on that first day all the hairs came up on the back of my neck, and I still get that pull now, that connection.”
Due to Terry’s long-working hours as CEO of Premier Forest Group, the majority of the project has been left up to Jude.
She set up a team of specialist trade workers including a site manager, specialist conservation architect, archaeologist, heritage specialists and an engineer.
Jude said: “I've also never had so many sleepless nights in my life, I feel totally overwhelmed, out of my depth.”
She continued: “It's really important to me that long after my days that it's been done properly, I want it to be there for 100, 200 years, it's safeguarding it for the future.”
Despite working on the Grade II-listed property for three years, the couple predict two years of work remains before they can move in in 2024.
The castle was built in 1790 for Lady Barbara Vernon and was then left to her friend Miss Emilia Gwinnett.
Jude said: "I love the fact that a woman left it to another woman, and now we have a woman in charge of putting it back together."
The castle even featured in a 2006 episode of Doctor Who, when actress Pauline Collins played Queen Victoria.
Jude described the budget as a ‘rolling sum’, before adding: “It will never be worth what it's cost us in our lifetime. It's a labour of love, it's not about value.”