My Pad: David endures caravan living during revamp project

David Symons is a retired business owner who has now turned his hand at property flipping. Over the last 5 years he has renovated 4 different properties across Cornwall. When the process becomes too obstructive, him and his partner, Jayne, move into a caravan on site. They’re currently restoring a renovated farm outbuilding into a quaint cottage in Probus and have set up their temporary pad in the farmland. As part of our My Pad series about home, Madison James spoke to him…

What is your current living situation?

 At the minute we’ve got a caravan set up in the field as this is a big job. We moved in on July 2nd this year, so only done 3 months so far but plan to be there a while.

I imagine it must feel a bit unsettling living in a caravan on a worksite. How have you made it feel more homely? 

Lots and lots of bunting and soft lights, we’ve kept a lot of our soft furnishings too. We’ve also built an extension on to the caravan- a covered in decking area.

I guess as you’ve done this a few times now, you’ve got a good process sorted for moving? 

Yeah. We’ve become quite good at just packing the essentials up and leaving a lot in a storage unit. The first few times we tried to keep most of our belongings with us but that just isn’t feasible in such a small place. It’s actually surprising what you need- silly things like a doormat- you don’t think about it but actually you really need it. Especially in a field!

Has it been hard living in the caravan? What are some of the struggles? 

Definitely. I think the worst part is the temperature control. Caravans aren’t designed to regulate temperature well, so the summer was intense and now it’s really cold. It’s also very noisy with the recent rain and wind and shakes a lot as it’s on blocks. Life in a caravan is hard, especially as we have young grandchildren, it’s a lot harder for them to come around and when they do, we don’t have room to keep their toys like we would have.

Do you think knowing the greater goal of it all has made it easier to live like this for a while? 

This time, yes. Previously it’s been – finish a property, sell it, move into a new one for a bit and onto the next one. But this time we’ll actually be living here ourselves, so it feels a lot more worth it. Also, it’s made it more fun- the decisions we’re making about the renovations we are tailoring to our own wants rather than just thinking what will sell well.

David and Jayne plan to live in the caravan for 10 more months before they can finally settle into their new home.