Family made chilling discovery in old city house

It wasn’t the only unexpected and unplanned situation at the ‘back to bricks’ renovation of this house

When you’re buying a new home it is expected in most cases that the previous, out-going owner will clear the contents inside so when you turn the front door key on moving day you step into your new, empty abode.

Luckily for couple Sheri and George, one of the previous owners had done that before they arrived, and just as well because they made an intriguing discovery in the attic that might have left the couple feeling a bit nervous about moving in.

The Cardiff house is a well-known property in the Roath area and its past might explain the unexpected discovery because as well as being a double-fronted, character-packed family home, it used to be the local doctor’s house. For more property stories sent to your inbox twice a week sign up to the property newsletter here.

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Sheri says: “The family told us that there were human bones discovered in the attic. We didn’t discover those, but I found out about this the other day because the family came to hand me the deeds.

“They said they weren’t sure whether to tell me this or not, that they had discovered bones, I think a number of different skulls, it was body parts, not a full skeleton.

“I think it was from it being a doctor’s home, I think human bones were used up until relatively recently for educational purposes. I was researching and it was maybe the 1980s when they stopped using them, might have been even later than that, when human bones were substituted in favour of appropriate alternatives.

“I don’t get scared by that sort of thing, though. It didn’t faze me at all, just adds to the home’s unique history.”

The house dates back to 1910 and has been in the same family since then. Sheri says: “The first person to live here was Doctor Williams and then his son, who was also a Doctor Williams, and then the lady that we bought it from also owned the house, she was a grandmother, so her children obviously grew up there.

“And I think her granddaughter lived with her as well at some point, almost like five generations have lived within that house at some point or another, the same family straight through its history.

“I think we wanted to buy it before we knew it was a doctor’s house, but probably what made us fall in love with it even more is that we already knew it was really special to people and that it sort of mattered to people.”

When you hear the words renovation project it conjures up images of a rundown, damp and dingy home that is in need of saving but there was none of that at this grand house, in fact it was quite the reverse, the couple were sliding around on the floors because it was absolutely spotless.

Sheri says: “We found out the lady was kind of famous locally for being the kind of person you see sweeping the pavement outside their home, you know, doing her public service and keeping the pavement clean.

“Apparently everybody used to walk past and have a chat with her and the number of people who’ve reached out to us and said, ‘oh I remember the old lady who used to sweep here and live here!’.

“The house has that feel about it, that the people who lived here cared for it over a long period of time because it was really well looked after and it was known locally for that too.”

Sheri explains that they decided to do work on the house not because it needed saving from becoming rundown, but because they were keen to update it as a family home combined with either restoring or bringing back its period soul.

She adds: “It just looked like an older person lived there, but very much looked after. I mean, it was spotless. It was absolutely spotless. But, you know, a bit dated. You could have moved in and painted it and changed the carpet and kitchen and it would have been fine.”

As the couple have been stripping it back to update the house they have come across some features that link back to its past, including a blocked up side door with a bell that Sheri guesses was used when patients visited the property to call for the doctor.

The list of work done so far, and some still needing to be done, includes a new heating system, extension, new bathrooms and kitchen, and one upgrade which might stop one problem that has surfaced.

Sheri explains: “We sort of joked in the past about, you know, that a few spooky things have happened to us like lights flickering and that type of thing and we don’t know that it’s just the electric! So obviously the electrics needed replacing!”

The project also included a new roof so the couple decided to have a loft conversion at the same time which meant having to lower the ceilings on the first floor below to create appropriate headroom. But during this time another surprise appeared on the scene, and it wasn’t more bones in the attic.

Sheri explains: “A week after we got married in 2024, we found out that I was five months pregnant. It was a surprise; I was absolutely tiny. I was beginning to really struggle with bloating; which we now know was a baby! Because of all the stress with the house and wedding I thought I’d developed an intolerance to bread or something!”

The new addition to the family was due in December, just when they were about to get renovation busy but Sheri was delighted. She says: “We were already motivated but the baby gave us extra purpose behind what we were doing and we had talked about doing the work to have a family one day. So now we actually had the family and the reason to actually crack on quickly and do the work, and that was really lovely.

Sheri, aged 35 and from Gower, and George aged 36 from Monmouthshire, are used to multi-tasking in their jobs in PR and the timber industry, so they took the extra life pressure of an imminent baby in their stride but as the project moved on and the baby arrived the needed to be ultra-organised grew.

Sheri says: “It was easier in the beginning because we were mostly dealing with the one contractor who was doing all of the building work but then as the project sort of creeps on, more and more contractors get involved and that’s when it gets kind of more tricky to manage, you know, you have to manage different things. So we’re really in the thick of that at the moment just trying to get contractors aligned with days that they can do certain things.”

The couple feel grateful that they have not lived at the property while the work progressed, but Sheri has spent a lot of time on site, with George on the phone to contractors organising timings and deliveries, and sometimes the baby came too, accompanied by a play mat and toys.

Sheri says: “We’d have a process in place whereby we kind of just try and keep him entertained for a bit while we were at the house. There are a lot of photos of him asleep in the pram while we walked around the property checking things and making decisions.”

The main challenge at the house, as well as organising a wedding and having a baby, has been the pinch points most renovators have to tackle – availability of materials, changing lead times for delivery of main aspects of the project such as the glass doors at the rear of the house, and lining up the trades to effectively progress the work while their aspects of the job are intertwined with others.

The couple say they have just one chance to get this right so attention to detail is an important aspect of the project for them, such as having spindles and newel post for the new staircase to the new loft bespoke made so they match the originals on the main staircase.

Hunting for period features to showcase in the house has become an important aspect of the work at the house including sourcing fireplaces, as well as restoring some of the original features already in place to preserve them for the future, including the pretty plaster ceiling in the bedroom.

Sheri says: “The structural things are done, there’s still so much finishing to do but we have a kitchen and carpets upstairs so the rest of the we are fitting around us.”

As well as the bones in the attic that the sellers found, the couple have made some interesting discoveries themselves, many found within the walls.

Sheri says: “We did find various documents. So obviously we’ve got the original deeds, which are these beautiful, big wax paper documents with the original black seals on and they’re gorgeous. And then we found a letter inviting the doctor to apply to be an officer of the National Poor Laws Association in the 1920s.

“There’s been a Welsh Christmas card with Auld Lang Syne handwritten on the front and inside, written in Welsh, it says happy Christmas and happy turn of the century, I think it must have been from 1899, I think. There’s also been a motorcycle magazine and one about dog care in the 1920s.

“The house was a home for such a lovely, lovely previous family for so many generations and they were saying they’re really glad that it has gone to another family – I think the doctors would all be happy too, and we intend to love it as they have, we feel blessed we’re going to live as a family in such a special home for many, many years.”

You can follow Sheri and George’s renovation story on Instagram via account called Albany Refurb

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