Will Ramsey meets a couple who are always looking to their next challenge – be it on water or dry land . . .

Villa Verde, the Housleys’ latest eco-build project at Skipsea, in Holderness

​Sue Housley has a confession to make. “I’m the woman who reads the Screwfix magazine rather than Hello,” she says with a laugh. “I love anything to do with property.”

Sue’s fascination is evident in every brick of her Skipsea home – unsurprising, really, given that she built the detached property with husband Mike.

The retired couple, who are originally from Sheffield, have spent the past decade on a series of new-builds and renovations.

After a new-build project in their native city, a property renovation in Spain and the construction of Villa Verde – Spanish for Green Bungalow – in this quiet corner of Skipsea, the next project beckons.

It’s just that this time, they’re selling up and heading out on the waters.

“Spain was my dream and the canal boat is Mike’s,” said Sue, as she flips through a book of photos of Lady Lou, their 57ft canal boat which is currently moored at Brayford Wharf, Lincoln.

Named in honour of their two dogs, this wide-beamed boat is now having the final touches applied.

Bought at a “sail away” stage – and fitted with electrics and radiators – the couple are now making additions, including a kitchen.

“The thought was, if we don’t do it now, we never will,” said Mike.

The maiden voyage was last November when the couple – together with a friend and Mike’s brother and sister-in-law – sailed the boat north from Newark to Lincoln.

“We’d originally thought we could launch from Burton Waters, just four miles outside Lincoln,” said Sue.

“Then, a week before the delivery, we found we’d been misinformed and that it was impossible because of the width.

“The next nearest was Newark. I had a look at the map and thought, we’ve got to deal with the Trent on the maiden voyage – I nearly fell over!”

Despite Sue’s misgivings and, she admits a “couple of scrapes”, the boat arrived safely at its mooring in the centre of Lincoln after a leisurely 10-hour journey.

“The location is perfect,” she said. “While some moorings are out in the sticks, we’re close by an abundance of places to eat and drink.

“We went to the Lincoln Christmas Market and we’re looking forward to summer months and wandering into the town.”

The couple now hope to explore the waterways of Britain.

Sue and Mike Housley aboard their wide beam canal boat called the Lady Lou, currently moored at Brayford Wharf, Lincoln

“I want to get it done and set off up through Yorkshire, over to Manchester and over to Liverpool, all round that area,” said Mike.

“The only trouble with a wide beam is that you are restricted, there’s a bit in the Midlands where you can’t get through to the Thames, it’s too narrow.

“The only way to do it is to get down to Leicester. It is only a 10-mile stretch of water, but you’d have to get the boat lifted onto a low-loader and lifted back into the water again.”

And while things remain a little restricted on board – with no bathroom yet, they have to make do with the British Waterways amenity block – the Housleys are enjoying their “new challenge”.

“Mike went there a couple more times in December to work on things, but I said no,” said Sue. “While it’s warm in bed, the air temperature on the boat when the heat goes off was down to 0°C.

“Having lived in a caravan during the house-build, I said ‘those days are done’.”

“Those days” began back in 2000 when Sue and Mike built a new property in Sheffield, after buying a plot of land with a friend.

Then, following Sue’s dream of venturing further afield, the Housleys set off for Almeria, Spain in 2003.

In September 2005, after renovating a property, they decided to move to Tenerife but when Sue’s father, who by this time was living at Patrington Haven, fell ill with a suspected stroke, the couple felt it was time to return to England.

They found the plot of land in Skipsea on the Internet and decided to self-build a bungalow using as many environmentally-

friendly materials as possible.

Sue’s eye for a bargain – she uses “three comparables” on all materials – meant they were well stocked up even before the first brick was laid.

A container filled with building materials they’d bought in Spain – including tiles, wall tiles and taps – was transported from Santa Cruz by ship to Tilbury, then train to Leeds, then on an artic lorry to Skipsea.

The interior of Villa Verde shows the Housleys’ eye for design – a container filled with materials from Spain, including tiles and taps, was shipped over for the project

“Because the drive was too narrow for the lorry, they had to send a Sprinter van to unload the stuff and drive it up to the house,” said Mike.

With a design sketched out by Sue on an A4 sheet of paper – which was then given a professional gloss by a Hornsea architect – the couple got planning permission in August 2006 and began digging out that December.

“It was three years ago now that we were up to our neck in mud and slime,” said Sue.

“It was a wet winter, then a fabulous April, then that wet June.

“We did not know anybody so that’s how it evolved with this build – because it meant we could do virtually all of it ourselves.

“Mike’s background was in haulage, so he’s quite hands-on.

“Mine was in office work and I think that’s where we complement each other.”

They initially stayed in a caravan on site, as they devoted almost every waking hour to the project.

“It got so cold in the caravan that when we went to open the door on one winter morning, it was iced up – Mike had to kick it open,” said Sue.

“If it was 0°C outside, it was 2°C inside.”

Fortunately, they were able to move inside once the first bedroom had been finished.

“That was tough, we worked really hard that first winter,” said Sue.

“We moved into one bedroom. We had a plastic sheet over the door and a little portable gas stove and two conservatory chairs.

“You walked out of there and looked up to the trusses.

“You do save money building yourself, but it is slow, you’ve got to give it your all.”

Virtually all the work – from hoisting up the trusses to laying the energy-efficient Excel bricks – “Like giant, interlocking Lego blocks,” according to Sue – was done by the couple.

It was only specialist jobs, such as the electrics and roof-tiling, which were done by outside contractors.

“Whether it was Sunday, or Thursday, we were out there,” Sue said.

“We have completely lived and breathed this.”

Nothing rests in the world of the Housleys, however.

While the boat is their next focus, they are itching to get on with another renovation project – probably in the Sheffield area to make for an easier motorway commute to see their son, Nick, who lives in Crawley.

This time, however, it might involve a bit less physical work.

“We’ve got some achey bits now,” Sue said.

“The spirit is willing, but the body not necessarily.

“It’s been an interesting decade – they are all adventures, they have all been chapters.

“Now it’s time for the next.”