A COUPLE who were left scared their house would fall down on them couldn’t afford to fix it – but then they found £24k of hidden treasure.
Dress designer Carole and her sculpture husband Roger bought their nine-bed home in Grantham, Lincolnshire, 36 years ago.
After both collecting antiques and trinkets for around 50 years, the Georgian property is now full of collectables.
The pair, both in their 70s, are struggling to walk around freely – because of the hoards of stuff – and are concerned their home is crumbling around them.
To afford thousands of pounds worth of repairs, Carole and Roger who are now both retired and have no spare cash, are being forced to sell off some of the pieces they own.
Carole said: “We collect everything, everything has a story.
“I’m the one that gets the way. If I want something [Roger] has to say yes.
“[The] property is dire need of repair. We need around £20,000 in repairs just to keep the house safe and to carry on living here.
“I think its in danger of falling down. I think there might be hidden treasures here.”
Appearing on Channel 4’s Millionaire Hoards on Friday night, they were both given the hard choice of getting rid of their beloved pieces – which could fetch for a whopping amount.
Most read in Money
Scouring through the property, which half of they can’t use anymore because it’s unsafe, they found a transcriber record deck and two pottery pieces by William de Morgan.
Experts said all three pieces could fetch for thousands and solve their money and house worries.
Despite being hesitant and putting up a bit of a fight, Carole and Roger had no choice but to send the items to auction.
The transcriber record deck fetched for £1,500 and both pottery bowls together were on track to sell for £20,000.
Unfortunately, after an antique dealer tested the quality, he found one had a hairline crack in the back.
But that didn’t stop him wanting the other one which was in mint condition.
He ended up buying the smaller piece for £8,000 – giving the couple a fighting chance to fix their lifelong home.