Steve and June Eagle first saw the engine house, which was then advertised for sale, during 1992 when they were on holiday in the St Agnes area. At that time only the engine house was for sale and the property did not include the derelict buildings (now the cottages) adjacent to the engine house. Steve and June 'thought it was too much money and went back home to Norfolk and forgot about it'.

A further enquiry about the price sometime in 1993 showed that, although the price had been reduced, it was not enough to make the purchase a viable proposition.

1994 - During their annual visit to the St Agnes area, the couple 'drove by to see if it was still for sale but, to our disappointment, it was sold'. 

1995 - They sold their 'touring caravan and, while clearing our paperwork from the drawer, ... found the sales brochure again'. After ringing up and enquiring whether it was definitely sold, they discovered, to their amazement that 'it was back on the market again again with the remaining land and the derelict building included in the sale'. The previous buyer had been unable to retain the property and had regretfully put the whole site up for sale again, at half the original 1992 price. Steve considers that 'it was a question of being in the right place at the right time' and 'having the confidence, patience, determination and the know-how, all of which were needed to take the project on in the first place. Renovations commenced in 1995 and a 'Conservation Officer was involved with the project from day one'.

In Steve & June's own words:

1995 - We started with a stone mason and a carpenter working on site. They both worked from scaffolding and ladders inside the building, man-handling the large heavy beams for the floor joists, how they managed to haul those beams up to the top floor, I shall never know. All the blocks of granite, cement, sand and water and wood had to be taken up this way and I don't know what we would have done without those two hard working Cornishmen.

The four staircases had to be measured up and custom made in metal off site. They were then assembled and welded on site. The treads were then clad with wood to deaden the sound and stop echoing. We had to install small lobbies with a fire door at either end into each room, this was to comply with the fire regulations. We could not install an external staircase for this purpose as this is a Grade 2 listed building and the chimney was not wide enough to take a spiral staircase. All this made the location of the 4 flights of stairs very crucial, as this dictated where everything else had to be placed, taking into account window location and furniture position.

1996 to 1997 - At the same time as we started on the Engine House, we applied for planning permission for the cottages. This was rejected but after locating a photograph by chance from the 1800s of the original building and going to appeal, planning permission was finally granted. We have not been able to find out what this building was originally used for, we assume it was probably a workshop/storeroom for the two tin mines, part of it could have been used as a stable for the horses used to pull the carts along the mineral tramways.

1998 - We stopped work on the Engine House to concentrate on renovating the cottages. Planning permission stated that we had to have a scantle slate roof which was on the original building, so we literally bought the roof from an old building for this purpose and relayed it on the roof of the cottages. We had stone masons, carpenters, plasterers, roofers and a plumber, all working on the project at the same time, while Steve, being an electrical contractor did the electrics, the ordering, helping out the tradesmen and sorting out any problems, of which there were plenty, whenever they developed. June was the painter and decorator and general errand runner, it was all quite hectic. We were relieved to see the carpets go down and the furniture in place, and very pleased to see our first holiday makers arrive on May 29th 1999.

In 1999 Steve and June recommenced work on the engine house. Painting the building proved to be one of the more time consuming (and tedious) components of the exercise since, 'as we had to meet fire regulation requirements which meant several coats of special paint/varnish to make the woodwork and beams fire proof and there is an awful lot of wood and beams in the Engine House. Most of the beams had 6 coats of white fire proof paint and two coats of the maroon colour as a top coat. The pine boarding on walls and floors throughout the Engine House had several coats of specialist varnish to make them fire proof. All the woodwork had to be sanded down first. The internal granite walls had 3 coats of lime wash'. 'Having finished the outside we concentrated on the inside and started in what was the Boiler Room (wooden lean-to) which is now a Kitchen/Dining/Sitting Room. Then we started on the top floor, which is the Lounge and worked our way down. 

What a labour of love and what a tremendous undertaking.