Man with a Hammer

Many of us dream of a renovation project, but few would be brave enough to take on a 8,200-square-foot, 30-room, 5-storey Georgian mansion on only a shoestring budget. But that’s exactly what Greg Penn did, buying the near-derelict Admiral’s House and embarking on an ambitious restoration plan.

In this inspirational, informative book, Greg tells the story of his remarkable home, its journey to restoration and the deep history the house and surrounding area offer, alongside snippets of advice, budget-friendly tools and hacks and an exploration of each room as he’s unlocked history and restored the house bit-by-bit to its former glory.

Man with a Hammer is a visual feast and a manifesto on ’having a go’ and tackling the undoable with understated elegance and optimism.

Greg Penn has 20 years’ experience in the food industry, yet in 2019 he swapped his Yorkshire life for the Devon coast, and a 30-room Georgian house in need of massive renovations. A self-professed DIY guy, Greg restored an uninhabitable Victorian town house in Darlington and is now tackling a project 10 times bigger. He’s been documenting it on his Instagram ever since and has amassed over 203k followers invested in his journey.