nnjack7's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
4.0
If you’re looking for a book that has a really cool genealogical story, this would be a great pick.
If you would love to learn how money gets fundraised to restore a British castle, this would be a great pick.
If you want to learn what it actually takes to tackle the renovation of bringing a 600 year old castle to today’s livable standards, you won’t get that here.
It’s abundantly clear that the author’s background is in Hollywood film producing: that’s exactly what he did for this castle. But it’s a bit deceiving calling this an “ultimate DIY” when he did extremely little of the labor himself. Overall, I enjoyed it well enough because I’m a huge sucker for ancestry stories that go centuries back; and I totally felt transported to Northern England and all their wonderful culture and nuances that separate them from the rest of the UK.
If you would love to learn how money gets fundraised to restore a British castle, this would be a great pick.
If you want to learn what it actually takes to tackle the renovation of bringing a 600 year old castle to today’s livable standards, you won’t get that here.
It’s abundantly clear that the author’s background is in Hollywood film producing: that’s exactly what he did for this castle. But it’s a bit deceiving calling this an “ultimate DIY” when he did extremely little of the labor himself. Overall, I enjoyed it well enough because I’m a huge sucker for ancestry stories that go centuries back; and I totally felt transported to Northern England and all their wonderful culture and nuances that separate them from the rest of the UK.
beachbookbabe's review against another edition
funny
informative
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
4.0
nferre's review
3.0
Light on the restoration and heavy on the cultural differences, this was a quick, enjoyable book - however, I would have to say, not memorable. I felt like DePree pretended to not know what a jumper was, or that the 1st floor in England is our 2nd floor in the States. Really? He had just travelled through Europe and that's fairly common all over Europe. Being from Hollywood maybe he had never seen a British movie? It felt like he put it in there for laughs from folks equally ignorant of British idiosyncracies. Having said that, some of the characters were terrific - specifically the caretaker and the undertaker - both gems.
suzikw's review
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
LA producer turns DIY Castle renovator. Interesting story. Enjoyed the tidbits of cultural knowledge author learned while walking this journey of renovating the Hopwood Hall. Good light read.
ashleejuanita's review
3.0
2.5 stars. I REALLY wanted to like this. I tried. The author is just too annoying and, frankly, stupid. I would have rather heard more from dr Rolph, who we only hear from briefly. It just bugged me that someone would uproot their whole life on a whim, and not even learn some basics about the country they’re going to, and constantly blame all their ignorance on “being a yank”. It also wasn’t a whole lot about the actual work, more of him talking in circles of how much there was to do, and not enough money/time/people to do it. He constantly harps on that, and yes, I get it, it’s insane and overwhelming, but that’s more what I expected to hear when I pick up a book that has DIY in the subtitle.
quixote430's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
3.5
I listened to the audiobook. It was fun, engaging, and interesting to hear about the adventures of the author as he moved from Hollywood to England to help save a historic manor house from ruin. However, there were times when one could help but feel a bit uncomfortable with the elitist society these manor houses symbolize.