Man transforms 128-year-old railway carriage into unique stay that guests 'adore'
A retired wallpaper designer has turned a 19th-century train carriage into a luxury Airbnb stay at a former railway station.
Nigel Brooke, 68, lives in an old train station in England where he's restored a Great Western Railway carriage from 1895.
Although trains stopped running through the area in the 1950s, guests today can book a night in the vintage carriage for about $260 thanks to Brooke’s $35,000 restoration project.
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"It is beautiful, and it’s quite unique here," Brooke said, as news agency SWNS reported.
The exterior has been repainted using original colors sourced from historic railway drawings, while the interior features period wallpaper, a bed and a stove.
"I designed all that interior decor, but it was led by original pieces that I found during the restoration," Brooke said.
The carriage originally ran on a metropolitan railway line before it was decommissioned in 1940.
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"It was just chocolate brown everywhere," he told SWNS. "It became a workman’s carriage, static somewhere."
Brooke bought the carriage for about $10,000. He had it transported by road to its current location, he said.
It now stands on concrete walls built to align it with the station platform, offering step-free access for guests.
"One side was covered in tin - that must have been put there in the ’50s or ’40s to protect one side," he said.
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Despite the age of the structure, much of the original oak frame was in good condition.
"What I had to do was take each piece off carefully that was rotten and replicate it and rebuild it, using the original bits," Brooke told SWNS.
"It’s quite early, 1895, for a carriage - it’s getting toward disintegration at that age if they’ve not been restored," he added.
"This will be good for a long time now."
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Brooke originally bought the station in the 1980s when he was in his 30s. He said he was fortunate to find such a historic property.
"I was quite lucky to acquire such a nice old historic building," he said.
The Airbnb offering has proved popular with guests who are drawn to its charm and railway heritage, SWNS noted.
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Brooke is now planning to expand his offering by converting the station’s old waiting room into an additional guest space with an ensuite bathroom.
"I may turn one of the waiting rooms into an Airbnb with an ensuite, so when people stay in this carriage, if they’ve got friends they can stay in the waiting room at the station house," he said.
"People absolutely adore it. There’s a lot of history here," Brooke told SWNS.
SWNS reported that the restored carriage is already drawing interest from travelers eager to experience a piece of the past in vintage luxury.