A couple who refused to give up their social life after the birth of their daughter built a PUB in their garden so they could carry on partying- and hear the baby monitor.
Eva and Phil Avery decided to accommodate parenthood in an unusual way – by building a pub in the yard.
It allowed them to hear the baby monitor baby Millie arrived nearly three years ago.
Phil said: “We bought the house when Eva was pregnant and our lifestyle changed. We’d been living in Cheltenham for over a decade and we moved away and didn’t know anyone.
“Our scope for going out was limited and we wanted to be able to enjoy ourselves and let our hair down and have our own space.
“Most of the stuff in the pub was in the house, which had been repossessed.”
The couple, now aged 36, saw how some families let their social lives slip once their children were born and were adamant they would not do the same.
The prefabricated concrete garage, large enough to fit a car, or 13 people, was transformed by Phil, who wanted somewhere to play music and relax with friends while knowing Millie was tucked up in bed nearby.
For the past three years, the father-of-one has dedicated weekends to his “man cave” in Cirencester, Glos.
Phil said: “It is quite nice having a little party a couple of times a year, a lot of our friends have kids now so we can put the children to bed.
“We are far away enough not to wake them with the noise and we can keep an eye on the video monitor to see they’re alright.”
Named after a beloved family pet who died, the pub, the Wonky Dog, even has a painted sign illustrating their late greyhound, Mitch, dressed in a suit, painted by a pal.
The labour of love has become legendary among the couple’s friends, who love coming to visit and have donated bits and pieces to help furnish the drinking hole.
Leaving his last job, colleagues gave project manager Phil a tiny log burner, which is so small it needs a car exhaust pipe to work.
Millie, who will celebrate her third birthday this year, loves going to the Wonky Dog, and her parents can sit on the bar stools and watch her pottering around in the garden.
Eva said: “We have been soaking off beer bottle labels, wine bottle labels, our friends from Somerset gave us wooden pallets to put on the side of the wall.
“All our friends have children and it’s more difficult but we like having just two or three people over and having a barbeque, and music in the garden.”
They will be saying farewell to the boozer after putting the house on the market and preparing to move to the other side of town, but Eva said she was sure they would start from scratch in their new home.
She even upholstered seats for her husband’s “little gem” as a unique Christmas present.
Eva said: “We are looking for potential. It’s all achievable.
“Our aim is not to spend money on it but to recycle most of the stuff.”
The quirky addition to the suburban home meant the Avery family were inundated with offers as soon as viewer’s took a look around.
Working as an interior designer before the birth of her daughter, Eva struck up an agreement with her other half that she would take charge of their house and he could have free reign of the garden.
She said: “The new house we have bought has the potential for something really nice in the back garden.
“I think it is going to be another pub.”
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