Grandson doing DIY discovers dead grandfather’s signature behind wallpaper

A man who bought his grandparents’ old cottage was stunned when he renovated it – and found notes from them behind the wallpaper. (Picture: Mark Cunningham / SWNS)

A man was left stunned after discovering his grandfather’s handwritten notes behind the wallpaper of his new home.

Mark Strathan bought his late grandparents’ home in the village of New Deer, Aberdeenshire, after it went up for sale in 2017.

While stripping old wallpaper, he uncovered his grandad Wullie Strathan’s signature – scrawled back in the 1970s when he was doing his own renovations.

Mark Strathan and partner Mark Cunningham shared the incredible discovery with their 22,000 Instagram followers on @homewiththemarks.

Mr Cunningham, 34, a customer success manager, said that for Mark it ‘was like a flashback to his grandad’.

He added: ‘It was really nice to come across those notes and see when the windows were fitted, when things were wallpapered.’

As a child, Mark lived with grandparents Nellie and Wullie Strathan in their quaint stone-walled cottage while his family built their own home.

Mark Cunningham, left, and Mark Strachan with Chip the dog outside the old cottage. (Picture: Mark Cunningham / SWNS) The grey cottage in the Aberdeenshire village of New Deer used to belong to Mark Strathan’s late grandparents, Nellie and Wullie. (Picture: Mark Cunningham / SWNS)

By 2016, both Mark’s grandparents had passed away – around the time the couple were looking for a new home.

So Mark and his partner bought the property, deciding to give it a new lease of life.

After finding the hidden notes, the pair have written their own names in secret spots – the cement behind a beam and a partition behind the walls.

‘We were thinking how incredible it would be in all these years to come that somebody else would take on the house and potentially do a house renovation and come across these notes,’ Mr Cunningham said.

The couple have installed new heating, electrics, windows and doors giving the interior a contemporary feel.

It has four bedrooms over two floors, an open-plan kitchen, dining and living space, a new toilet and utility room.

The cottage, pictured in in the 1970s, where Mark Strathan briefly lived as a child. (Picture: Mark Cunningham / SWNS) The cottage after the renovation, which gave the quaint, old cottage a contemporary feel inside. (Picture: Mark Cunningham / SWNS)

The pair shared their renovation journey on Instagram and picked up 26,000 Instagram followers on the way.

The Marks have made the house their own, but after nearly eight years, have made the tough decision to sell up.

Following Mr Cunningham’s cancer diagnosis a couple of years ago they intend to start ‘a new chapter’, placing the home on the market for £299,000.

Mr Cunningham said: ‘It has been our safe space and it will be sad when we close the door on it.

‘As lovely as the house is, it is too big for the two of us.’

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