Amanda Owen, also known as the Yorkshire Shepherdess, and her family are renovating Anty Johns – a formerly derelict cottage near their tenanted farm, Ravenseat.

Amanda and Clive Owen standing together in front of a wall

Former couple and parents of nine Amanda and Clive Owen shot to fame appearing on the beloved Channel 5 reality show, Our Yorkshire Farm. The pair are currently starring in the Channel 4 programme: Our Farm Next Door.

(Image: CHANNEL 4)

Before their shock split, Amanda Owen and Clive Owen purchased a rundown cottage near their tenanted farm in the Yorkshire Dales, Ravenseat. The pair, who were married for 22 years and share nine children, applied to renovate the Grade II listed building way back in 2020.

Despite their break-up, the former couple continue to work together—raising their brood and bringing the farmhouse, known as Anty Johns to locals, to life. Their efforts are currently the subject of Our Farm Next Door: Amanda, Clive and Kids.

The subsequent spin-off to Channel 5’s Our Yorkshire Farm and Reuben: Life in the Dales, sees The Yorkshire Shepherdess, farmer Clive, and a host of friends working to bring the dilapidated building to life.

Work on the property has been slow and steady in the five years since the project was taken on. Fans however have been kept in the loop, both with Our Farm Next Door and Amanda’s flourishing Instagram pages.

Below, we’ve cultivated some of the best snaps taken during the Anty Johns renovation period. These include the family resetting the roof, turning the electricity on for the first time, and smiling alongside their cottage conversion.

 

A before shot of Anty Johns, the derelict farmhouse, with a worker wearing hi-vis in the left hand top window

In March 2020, the Yorkshire Shepherdess and her ex-husband Clive Owen bought the dilapidated, isolated cottage, affectionately known as Anty Johns. The pair were granted planning permission to convert it into a four-bedroom home.

(Image: INSTAGRAM)

The backs of some of the Owens children looking at the derelict cottage

Anty Johns, which features an attached barn, had been empty for around six decades before the Owens purchased it. It dates back to the early 18th century.

It’s understood when the family initially submitted plans for the conversion, it was because they wanted to provide themselves with a permanent home as Ravenseat is a tenanted property.

 

(Image: CHANNEL 4)

The Owen family working with constructors to rebuild the roof

Amanda has previously admitted that she feels ‘helpless’ with the ongoing renovations, remarking there’s not actually a lot she “can do” to help.

“We come back and it’s like, ‘What’s been done? A few more slate [roof tiles]’,” she said in October 2024.

“I’m getting messages from electricians and heating engineers and, of course, Phillip the joiner. They want to know [when they can start]. I need it to move in,” she said at the time.

 

(Image: CHANNEL 4)

Amanda wearing a crop top and long trousers, standing in front of a Land Rover defender

Amanda has previously explained that she sees the Grade II listed property as “a very solid foundation for something for the children.”

In an interview with BBC Radio York, she said she currently has no idea who is going to move into the home, situated in the Swaledale parish of Muker, a short distance from the Ravenseat sheep farm.

“I have plenty of people who are vying to move in,” the mother-of-nine added.

 

(Image: INSTAGRAM)