Bloke in time-warp home transforms backyard into Wild West cowboy city

A house is Cheshire is like stepping back in time and country.

Billy Gibbons, 68, is living his time-travelling dreams in a double era home with the insides decked out in full 1950s décor and an outside that transports visitors to an 1850s Wild West town.

After his parents passed away in the mid-90s, Billy began creating his nostalgic ’50s paradise in Audlem, Crewe.

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His kitchen bursts with colour, showcasing vintage cabinets against a classic black and white chessboard floor, while he proudly owns 10 fridges from the era although just one makes the cut for his kitchen.

But it’s what’s on the outside that’s really cool.

But his heart yearned for something more, leading him to transform his garden into an ol’ Western haven after three solid years of dedication and a modest £500 investment.

Now, his Cheshire home boasts a backyard complete with a sheriff’s office, moonshine still, jails, bank, trading post, barbershop, blacksmiths shop and even a cannon.

Billy, retired from his job at a care home, muses over his eccentric lifestyle: “One morning I woke up a while ago and thought ‘yeah, I live in the 1950s but outside I want to live in the 1850s’. It’s separate from the house – inside the house I live in a 1950s time-warp and I’ve lived this way since I inherited the house in 1996.

“I’ve lived here with my mum and dad since 1969 and over the years I collected 1950s artefacts but my dad wouldn’t let me put them in the house. After my parents passed in the 90s I was able to do what I wanted with the house and I was able to put my 1950s artefacts in.”

“I’m very proud of it all.”

Billy’s obsession with the 1950s started when he was a lad in the 1960s and these days he belts out tunes in a rock and roll band.

He said: “Of all things, how I got into the 50s was Blue Peter. The background music was Elvis Presley’s Hound Dog. It was that that got me into the music.”

“I did more research and found out the style of household items and the 50s clothes which I wear on a regular basis actually. The clothes – a lot of the stuff I’ve got is modern retro but a lot of it I get is from charity shops, not my underpants though.”

“The classic cars – one of them is a late 50s Vauxhall Velox and I also have a 1950s style hotrod.”

Billy’s barely had to spend a penny on his 1950s gaff, with the majority of his clobber stashed away for over 30 years – but just how much is his quirky collection worth?

He said: “Most of the stuff I’ve got I was given when people were chucking it out in the 80s and 90s as they were deemed too old. I’ve got 10 1950s fridges – you can’t have too many.”

And Billy wasn’t finished with his time-warp conversion, opting to go back a further 100 years.

He revealed: “When we moved here in 69, my dad kept horses and he built two stables and a few other sheds for his hay and after I inherited it I built a big garage for my classic cars.”

The DIY buff added: “But after this brainwave for the ranch, I started with the stables and I converted those into the jail and the other stable into the sheriff’s office.”

Billy has made use of his 1850s ranch by converting some of the rooms into multifunctional spaces.

Billy explained: “As we leave the 1950s you go into a typical Western 1850s back porch and to the right of that I’ve got the barbershop – which I use as a a wood store and to house my washing machine.”

He continued: “Go further along I’ve got a coffin and an undertakers sign there. Then I’ve got a Western Union Telegraph office – but that’s another facade and I keep guns in there and we do a bit of a plinking [shooting at tin cans].”

Billy explained: “To the left, I’ve got a moonshine still which I’m very proud of – though I don’t actually brew moonshine. To the left again is the trading post with the tin bath which is what I use to bathe in.”

The pensioner explained: “Then we have the sheriff’s office with the jail. Obviously I’ve got a cannon. And there’s another tiny sheriff’s office at the end of the lean-to. Further down the garden, I’ve got the other jail housed by some six-foot by 12-foot gates.”

“I finished the jail recently and it was going to be the saloon but you could see the sign from the road and didn’t want a rumour going around that there’s a load of whisky in there. That’s pretty much a tour of the property really.”

Billy reckons the whole thing only cost him £500 to build, thanks to using materials he already had.