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The couple have swapped their modest three-bedroom terraced house in Newchurch, in Rossendale, for a Spanish hideaway with a difference.
The couple say they have even considered calling their Andalucia pad ‘Bedrock’ after the town in the hit cartoon.
Karlyn, 37, said: “We decided to move to Spain for a better quality of life, cheaper cost of living and less stress.
“We spent 18 months looking through various websites and two separate visits to the area before we decided that it was for us. We stayed in a cave for six weeks and it was like the cottage we could never afford in England. They are so unusual and every one is unique.
Shocked and stunned
“When we tell people we live in a cave, once we get past the Fred and Wilma gags and all the loin cloth and club jokes, they are really shocked and stunned. And ours is pretty standard compared to some.”
Karlyn and Paul, 55, bought their unusual home last September for £60,000.
It had been renovated 30 years earlier and had previously been used to shelter animals; ; the couple have the original donkey feeder in their bedroom to prove it. Karlyn said: “At one time, you could win a cave house in a card game as they were seen as second rate accommodation. However, the Spanish realised that they could be modernised and given a new lease of life.
“Add electricity and water and you have a modern, quirky, affordable, safe and sturdy new home with all the rustic charm and history of a cottage.”
The couple’s home does not need air conditioning or central heating, as the cave is warm in the winter and cool in the summer. However, the living isn’t quite as primitive as it sounds with mod cons such as telephone and satellite television installed.
Karlyn added: “There’s no carpets to vacuum, no wallpaper to chose or replace, no curtains to hang and low running costs. We should have done it years ago.”
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