Andy, 46, and Karen Rattray, 44, were out at the time of the crash at their home in Over Peover, Cheshire, which saw the car go into a 600-year-old oak-framed wattle and daub section of the home.
The Audi RS4 driver was going along the A50 towards Knutsford just before 9.40am on Monday, when a Volkswagen appeared to be travelling on the wrong side of the road in the opposite direction.
Damage: Andy, 46, and Karen Rattray, 44, were out at the time of the crash in Over Peover, Cheshire
Smashed: The Audi car went into a 600-year-old oak-framed wattle and daub section of the living room
No injuries: The driver of the Audi - worth £55,000 - and the couple's three cocker spaniels were unhurt
Long wait: Mr Rattray said it will be up to 12 months before the couple can go back into their cottage home
Inspection: Structural engineers attended to assess the damage before the Audi car could be removed
Somewhere to stay: Mrs Rattray said the driver 'gets to go home to his nice warm house and we don't'
The driver of the 2012 Audi and the couple’s three cocker spaniels - who were inside the house - were unhurt. Police are now trying to trace the driver of the Volkswagen, which was a dark blue car.
Mrs Rattray said: ‘This is the third time we have had a car come through the hedge but this is by far the worst - we live in fear. Thank God we weren’t in.
‘If we were we would have all been in the lounge and we had a great big unit in front of the window. That’s obliterated and there are bricks embedded in the wall.
Historic: The part of the Cheshire cottage that the Audi car went into is an astonishing 550 to 600 years old
Evasive action: Cheshire Constabulary officers
said the Audi driver mounted the grass verge before going across the
road, through the hedge and coming to a halt in the lounge of the
building
Crash: Mrs Rattray said it was the third time the couple have had a car come through the hedge in Cheshire
Shock: Mr Rattray (left) said he 'just saw this car sticking out of the hedge' next to the property in Cheshire
Accident: The Audi RS4 was driving along the A50 towards Knutsford at around 9.40am on Monday
Carnage: The cottage was an absolute mess following the crash which took place on Monday morning
Worry: Mr Rattray said the couple were unsure as to whether the house will have to be knocked down
Structural engineers attended the scene to assess the damage before the car could be removed.
Mr Rattray said: ‘It is going to be six to 12 months before we can go back in - we don’t know yet if the house will have to be knocked down.
‘The part the car went into is 550 to 600 years old - it’s just wattle and daub, and we don’t know if the oak frame has been twisted.’
‘We heard a noise the night before and my dogs had been going mad. We thought a car had gone through the hedge so I went to look the morning after and there was a hole in it.
‘I got there and just saw this car sticking out of the hedge and the driver was just stood there looking very pale and shaken. I thought it had happened the night before but it had happened literally a few minutes before.’
The technique of wattle and daub dates back 3,000 years. Wattling is the building of walls by weaving sticks in and out of upright posts - and daubing is the weather-proofing with manure, earth and clay.
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