The Rebuild
A storey of luck, a great builder and outside showers
A years worth of change
When we bought the Beach House we did so with idea that we were going to create somewhere special to stay that built on our experiences, having stayed a variety holiday cottages all over Cornwall.
We completely renovated the building, which had been at various stages of its life a post office, garage, café and gallery. As part of the re-design we looked at the available space, how it could be used and what features we felt were important in making a great holiday home by the beach.
We were lucky enough to be pointed in the direction of a local builder, Andy Trendle, who had all the ideas and know how to make our dreams reality. (If you want Andy’s contact details because you have your own project, please drop us a line and we’ll put you in contact).
The property had most recently been a café with full commercial kitchen (and guest rooms upstairs) before we bought it and so a lot of structural changes had to be undertaken, and we took the opportunity to replumb and rewire at the same time. The central (flat) section of the roof was removed and replaced with the apex structure that was either side of it, and the traditional slate tiling on the upper floor of the building that was worn, was taken down and replaced with what we had hoped would be Cedral cladding (this can be seen on several other of the houses in the village). Unfortunately, the planning consent was not approved and we ended up with the rather more severe rendering that the building currently has (however it is exceedingly well insulated!).
One of the biggest things we have always found about being by the seaside is that if the day is not a complete scorcher, when it’s time to come off the beach, the kids (and often the adults!) want to be showered quickly. The last thing we wanted was not being able to keep everyone wet and warm! This meant installing a hi flow boiler and enough showers for even a large family. One luxury we had always promised ourselves to have was a great outdoor shower so that guests could get warm immediately (and make sure that they were sand free) and we installed this outside on the decking – it is brilliant to stand under whilst getting out of a wetsuit even in November (promise – we’ve tried it).
The ground floor had flooring at 3 different heights and Andy immediately pointed out that to create a sense of flow though the living space bringing all areas up to the same level was important. He also suggested that having an outside space that was flush with the interior would minimise deliniation between indoor space and outdoor space (as I said he is really excellent at what he does). We were keen to have wooden flooring throughout the house and were looking at oak planking (because we felt it could be re-finished if scratched) but Again Andy came to our rescue and suggested engineered oak would be a better choice (less movement with expansion and contraction that is inevitable in a seaside atmosphere). We went for a 25mm thick engineered oak solution with an 8mm oak wear layer that can be re-finished if required – this was used throughout the house and has a beautiful colour – we hope you like as much as we do.
The conventional staircase, which took up a lot of interior space was exchanged for a spiral staircase and this immediately opened up the whole of the downstairs and improved upstairs square footage. Normally a spiral staircase is something of an issue for many people (particularly those with younger children) but Andy sourced a full width staircase which even our 3 year old could manage safely.
The downstairs was then split into 2 large living spaces – a kitchen diner and a living room, both with full width patio doors opening out onto the new hardwood decked area. The commercial windows at the front of the building in what is now the kitchen were removed and new units more in keeping with a residential property were fitted.
The kitchen was made for the property by a bespoke joining firm and equipped with a large larder fridge (working on the basis that most people will be buying food for week and want space for fresh produce and drinks), induction hob and oven and a full size dishwasher. A large quartz worktop finished the cook/preparation area.
The previous commercial kitchen did not have any natural light and whilst the rest of the upstairs and downstairs is positively flooded with sunshine this back room lent itself to becoming a utility area, downstairs loo and a downstairs shower.
The final room downstairs is the living room. Previously this had been a separate bedroom, but this was reincorporated into the main living space with a wall being taken down to enlarge the area and the floor being brought up to the height of the rest of down stairs. Again, the sense of flow between inside and outside is brought about by double patio doors and on hot summers days the whole of the decked area, kitchen dining room and living room can be used as a single area to socialise. If it is a more low key evening the room serves as a relaxed area to flop down in after a long day on the beach, or somewhere to curl up warmly and watch a film after a heavy duty hike.
