What could be better at the end of a hard day working through a renovation project than to stroll down to one of the most spectacular and well-loved beaches in Wales. Down the power tools and pick up your bucket and spade to make the most of the amazing location this period property offers you.
And how about a bracing early morning walk on the beach to get your daily energy for the hard work ahead from the sea breezes blasting in off the ocean - an enviable routine to get this renovation project powering through to the end and create a pretty cottage as your dream coastal home.
There are cliff walks to wander along, with a plethora of spectacular spots to linger and become mesmerised by the beauty of Gower peninsula, which also offers numerous gorgeous beaches to visit and maybe fall in love with the variety of water sports they offer, from surfing to sailing, paddleboarding to paragliding.
Of course, much work needs to happen back at the cottage before the location can completely become the core of your existence, but just a brief visit down the lane to Rhossili Bay beach to refresh your batteries while the batteries of your power tools recharge will remind you of why it will all be worth it.
The three miles of unspoilt sandy sea shore from the distinctive Worm's Head headland across the dramatic coastline has become a landmark location and a shining seaside gem on Gower peninsula.
According to website Visit Wales, Rhossili Bay is the first beach to be awarded 'Britain's Best Beach' by TripAdvisor's Travellers' Choice for the second year running, not to mention the third best beach in Europe and ninth best in the world. Rhossili has also been described as ‘the supermodel of British beaches’ and has also won accolades from UK travel writers and awards for being the best spot to have a picnic.
So to have the bay as your walkable neighbour is such a privilege, but if you ever want variety Gower is a coastal hotspot that can rightly claim to be one of the best in the UK, if not the world, thanks to its substantial list of stunning beaches, coves and bays as well as glorious countryside and small villages and communities dotted inbetween nature's finest offerings.
The UK's first designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), Gower peninsula has been named by the readers of Which? as the area most desirable and popular with house hunters in 2021, beating over 600 contenders to the top spot. Read more about that here.
And the next owner of a coastal cottage with potential could be the latest lucky addition to the Gower population. Up a small country lane that branches off from the main street that leads to Rhossili Bay, so away from the inevitable summer tourists wanting to experience the beach for themselves, you will find the perfectly symmetrical facade of this perfectly traditional Welsh cottage.
The front garden greets you with a characterful stone wall and a neat lawn that is crying out for a bench tucked up against the front of the house as a perfect place to park yourself and watch the world amble past you.
In through the front door and it's obvious from the start that this cottage is not a full 'back-to-bricks' renovation scenario, on first impressions it's more a case of updating the interior design to suit your taste that might be your own version of one of 2022's most popular and in this case appropriate trends, cottagecore. Find out more about this interiors trend that galloped to huge popularity during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Of course, looks can be deceiving so a full survey is surely required to check for any possible causes of your renovation budget to take an unexpected hit.
Inside, the cottage has space and character and potential to add more, as well as maybe find some hidden gems too. To the right of the central hall is the living room which has a stripped ceiling and chunky wooden beams as well as a brick and stone fireplace that maybe, with some thought, could be increased in size to accommodate a log burner.
However, investigating the outside of the house reveals no chimney stacks, so the options for a fireplace development plan need to be researched to see what is, and more importantly what isn't, possible.
Under the carpet might be a flagstone floor to clean or wood floor to strip, but if not there are options to create a more cottage feel in this space via interior design, with oak flooring maybe the most warm under foot as well as visually.
Next to the living room, at the rear of the cottage is an integrated garage that provides handy off-lane parking as the cottage does not have a drive. However, the rear garden is a very generous size so if planning can be secured for both suggestions, off-road parking spots could be created by fencing off a section at the end of the garden.
The garage could then be integrated into the cottage accommodation as an open-plan dining space with the living room or this front to back new room could be a wonderful kitchen diner.
If the budget, and planning, allows the garden is so big it would hardly make a dent in its overall size to add a single or double height extension to the cottage to maximise the space inside while keeping in mind the need to retain its unique period character and atmosphere. The rear garden is elevated somewhat above the house so landscaping and excavation would likely have to be part of the plan.
Currently the kitchen is on the other side of the central hall and it too has exposed beams, space and potential to be finessed into an Instagram-ready decor delight. Or a new owner may well be happy to keep the wooden units and the decor as it currently presents, but hopefully they will take a peek under the lino to check for an original hidden flooring gem underneath.
There's room for a breakfast table in here, and a door in the corner leads to an inner vestibule that leads to the integrated garage, a cloakroom and a bathroom. This space again could be reworked to provide a more compact shower room so the resulting free space could see the cloakroom change into a utility room.
But the cottage currently has no connection to the private and palatial back garden except through this vestibule and then through the garage, so if the new owner has the money, the vision and the planning consent, this cottage would benefit from a floorplan rethink to ensure optimum connection between inside and outside - the garden seems isolated and disconnected without it.
And if planning allows, the most potential from this house might lie in the garden, if a spacious portion of land at the end could be sectioned off and sold on as a building plot for a new home. It might be unlikely, but always worth a provisional discussion with the local planning office.
Upstairs the cottage floorplan is very simple - a double bedroom either side of the central landing, and a third, smaller room centrally located at the front of the house, and all of them have precious glimpses of the sea through the tree and roof tops.
The smallest of the bedrooms could easily become an upstairs bathroom, ensuite or home office. This of course depends on the new owner - a home office requirement could see the garden offering some of its space again as a quieter space to work, and more bedrooms does usually equal more value to a house, but then so does an upstairs bathroom. Will it stay as a bedroom or morph into a bathroom in the future?
A new owner may decide to rethink the layout, add to it or repurpose the function of some rooms, and even some sections of the garden, or they may think that life is too short to be embarking on a hot and heavy building project and prefer to grab their surfboard from the garage and head down the lane for freedom riding the Gower waves.
The coastal cottage is for sale for £399,999 with estate agent Astleys Residential, call their Mumbles branch on 01792 369139 to find out more. And don't miss the best dream homes in Wales, renovation stories and interiors, join the Amazing Welsh Homes newsletter, sent to your inbox twice a week.
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