Welcome back to What I Own – our weekly homeowner series.
This week we are chatting to interior designer Louise, who bought her beachfront home in Porthtowan, Cornwall, in 2005 for £275,000.
Since then, she’s turned her bungalow into a four-bed home, adding significant value to the property.
She shares what her buying and renovation experience was like…
Tell us about yourself, Louise.
I am Louise Ingram, aged 51 and I live on the North Cornwall coast in Porthtowan with my husband Chris and our three teenagers. As the Co-Founder of Mint House Interiors, a design studio and online store Mint House Home, my work is focused on creating luxury coastal properties.
Where is your property? What do you think of the area?
Our house overlooks the coast at Porthtowan, between St Agnes and Gwithian in Cornwall, an area we truly love living in. It is a four-bedroom family house with views overlooking the fields and the sea.
As a family we spend a lot of time in the water surfing, swimming and paddleboarding so being able to live so close to the sea is something we are extremely grateful for. We all feel very much at home by the beach.
I grew up in Mevagissey, a small Cornish fishing village, and it was super important for me to have my children grow up in Cornwall – having their extended family around. The close knit local community in our area is also important to us.
When did you move in?
We moved from Truro to this house in 2005. As Britain’s Southernmost city, Truro is only 10 miles away from where we are now, and not far from the coast, but living closer to the sea was an important move for us, and something we wanted having just started our own family.
How much does your property cost?
We are not sure how much our house is currently worth but other homes on our road are currently selling between £750,000- £1.5million. We paid £275,000 back in 2005 but have pretty much rebuilt the entire house after uncovering rising damp and rotten structural timbers.
It was always the plan to renovate as the property was run-down when we bought it, but we hadn’t expected to start from scratch. We are glad now though as we were able to plan and build the exact house we wanted.
How much was your deposit?
We had a decent deposit from our previous house sale with around £80,000 to put down.
What is the monthly cost of living here now; both mortgage and bills?
Our living costs are around £1,200 – £1,500 a month. As part of our rebuild and renovations we were able to incorporate many eco and energy-saving features creating a Passive House. We included elements such as an air source heat pump, heat recovery system, log burner with back boiler plus solar and photovoltaic panels which all helps with the rising cost of living.
How did you save up for your deposit?
Me and my husband didn’t meet until we were in our early 30s, both owning our own properties, so it was a case of consolidating our equities from our previous houses allowing us to have a substantial deposit to put down.
What was the process of getting a mortgage like for you? Did you find any parts challenging?
In the lucky position to have a decent deposit, we didn’t have any issues securing a mortgage, so it was all pretty straightforward.
Where did you live before this – were you renting or living with family?
Chris had a flat in Plymouth and I was working/renting in London with a cottage in Cornwall. I always wanted to own my own place in Cornwall. The intention was always to come back home to settle down.
What made you want to buy rather than renting?
We were in the position to buy and knew we wanted to settle so it was the obvious choice.
How did you find this property? What made you choose it?
We were living in Truro but came to the beach daily, so we were really excited when we saw the for sale sign at the top of the hill. It was a run-down bungalow but just standing in the garden, looking at the view, we knew we had to have it.
The house was an ex-long let and in a terrible state but we always knew we were going to renovate so didn’t care too much at that stage. It was all about the location.
How much do you think your renovation has added to the property?
We bought the bungalow for £274,000, back in 2005, and renovated it in 2009. Houses are now selling on our road, between £750,000 – £1.5million – depending on the level of updates to the properties.
How have you made the property feel like home?
Our son was one when we moved here in 2005 and we had initially planned to renovate straight away but having a young family got in the way. Then as time went on and we actually lived in the bungalow our ideas evolved and we finally knocked the original house down four years later after our twin girls were born.
We are really glad now we took that time and live in the space before coming up with our final plans, making it into our home
What’s the inspiration for your interior
The view had to be taken into consideration when thinking about the entire design. We wanted to make the view the focal point so being able to see right through the house was important. I love natural muted colours, and we have lots of textures and layering in the house to give a cosy feel with a hint of seventies luxe as style inspiration.
Many of the pieces of furniture in the house are collected bits from our grandparents, so we have a lot of upcycled pieces in the house. As an interior designer, I am in a wonderful position to be surrounded by inspiration and the industry knowledge on where to source what I want. Many of the pieces are sourced through our design studio and available through Mint House Home.
What’s your favourite room and why?
I love our lounge. I can lay on the couch and get lost for hours watching the sea. Our sofa is one of our Mint House bespoke pieces so it was handmade in our workshop using one of our luxury velvets. It not only feels amazing and super comfy but also practical, which is much needed having kids, dogs and lots of sand being brought into the house. Having the log burner a focal point of the room by elevating it also makes this room really special to me.
Do you feel like you have enough space?
Yes we do and, with three super-active children, we need it.
Our house centres around an open plan layout, creating an easy flow for our family life while also future-proofing the design with the option to add doors as the needs of the family change.
Do you have plans to change the property?
Not at the moment… although I’m always planning. My husband is always reigning me in!
Are there any problems with the property that you have to deal with?
No. Although we loved the idea of bringing the outside in, installing bi-fold doors everywhere. However, we basically live on top of a cliff in a wind tunnel so we maybe would have been better choosing sliding or French doors. Also, our twin daughters were just six months old when we ripped the house down, so that was very stressful. The build ended up taking fourteen months in total in what happened to be one of the coldest winters on record, so that felt like a problem at the time.
What do you want people to know about buying a home?
Personally, location is always key to me. Get that right. The house comes second. The dream house can always come later.
Like we did, wait or save up to renovate, but it’s all about location, location, location.
What are your plans for the future, in terms of housing? Do you plan to stay here long term?
Yep, you can’t make any more coastline and if we can, we would like to stay put.
Do you want to feature in What I Own?
What I Own is a Metro.co.uk series that takes you inside people’s properties, to take an honest look at what it’s like to buy a home in the UK. If you own your home and would be up for sharing your story, please email [email protected].
You’ll also need to be okay with sharing how much you’ve paid to live there and how you afforded the deposit, as that’s pretty important.
Shall we take a look around?
Do you have a story to share?
Get in touch by emailing [email protected].
MORE : What I Own: Hypnotherapist Helen, who bought her village home near Doncaster with a £90,000 deposit
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MORE : What I Own: Property developer Mark, who bought his Devon home for £1.15million
Get all the need-to-know property news, features and advice from Metro every week.
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