Seaside bolthole: the chalet
Do you hanker after your own seaside haven but think it's an impossible dream? Be inspired by one couple's seaside chalet.
Jane Hayward, a writer, Andy Dewar, a musician, and Preston, a rescue Staffordshire bull terrier, live in North London. They bought their cabin in West Wales in April 2010.
Tell us about your seaside bolthole…
Caban Cariad is my Welsh love shack. It's a folksy, retro woodland chalet at Cenarth, where the River Teifi hurtles over waterfalls on its way to Cardigan Bay. It's on the Penlan Holiday Village, which was designed in 1973 as a replica of a back-to-nature Swedish holiday park. The A-frame chalets are just like ones I’ve seen on the Skåne coast.
Why was it important to you to have a seaside hideaway?
My partner Andy and I had a tough 2009 after a bereavement, and we felt we needed to escape London regularly for space, peace and salty fresh air. We are both freelancers, so with laptops and Wi-Fi we reckoned we could work anywhere. When and how did you come by it, and what state was it in? I started trawling online for chalets in Devon, but everything was £100,000-plus - we wanted to pay half that. So I switched to West Wales and spotted some quirky cabins at Under the Thatch, the holiday cottage company. I asked owner Greg Stevenson for tips, and amazingly he told me he was selling Caban Cariad. We screeched up the M4 that weekend, and as soon as we saw its dinky decking and floral curtains, we were sold.
What convinced you to go ahead, how did you make the cost work?
It was the emptiness of North Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion's coves combined with the friendliness of the towns. Under the Thatch wanted to keep the chalet on their books, which was key, as holiday rentals would cover Penlan’s maintenance charges and ground rent plus bills. We bought it with furniture and bookings in place.
What work have you done to the place?
My first move was to hit eBay hard for retro Scandi stuff like an Alvar Aalto ball chair, a wooden stag's head from Norway and Marimekko fabric. Then we laid a new living room floor. Right now, we’re poring over turquoise marmoleums for the shower room and wondering if a cherry-red sink's a bit much (it probably is).
How often do you use it and what has it added to your lifestyle overall?
We motored across the Welsh border every season last year. I can write in total peace at the chalet and it's become our place to be happy and active. Last November, we watched a swimmer stride out of Mynt's waves in a bracing wind, and wondered if we could become that hardy.
Describe a perfect day at your seaside hideaway…
We'll drive to our closest beach, Poppit Sands, for a game of dog-football with Preston. Then it's fish chowder at Llangranog’s Patio Café and coffee at the Harbourmaster by Aberaeron’s fishing boats. At night, we'll cosy in at the Nag’s Head, our local microbrewery.
Would you recommend the area as a place to escape to?
Wholeheartedly! Undiscovered is an overused word, but it applies to our patch. We've hiked the coastal path for hours and barely seen a soul.
Anything you would have done differently?
No. We'd considered the downsides, like the worry of sorting out problems at a distance, so we knew that somewhere 'away from it all' would come at a price.
Any tips to pass on to would-be bolthole-owners?
Searching in winter was a great idea because we saw the coast at its starkest and still loved it. Caban Cariad sleeps four and can be booked at www.underthethatch.co.uk/cariad. Penlan (01239 710174, www.penlan.co.uk) has 1970s chalets plus brand-new Norwegian log cabins for sale.
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