The incredible renovation of a historic castle’s former beach house where you can now stay – Wales Online

Next to the stunning Pencarn sandy beach on the Conwy coastline stands a stone-built historic little cottage that looks out to sea.

A beach house that once served the owners of Gwrych castle, it was a place where the family would come to enjoy the beach whilst having comfortable facilities nearby.

In fact, the cottage was originally part of the castle estate near Abergele and enjoyed for many decades by the Lloyds of Gwrych through to the era of the Countess of Dundonald, the last member of the family to use the property until her death in 1924.

The house then went through a number of owners, one of which added a large side extension wing in the 1970s.

But turn back the clock just two years and this pretty building called Ty Crwn was in trouble.

In need of urgent renovation, the roof was falling off, there had been a fire and the building was now on the local council's empty homes list.

Outside there were large sections of the original exterior stonework painted bright orange, ivy swallowing up the remaining and original stone structure and overgrowth reaching 6ft high in places.

Inside, not many original features survived except a cast-iron log burner covered in undergrowth and birds' mess.

A trustee of the castle had bought the cottage from the previous, long-term owner with the idea of restoring it, but due to ill-health reluctantly had to sell it.

Not being a listed building, the property was very lucky that the new and current owner, also keen to bring the cottage back to its former and traditional glory, was architectural historian Dr Mark Baker.

Mark is well-known within the historic building restoration world, and beyond, as the passionate expert who set up a preservation trust with the view to saving Gwrch Castle after falling in love with it when he was just 12 years old.

Originally from Prestatyn, after years of fundraising and campaigning by Mark and the trustees of the castle, the structure was eventually bought in June 2018 to much celebration by local residents keen that the castle be owned by a group pf people passionate about its survival and restoration.

And then the castle's beach house was up for sale, and Mark couldn't resist buying it.

However, Mark didn't even view the property before he bought it for around 150k.

Mark says: "I wanted it to be more of a surprise but I knew it was a wreck.

"But I also knew that it was very solidly built and what had been burnt down was a later addition and the historic core had survived.

"The condition was awful, it was little more than a shell. Part of the roof had been blown off in storms, there was no security - you could walk straight in - the windows had gone, the doors had gone and there were areas of collapse.

"The atmosphere when I first went in was very forlorn but very dramatic, even picturesque with the windows smashed and the wind howling in, like something out of an 1820s Gothic novel!

"And the front room was like a 1970s pub, painted a red letter box colour; it was hideous!"

But the charm of the beach house, even in its wrecked state, had captivated Mark, so a year of restoration and renovation began.

But this was no ordinary renovation project.

Mark explains: "The cottage is so distinctively linked to Gwrych Castle and its estate, you can feel it's part of something bigger. It was important to link the two buildings."

The castle is about 500 yards from the beach house and forms part of a route that the family and visitors used to travel, from the castle to a structure on the hillside called Emily's Tower where they would have lunch.

The party would then travel down to the beach house where they would spend the rest of the day.

Mark says: "My long-term aim is for the cottage to become part of the original castle estate again because there's a lot of history at this site, you can feel it within the building."

Originally the beach house was only three rooms and, after some careful consideration, how they were originally used was the starting point for the restoration. The only change is that the original parlour is now a luxurious bathroom.

Mark and his team of construction experts, who have also been working on the restoration of the castle, wanted to take a historically accurate approach to make the cottage as authentic as possible, but also adapt it for modern life.

At first glance, it appeared that apart from the original stonework hiding under bright paint colours, nothing much inside had remained, but the cottage actually became very helpful in showing Mark its past.

Most of the original plasterwork had been hacked off over the years, to expose the limestone walls, which were then painted. But luckily a section of the original plasterwork survived in the kitchen.

From analysis of the composition of the horse hair, beach sand and lime in this plaster, an authentic mix was recreated and used throughout the property.

There was also an original gem waiting for Mark in the front lounge.

He explains: "There was a tiny section of the cottage underneath the stairs that was untouched.

"We took the 1970s stairs out and discovered a section of plasterwork and skirting, and this was enough to recreate the room.

"It was painted in a yellow ochre which is a typical, traditional early 19th-century colour and used elsewhere on the castle estate.

"We had seen it used in the castle in the high status rooms so using it in the cottage means we can, again, link what the family were doing to the decor in the castle and what was in existence at the beach house.

"It makes sense for the cottage to be influenced by the interiors of the castle; they had the same colour scheme at both buildings, as part of the overall estate."

When the structural work inside was completed, Mark's attention again turned to interior design and furnishing and accessorising the beach house.

Mark says: "I wanted the bedrooms to be peaceful so their colours are influenced by the sea location and what would have been used at the castle as well.

"It's called Fowler Olive by a designer called John Fowler and the lamps are Laura Ashley, all second hand. I have tried to reuse and upcycle as much as possible.

"A lot of the artwork is to do with the castle so we've got pictures of different members of the family and from Country Life magazine. The painting in the sitting room we found at the castle and believe it's of a former estate manager. I was keen that the art tells the story of the cottage and the estate."

One of Mark's favourite items within the beach house is the restored Victorian bath, with its position free-standing in the middle of the room making the space feel opulent. In fact, if he is pushed to choose his favourite room, the bathroom just about wins.

But the cottage is full of items chosen wisely or that has a unique story.

Mark says: "The mirror was donated by one of the trustees of the castle as a housewarming present, the beds are a pair of French early 20th-century brass frames dating back to the Arts and Crafts period.

"All the appliances obviously are new, but the fireplace came from my property in Cardiff."

One of the eye-catching rugs was bought on eBay and came from Croft Hall in Shropshire, an impressive country home designed by celebrated architect John Nash.

Mark laughs: "It only cost 40 because it was in a bit of a state, but that's been restored too."

So as the restoration journey continued, Mark gave each of the three original cottage rooms a purpose as well as its distinct interior design.

The kitchen now has a rustic design boasting bespoke carpentry by the castle carpenter who was employed by Mark to bring this room to life.

The bathroom is where the original parlor would have been, and the front, high-status room is a comfortable sitting room.

All spaces have engaging views either of the sea and/or the castle in the distance.

Each colour, furniture item or accessory within the cottage has been carefully considered, from the pair of Egyptian obolus and head of Medusa referring back to the family's past foreign travels to the remade, authentic sash windows.

But there needed to be additional space added to the property, and luckily the footings of an original extension at the rear of the cottage could still be seen.

Still wanting the beach house to be as authentic as possible, Mark decided to add the two bedrooms at the back of the property rather than recreate the 1970s extension at the side.

But he also didn't want the bedroom extension to be intrusive or seen from the front of the property.

So after advice from good friend Dr Greg Stevenson, experienced in authentically recreating historic properties through his company Under The Thatch, Mark opted for a tin-shack style extension.

With the roof tucked under the eaves of the main house and the walls positioned in from the cottage exterior walls, the extension is virtually unseen from the front of the property.

Mark never thought about giving up or regretted his decision to restore the property, but there was one huge challenge that caused major headaches; the bright orange external paint.

He says: "The worst thing was definitely removing the orange, that was the most difficult and it took almost two weeks. I don't know what they used but it was very high-quality, unfortunately!

"We had to get it blasted, so that was not fun, it was very, very messy but it enabled us to go back to the original look of the house and reveal the beautiful limestone underneath."

Now the beach house is finished, after draining a restoration budget of about 40,000, Mark hopes he has created a slice of history for people to enjoy and literally step back in time.

He says: "We know the central part of the cottage is 18th-century and is the oldest surviving part and that the front room can be dated to the 1830s.

"I like the views through the property, where you can get different lines of sight, you can see different spaces just looking in one direction and this creates depth.

"The views from the kitchen through to the high status room at the front take you on a journey from a rustic 18th-century feel into opulent Georgian Jane Austin-style room.

"I wanted it to feel like the Lloyd family had just stepped out, like they could just walk in through the door at any time but I also wanted to make it feel like it was 1820, 1920 and 2020."

And now that high security and car parking has been added Mark has just launched the property on Airbnb so guests can enjoy this historic atmosphere and the beach side location for themselves.

He says: "It's now time for the beach house to pay its way, we need funds to restore the garden, which includes the foundations of a medieval roundhouse that was once built on the site which we've made into a garden feature."

And for the 34-year-old who never stops restoring period properties, there's still more to do after the garden has been landscaped and planted with cuttings from the castle grounds.

Mark says: "In the next five years the plan is to put the slate roof back on and reinstall the Gothic style cast-iron window we found in the rubble in the garden, back into its rightful place.

"My biggest fear is that because the beach house isn't listed, someone could own it in the future, knock it down and build something brand-new on the site.

"So the aim is to get it listed in the future and give it the protection that it needs to survive in the future."

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The incredible renovation of a historic castle's former beach house where you can now stay - Wales Online