INSPIRING
Just a pebble’s throw from the sea, this former fisherman’s cottage is filled with carefully chosen vintage treasures that pay homage to its long history and beautiful location
SEA VIEWS
Paula and Iain’s daughter Hannah relaxes in front of a window looking out on to Porthmeor Beach with her daughter Primrose. All the original sash windows were retained and restored with new pulleys, weights and ropes. Chair, Sofa.com says Paula Craigen. ‘I’ve always been drawn to period properties and this one has a particularly beautiful old soul.’ She and her husband Iain had been looking for somewhere to buy in Cornwall, hoping for at least a sea view, but this house overlooking Porthmeor Beach in St Ives, where property rarely comes onto the market, exceeded their wildest expectations. ‘Its balcony is just metres from the waves,’ says Paula. They managed to complete the purchase before the Covid lockdown, but then couldn’t visit for many months. The delay, however, gave them the time they needed to dream up the perfect interior.
‘The house had been in the same family for 60 years,’ says Paula, ‘so we felt a huge responsibility to its previous owners. It still had a lot of original features and any changes we made needed to preserve its integrity and respect its history.’
The 200-year-old property, once three separate houses, is part of a small courtyard of fisherman’s cottages, one of which was home to fisherman and painter Alfred Wallis. ‘He would almost certainly have set foot in here,’ says Paula. ‘In fact, we decided to call it Alba House after one of his paintings, Wreck of the Alba, of a ship caught in high seas off Porthmeor Beach.’
To help them get started on the project, Paula and Iain called in Jess Clark, interiors expert at lettings company Unique Homestays, as they planned to rent out the house before moving in permanently. Jess was similarly smitten. ‘Our aim all along was to keep things as authentic as possible,’ she explains. ‘We didn’t need to lay new flooring or replace the doors – those old bones had to remain the primary focus, so that nothing we added detracted from them. There are no statement pieces here. Everything blends beautifully to create a welcoming and lived-in atmosphere.’
Between them they drew up a wishlist of vintage i
