A Cornish cottage filled with colour and character
On a hillside sitting among fields and woodland, a 10-minute drive from Penzance harbour, sits a tiny cottage built from Cornish stone with views of the sea from the two front bedrooms. It holds a special place in the heart of owner Sarah Stewart, who spent idyllic childhood days here in the 1970s when her parents ran a pub in nearby Newlyn.
‘My mum bought the cottage and we used to come here for weekends,’ remembers Sarah. ‘I had a pony that was stabled at the farmyard and have lots of happy memories of rambling in the woods and fields, playing in the back garden and walking through the bluebell glades.'
In the 1980s the family emigrated to Australia and Sarah, who now lives in Hong Kong, rarely came back. But in 2022, after her mum passed away, she visited the cottage again, which had been mostly rented out in the intervening years, and found it in a sorry state; cold and damp, with dark rooms that were badly in need of decorating. Keen to bring it back into her life and for her own family to have the chance to stay here, she decided to completely renovate it.
Being based so far away, Sarah needed someone to manage the project and brought in interior designer Lydia Allen, who coordinated everything from the damp coursing, insulating, rewiring and repointing to the finer details of decorating and furnishing. Inspired by the rooms at the Artist Residence hotel in Penzance where she had stayed, Sarah decided she wanted a similar ‘cosy, bohemian, luxury vibe’ for the interiors, mixing vintage with new, and with colour and playfulness to be woven throughout.
The cottage has a tiny footprint, with the porch opening on to the living/dining room and a kitchen behind. Upstairs are a bathroom and three bedrooms, with the third box room, at the back, just big enough for bunk beds. And though squeezing in another bathroom was out of the question, removing a large water tank from the second bedroom freed up enough space to add an ensuite WC and basin.
Another big space gain came about by chance, when the builders removed the ceilings in the two front bedrooms to deal with some rotten beams. ‘I just happened to be on site that day,’ recalls Lydia, ‘and I thought, “Oh my gosh, these rooms look amazing – can we keep them like this?” It was a game changer, with these rooms instantly transformed from low, dark and gloomy to bright and spacious.’
Lydia was keen to use patterned wallpapers in the bedrooms, and Sarah very much approved. In the second bedroom, for example, the walls and ceiling were completely covered in a hand-printed blue and ochre paper from Gloucestershire-based company Rapture & Wright. ‘We wanted sleeping in here to feel like being inside a jewel box,’ explains Lydia. ‘I love how the paper blends into the angles of the room and shows off the quirky shapes of the ceiling.’
In the main bedroom, to Sarah’s amazement, they managed to fit in a super-king bed. An organic-shaped headboard, wood panelling and soft furnishings from Andrew Martin completed the look. Downstairs there was room for a corner breakfast nook in the kitchen – and this prevents the square room from feeling too boxy and means there’s somewhere to sit and chat to whoever is cooking. The banquette seating provides vital extra storage and the same set-up was used for a dining bench in the main living area.
Sarah chose mustard yellow kitchen units with white quartz worktops. Glossy white zellige tiles created a characterful splashback and because the room has low ceilings, open shelving was chosen rather than having wall cupboards. ‘They’re great for showing off glassware and accessories,’ says Lydia, ‘and they stop the room from feeling too closed in or too yellow.’ She was also delighted when Sarah said yes to the terracotta tile floor: ‘It just adds that extra layer of texture and warmth.’
The main reception needed to accommodate both dining and lounging, and having a bench fitted up against the wall it meant it was possible to fit in a good-sized table that can seat six. At the other end of the room is a cosy woodburner with two upholstered stools providing supplementary seating to the two green sofas.
All of the rooms, except those that have been wallpapered, are painted in Farrow & Ball’s School House White, a soft neutral that allowed Lydia to add some ‘little bits of fun’ in the furnishings. ‘We played with stripes, checks and textures,’ she explains. ‘There are also a few nods to the coast, but not in too obvious a way. Though there is lots of colour and pattern in this house, it all feels quite calm and muted.’
Sarah agrees, saying she loves how the blues, greens and earth tones she associates with Cornwall have been reflected in the decor. ‘The cottage has really come back to life and is very homely and comfortable,’ she says. ‘The weather can be a bit unpredictable down here, but after a blustery walk, it’s heavenly to get back here, flop on the sofa and gaze at the fire.’
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