'Eye sore' building with pigeons nest transformed into stunning AirBnb
A couple turned a building that was an "eyesore" with nesting pigeons into a a successful AirBnb after spotting a gap in the market.
Sarah Watters, 38, and Tim Wilkinson, 45, from Hoylake, Merseyside, bought their Victorian home in August 2013. And the second Sarah saw the coach house that was attached to the £700,000 property, she knew she wanted to turn it into something more.
After spending time renovating the main property where the family of four live, they turned their attention to upgrading the coach house in January this year. At the time it was being nested in by pigeons and used as a place to keep rubbish.
Sarah thought it could be a good place for a holiday rental as it is next to the Royal Liverpool Golf Club and she said there are no hotels nearby. "We didn't really have a use for the coach house and didn't need the extra accommodation. The location is right on the golf course," she said.
"People said there's nowhere to stay near here, no hotels in Hoylake or in the whole area. I always knew I wanted to let for short or long term stays. It [coach house] was dilapidated. There were holes in the slate roof, pigeons were living inside, we were using it to store our rubbish and the original coach house doors were rotten and hanging off.
World’s most popular holiday homes include glass cube deep in a forest canyon
The couple have turned the house into a stunning property (Dan Burns, Natural Selection Design)"The bricks were painted white and we were set on replicating the original so had it carefully sandblasted. We really wanted to replicate the two original black coach house doors." Just five months later the "eye sore" was completely transformed into a stunning two bedroom AirBnb, complete with a fully equipped kitchen with Smeg appliances.
Double doors open out onto a spacious private courtyard with outdoor seating and a BBQ. The exterior has kept many of the building's Victorian features including the slate roof, original looking doors and brickwork, reported the Liverpool Echo.
Sarah believed the location would be good for a rental property (Dan Burns, Natural Selection Design)The interior is more modern, but still holds on to beautiful beams, archways and quirky low ceilings. Sarah said she has a "passion" for interior design and sourced everything from the tiles, bathroom basins and furniture herself.
She said: "My plan was for it to look luxury and expensive without costing an absolute fortune. There's a lot of things in here that I think look more expensive than they are. My favourite piece of decoration is the downstairs bathroom basin which we got from Morocco and is handmade.
They are now looking forward to more AirBnb guests (Dan Burns, Natural Selection Design)"It looks seriously expensive and only cost us £100. Including furnishings we spent between £140,000 and £150,000. I imagine it would have certainly added value to the home."
During The Open Championship two NBC stars stayed in the AirBnb, with Sarah saying they left "glowing reviews". She said: "I asked for constructive criticism and the only thing they said was they could have done with a box of tissues, other than that they really enjoyed staying and said they would recommend it to people."
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
