The Perfect House in the Perfect Location
The Sandcastle in Wales is the result of a dream that began in childhood, was nurtured in London, and was then fulfilled by creating one of the best large luxury holiday cottages in Pembrokeshire, South Wales. What began as a search for a new home has become a haven for people looking to escape from the pressures of daily life—somewhere to escape to a world of peace and quiet. It is a large beachfront holiday home that descends straight to the beautiful sands of Freshwater East Bay.
Whether you are looking for a large luxury family holiday accommodation or a Summer holiday beachfront house, the Sandcastle is perfect. With private steps to the beach, an indoor/outdoor heated swimming pool, a hot tub, a steam room, and a Cinema/Games room, there is something to do at The Sandcastle … all year long… regardless of the weather outside. Which, frankly, whether calm or stormy, is always dramatic.
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Where it Started
It all began when Notting Hill’s Princess Alexandra, “the Alex”, as affectionately known, was laid to rest in January 1985, and Michael Bell created the Portobello Gold .. the iconic restaurant, pub and hotel in Portobello Road. Wishing to distance himself from the Hell’s Angel reputation of the Alex, Michael re-established the traditional Sunday roasts … then introduced London to the oyster-shooter and to draught-wheat beer. The Gold was always ahead of the pack. In the spring of 1995, their cleaner Keith, an ex-US Navy programmer who never quite went home after his tour of duty, helped Michael to become one of the first Cybercafés in the world. In 1996, the upstairs bedrooms were also wired up, making the Portobello Gold the first UK hotel with Internet access in the rooms – remember, this is back when people had to travel with modems.
The Gold partied through 32 Notting Hill Carnivals … numerous celebrity high-tails, Presidential visits, fashion shoots, and more until 2016 Michael sold the business to move to the beach. Having learnt to walk in north Wales and being descended from Gwen and Augustus John, a return to Pembrokeshire felt right for his new business.
The first stop was the house, Mount Severn, atop the Burrows in Freshwater East, but after having just finished a complete renovation and extension, Michael received a call at 9 am on a Saturday from Gary Jones, the builder of our beautiful floral wall. He told me that the estate agent for Trewent Bungalow (a strange name for a two-floor house) was putting up a for-sale sign. He drove straight down to look outside, called the agent from his car 15 minutes later, and said, “We’ll have it”!
Having renovated properties all his life, from St Lucia to Oxfordshire, his gut told him that with a once-in-a-lifetime location such as this, you have to just go for it and worry about the consequences later.
Building the Sandcastle
Apart from the balcony, the house itself was very solidly built but appallingly laid out. The bedrooms were incredibly dingy with tiny ceiling-height windows, and hidden behind a hedge was the invisible sea.
To make matters worse, there was a corridor between the four downstairs bedrooms facing the (invisible) sea and four fairly sumptuous bathrooms – with no windows at the back. There was a cracked swimming pool and a pointless slipway, where our new pool is now, right alongside the existing public slipway. Clearly, a complete rebuild was necessary.
As it was built with planning permission for just one floor, the National Parks stated that provided we produced tasteful plans, they would draw a line under the stack of past planning enforcement summonses.
Whilst a two-story house by the sea was unheard of, they preferred that to having a derelict property on the beach. Due to our cunning landscaping, people still think it is a bungalow, even from the sea.
(Photos: drawing is Michael’s design sketch)
The only way we were going to sort out this massive mess was to bring our building team from Slovakia over. With anywhere from 6 to 12 men working 10-12 hours a day, six days a week and lodging locally at the old house (Mount Severn) up the hill, we achieved the whole operation in 12 months. As soon as the main living room and balcony were presentable, we brought down all the furniture from Mount Severn and did a staged photoshoot. This was in April 2018 (house unfinished), and from the end of July, we were soon solidly booked. And we have never looked back … The Sandcastle was born.
