Developers are giving much-loved building a new lease of life

STEPPING inside the imposing yet dilapidated grade-II listed building in Porthcawl is like travelling back in time.

With every corner turned and corridor walked there’s evidence of how this sprawling mansion served countless individuals over the years.

In the early days it provided miners with a welcome seaside break before it became a hospital for wounded and traumatised allied soldiers from both world wars and.

Latterly it was a holiday hotel for older people as well as the base for a charity treating service personnel suffering from post traumatic stress disorder and other mental health difficulties.

But falling custom and wear and tear left the management committee facing a financial struggle to keep it going.

Its last occupants and almost 50 staff left in 2013.

The building was then bought by Gary Mayo, director of Bryn Meadows Golf, Hotel and Spa, near Caerphilly.

But it has laid empty with only pigeons as residents while plans for its future were drawn up.

Developer Acorn now hopes to start work later this year once a revised planning application has been approved.

But preparatory work to ready the landmark for conversion to 34 apartments and the demolition of old annexes to make way for a new building, which will house an additional 35 apartments, has begun.

Acorn’s regional managing director James Groombridge said stripping out asbestos, old and defunct lifts and chipping away years of plaster, extra walls and peeling off layers of wallpaper has revealed further glories in an already stunning building.

One such architectural feature is a whimsical square wooden tower stretching up from the top floor, which still has the original sash windows at the top.

The developer had no idea it was there until it removed the enormous metal water tank which filled the void beneath it.

Now it is being included in the plans for the apartment below it and will become a unique study space or “snug”.

“The absolute key for us is to keep an open mind and keep looking at it,” said James.

“It’s easy to have a vision and stick to it.”

As the unusual features, including beautiful stone-arched doorways and stained-glass windows, which were hidden behind walls, have been uncovered, Acorn has sought to include them in its plans so they will be retained for generations to come.

Beautiful green tiles which stretch almost the entire length of the bottom corridor had been plastered or papered over.

Unusual and robust original wooden doors remain on many rooms and they will be retained, although where they will be used depends on how they match up to modern day fire safety standards.

It’s this clash of passion to retain as much of The Rest’s history as possible, while ensuring the building meets modern standards that has made the project so challenging.

“It is a hugely complex project making sure you get it right and the costs are manageable,” said James.

“We spend days and days just walking