A welcome RETURN
One of Sophie Kirk’s childhood dreams came true when she and her husband made a once-in-a-lifetime decision
Some of Sophie Kirk’s favourite childhood memories are embedded in the pretty coastal town of Seaview on the Isle of Wight. As a child she spent hours beachcombing, walking the scenic coastline paths and watching the sunsets across the sea. But one of her favourite views was out of her aunt and uncle’s window, which then overlooked a pretty cottage built right on the water’s edge – a whitewashed house with a flowerfilled walled garden that had been in the same family for 60 years.
‘I’ve always loved its location right on the edge of the sea, its character and its amazing potential,’ says Sophie. ‘I would lean out the window and dream of living there, wondering what it was like inside and wishing it could be mine, but I never imagined I’d live there one day.’ When her husband Charlie discovered that the house was for sale, Sophie realised it was a ‘now or never’ moment. ‘We had absolutely no plans to buy a house on the Isle of Wight, but as soon as we stepped through the door I felt as though I was coming home – we just had to buy it,’ she says.
And buy it they did, after which Sophie and Charlie set to work, installing central heating then painting all the walls, woodwork and ceilings in white to pull the house together and bring light into all the rooms. Some of the original wood panelling was still in the sitting room but the fireplace was out of keeping with the character of the cottage, so they took out the old fire surround and extended the panelling with a replica design before adding a mantel shelf.
They also discovered original floorboards – along with some new ones – under the old carpets. Sophie wanted to make them lighter so she painted the floors in a soft white to give the property a fresh, coastal look
throughout. The furniture is a combination of classic pieces, family heirlooms and new purchases, creating a fresh, colourful and welcoming style that suits the 16th-century property and brings it gently into the present.
Although the three-bedroom house is idyllic, there were some challenges – especially when it came to installing furniture. ‘We tried to get the beds upstairs and realised that the only way to do this was to remove the banister rails,’ says Sophie. ‘There are two sets of stairs and both are as steep and narrow as each other. We cut out the rails, hoisted up the beds then employed a joiner to put the banisters back together again.’
The final job will be to paint the external doors and windows – of which four are original ships’ windows. In the meantime, Sophie and Charlie are running the house as a holiday let when they’re not using it for family get-togethers or for themselves and their two grown-up daughters, Mamie and Evie.
‘Buying this cottage has been like coming home,’ says Sophie. ‘My family has lived on the island for years – my aunt and uncle, who live nearby, used to live in the house opposite and for 15 years my mother had a cottage just up the road.’ I still can’t get over the fact that I can pour a glass of wine, carry it to the beach and watch the sunset, knowing that we finally have a place of our own on this island.’
FAVOURITE ITEMS ‘I love all the coastal-themed odds and ends that I’ve squirrelled away over the years’