BIG CHANGES ARE A-COMING!

We've been providing self-catering accommodation for over 30 years in our two semi-detached cottages and more recently we've often thought how great it would be to put the two properties into one; they lend themselves perfectly for that transition.

As time has gone on,  regulations for holiday lets have changed and wear and tear in our cottages have come to a point where we needed to make upgrades in certain areas and spend money on some improvements.  It seemed the perfect time to 'go big' and future-proof the cottages so that we could provide a continued high standard of accommodation.

We're aware that many of our regular guests loved the cottages just as they were, but we're hoping the renovations we are embarking on will only improve the experience of staying at Trevethoe with more spacious living areas, a little more room in the bedrooms, an additional bathroom as well as the outdoor space and parking area no longer being shared.

So, we took a deep breath, did some serious thinking and planning and got started - firstly with emptying out the cottages of all the furniture,  contents and carpets, followed by the kitchen units.  A lot of this is being stored so that we can re-use it when we re-furnish.  If we run out of funds, we could always start a side-hustle of furniture removals - the old horse-box came in handy for transportation!  "Rogers' Removals" has a certain ring to it don't you think?

Next it was the serious stuff - big tools, special helmets with fans so we weren't breathing in all the dust, steel-toed boots and lots of physical exertion!  Taking down ceilings, plasterboard and the huge task of carefully taking down the chimney breasts...so much rubble, dust and stone that has to be carried out!  We're sorting the granite stone as we go, as much of that will be reused for the new porch.  It's not the easiest access in and out of the cottage at the moment, so it's a lengthy process but we're getting there.

We're concentrating on one cottage at a time at the moment, so we still have the chimney breast in the other side to do yet, but we're alternating between heavy and light jobs to give our shoulders and backs a bit of recovery time! As long as we're doing something it's still progress.

So, as we hurtle towards Christmas, we’re really happy with the stage we’re at and looking forward to downing tools for a few days of festive family fun before getting stuck in again in the New Year.

Taking this opportunity to wish you a very Merry Christmas…and I always drag this photo out at this time of year because it was one of the rare times we had a lot of snow which looks much prettier than all the wet and mud we have at the moment! 😀