Tucked away in the sought-after village of Treaddur Bay, Anglesey, is this contemporary reverse-level former boathouse, launched in May 2022 and aptly named, The Boathouse.
Boasting exceptional sea views from its interior and close proximity to an excellent selection of Blue Flag beaches, The Boathouse is a coastal haven for couples or a family of four.
Owners Stephen and Nicola talk to us about their experiences with holiday letting so far and what a holiday property means to them.
What was the use of the property before it became a holiday let?
Stephen: The property used to be a boathouse, so they stored boats in it, to then take down to the sea. The property then became somewhere people could stay, if horses and carts came past they could stay at the boathouse years and years ago. Then it went into disrepair and now we have fixed it into what we think is one of the best holiday lets around.
Hi, I am Nicky, owner of ‘The Boathouse’, in my spare time I am a mum of three little ones, and I also teach Pilates.
My name is Stephen Parry, I’m a very busy father of three, my wife Nicky and I own ‘The Boathouse’.
Stephen: I think when people go on holiday, they just want to have that escape and it’s a place you can just relax, have some privacy and enjoy the sea and what nature has got to offer.
What were the goals when creating ‘The Boathouse’?
Nicola: So, the goals with ‘The Boathouse’ was obviously keeping it aesthetically in keeping with the original structure, so it’s a grade II listed building and we had to work within those parameters but also Trearddur Bay is an absolutely beautiful location, we wanted to be really sympathetic.
Stephen: We had a little experience of building before we started but as with any building, whenever you start something new you face new challenges.
Nicola: So the design aesthetic was obviously keeping within the property, from its colour palette all the way through to the steels that we used, we tried to keep it very natural.
What was the most difficult part of getting the property set up for letting?
Stephen: The biggest challenge for us on the conversion of the building was, managing the builders. We did this during covid, we had two sets of builders, and two different teams. We had to source windows from overseas, they were very difficult.
Nicola: The unique windows on the property were probably our biggest challenge. I have learned so much about windows and how big the window can actually be, with how much load the window can take. We needed to get a crane to actually lift the glass onto the main windowpane on the structure.
Stephen: The building is listed, so we had to abide by all the strict guidelines, there were challenges everywhere, but they were kind of fun to overcome.
Nicola: The stone walls were made exactly how they were 500 years ago, and they are actually hand-rendered. So, they throw the paint/plaster onto the walls.
What are your favourite parts of the property?
Nicola: My favourite bit to design was obviously, the upstairs. ‘The Boathouse’ itself is all about the views and the window so that was keeping it really nice and open-planned so that you maximised wherever you were upstairs, you had the most breath-taking view.
The most challenging part was actually looking at how you worked out the wardrobes and the storage, I must admit, I am really proud of our wardrobe in the master bedroom because it actually is also the headboard.
What do you think makes your property stand out?
Stephen: Well, the most significant feature of ‘The Boathouse’ is, without doubt, the view, you can see as far as Ireland, there is a bay in front of you, you can see the boats, the people, the beaches, it’s a wonderful spot.
Why did you choose short-term letting vs long-term?
Stephen: We decided to do holiday lets versus permanently letting out, we never really thought about letting it out permanently. I mean we love holidays, we have three young kids, we love going on holiday in the UK, it just seemed a natural thing to do to welcome people for week-long stays, we don’t do weekends we just do weeks at a time.
You get to meet some interesting people, and receive good constructive feedback to be able to improve the building. People tend to take care of it on week-long stays so for us it was always going to be that. I think the romance of doing a holiday let is somewhat extinguished if you take on a permanent tenant. Then you become a landlord and we do not see ourselves as landlords, we ourselves trying to give people nice holidays, it’s a bit more fun doing it this way.
What is your experience of using Sykes Holiday Cottages?
Stephen: We went with an agency because we needed that infrastructure behind the property, when you have a family life to live as well, we didn’t want to have to take on all the customer admin. But also, Sykes are better than me at marketing, they’ll be better at dealing with customers than me, they’re more informed about how to price it, and they collect the feedback constructively, I feel you kind of need that.
What makes this area of the UK so special to you?
Stephen: North Wales is one of the best places on the planet. It’s beautiful, the coastline is amazing, and the sea is friendly in places, albeit cold. You can come to ‘The Boathouse’ here and do nothing, you can sit on the couch and look at the view for seven days, you’ll feel relaxed, rejuvenated and you will go home satisfied. Or you can come here, jump off cliffs, you can go canoeing, can go water skiing, can play golf, you can go to restaurants.
Holidays are here to be made on the basis of what people want to do. The good thing is, we have all that here and in a place like ‘The Boathouse’, you can do nothing and be happy or you can do loads and be happy.
Jack Price, Holiday Let Content Writer
