Penny Churchill takes a look at Skerryvore House in Cornwall.
Few places demonstrate in such dramatic and picturesque fashion the oldest property adage of the lot — location, location, location — as Skerryvore House.
It’s a Cornish house in a spot which makes you wonder how an architect ever managed to create a building quite so close to cliffs so steep — and also makes you admire the nerve (and head for heights) of its occupants.
Jack Greenwood of Lillicrap Chilcott in Truro (01872 395949) is handling the £2m sale of landmark Skerryvore House at Newquay, a substantial 1930s villa built on a one-acre site overlooking the town’s famous Towan surf beach, with dramatic views along the coast from Newquay Harbour to Stepper Point.
Mr Greenwood ‘offers in excess of £2m’ for this extraordinary coastal property, which offers, he says, ‘huge scope for redevelopment of the main house into a stunning main or second home, as well as for multiple dwellings, subject to all necessary consents’.
Now in need of ‘extensive refurbishment’, the house was acquired by its present owner through Lillicrap Chilcott in 2016, with the intention of renovating the house for himself.
Unfortunately, a subsequent change in his personal circumstances meant that his plans for Skerryvore had to be put on hold, hence his reluctant decision to sell.
In its current form, Skerryvore House provides an entrance hall, sitting room, dining room, kitchen/breakfast room and a bedroom wing with three double bedrooms, all en suite, on the ground floor, plus two further large bedrooms on the second floor.
The grounds offer parking, lawned gardens, decking and hot tub, a studio/workshop and an adjoining one-bed apartment.
As dramatic as it is, it’s not quite unique. From the top of the cliff a tiny footbridge dangles above the sand to another rocky outpost, on top of which lies another house.
That one is not for sale — at least, not at the moment — but it’s nice to know that you’d have neighbours every bit as lucky as you with whom to compare notes on the morning sunrise.
Skerryvore House is for sale via Lillicrap Chilcott — see more details or enquire with the agent.
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