SEA CHANGE

Chasing a dream to live by the sea, Jane and John Banbury seized a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to turn a smugglers’ cottage into a holiday bolthole

- MAGGIE COLVIN

When the purchase of a seaside home in Sussex fell through, the Banburys were devastated. It had been their dream to buy a house by the water. ‘Rather than putting us off, it refuelled our determination,’ says Jane. ‘We started looking further afield.’

So, when a one-time smugglers’ cottage came up for sale online, they took a five-hour drive from Kent to Lee Beach, a tiny hamlet near Ilfracombe in Devon, famed for its historical links with smugglers.

‘We already knew the house from a previous visit – the pretty façade of the cottage had stuck in our minds for years,’ Jane says. ‘It was a beautiful summer’s day when we arrived to view it. Our girls went off to explore the rock pools and I took a photo of them, which turned out to be the best one I’ve ever taken. That proved to me that we were destined to live here. We were intensely aware of being offered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and we grabbed it.’

The property had been used in different ways over the centuries. The most recent owners had run a tearoom, while others had a shop and a tiny museum devoted to memorabilia featuring stories of local smugglers. ‘I fell in love with the beautiful views, then the historic connections and cosy proportions of the rooms,’ says Jane. The bones of the house were fine, although there were two modern bathrooms and laminate floors, which didn’t sit happily with its historic origins. Outside, a long, covered loggia divided into three provided sheltered alfresco living space.