‘Country Cottages Can Be Glam, Too'

Rachel and Manuel Nogueira’s Cornwall home mixes laid-back, family-friendly practicality with some very grown-up luxury and polish

Rachel Nogueira has had a long love affair with Cornwall. ‘We used to camp on the beach here as students and I’d gaze longingly at the beautiful houses and say to myself, “one day…”,’ she says. Initially, Cornish properties looked beyond their budget, but Rachel kept an eye on the market and one day a house came up at a price they could afford. ‘We arrived early for the viewing. About 100m from the house there were sand dunes. We walked over the top of them and there was the sea! At that moment it wouldn’t have mattered what the house was like, we were going to buy it.’

‘It was a classic English cottage, 400 years old, Grade II listed, with an inglenook fireplace and wood burner. It needed a bit of TLC but we loved it, although, as he is 6ft tall, Manuel would have preferred higher ceilings!’