If you tell your friends and family you are off to Starbucks, they will probably think that you are coming back home with a takeaway latte and some hot fruit toast, or sitting in the cafe meeting friends or doing some work 'on the go'.
But if you tell them that the shopping trip is going to cost at least £153,000 and could take many weeks, then they are definitely going to know they have made a mistake or misheard you.
And they would be right, because this shopping trip is all about bidding and hopefully securing at auction a rarely available cottage in a popular rural village situated on Starbuck Street.
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The distinctive mid-terrace home is called Gwyn-Y-Garth Cottage and dates back to around 1888. The colourful abode is a bit of a rare beast in this village, as properties on the market for less than the Wales national average of £213,000 according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) are not a regular occurrence.
It is going to auction with a minimum opening bid of £153,000 and a guide price of £170,000 but of course it could go for more due to the rarity of more affordable homes in the village that is a pretty base to call home and commute to Cardiff, Newport and even Bristol.
According to property portal Rightmove, there was only sale within the boundaries of this characterful village nestled with the wooded landscape north of Cardiff but in the county borough of Caerphilly and that was a three-bed terrace which sold for £185,000.
In 2020 there were five property sales and 23 within the last seven years, according to Rightmove. The majority of sales in Rudry during the last year were semi-detached properties, selling for an average price of £230,000. However the village and its surrounding lanes are well-known on the local property market as being locations to find large character or contemporary homes.
The last of these semi-rural stunners to be snapped up was a five-bed detached converted barn that sold in July 2021 for £885,000. This was the most expensive house in and around the village to sell in the last six years, but the most expensive house in and around the village to hit the market and change owners was The Retreat, which sold for £950,000 in 2016.
As well as always wanting you to make you fancy a coffee, the house is well positioned to enjoy the surrounding woodland and countryside walking trails including the Rhymney Valley Ridgeway Walk and mountain bike routes that meander through the stunning scenery, as well as climbing the 222-metre high Rudry Mountain where the views make the payment of sweat while you ascend well worth it.
After a day out enjoying the local landscape, or not, the well-known destination pub called The Maenllwyd Inn is waiting to feed and refresh you and such is the pull of this pub it is regularly visited by the population of the nearby villages, towns and cities.
The home for sale could also prove to be ideal for stargazers, with space over three floors culminating in a room in the loft with rooflights that provide a perfect portal to the stars with little or no light pollution from the small village to get in the way of the drama.
Angie Davey, of Newport-based Paul Fosh Auctions, said: "This gorgeous, mid terrace character cottage is presented in good order throughout and situated in the sought-after village of Rudry. The accommodation is over three floors and provides lounge diner, kitchen to the ground floor, three bedrooms and bathroom to the first floor and an attic.
"The rear garden is hard landscaped with the benefit of access to a garage from the garden with vehicular access via the rear lane. There is scope to convert the garage into an office annexe subject to the necessary consents."
The colourful facade of the house boldly combines the tone of terracotta with turquoise and the street scene is all the better for it, injecting it with personality and uplifting colour. Inside, the house can match its promise of being unique with an open-plan lounge diner that has two fireplace areas, exposed cottage-style beams, classic and vintage cottage furniture pieces flanked by a wall of green that surely relates to the stunning woodland scenery that surrounds the home.
The kitchen diner has a set of French doors out to the garden terrace and upstairs the cottage inspired interior design continues with tactile, stripped internal doors and furniture and splashes of pretty floral patterns. Arguably one of the highlights of this welcoming and wonderfully unique home is the roll-top slipper bath that adds a touch of luxury.
"Rudry is a small village located to the east of Caerphilly in Wales but as a community Rudry also contains the villages of Draethen, Garth and Waterloo. It has a rural location, surrounded by woods and walks and has history too - it is thought that English parliamentarian, Oliver Cromwell, took shelter in the local St James's church, which has existed in the village since the 13th century.
"The property, in addition to making a delightful character family home or investment could also lend itself to a holiday home or Airbnb and is to be sold with vacant possession."
The next Paul Fosh Auctions sale, when this property will be offered for sale with a guide price of £170,000 plus starts at noon on Tuesday, August 30 at noon and ends on Thursday, September 1, at 5pm.
For further information, call Paul Fosh Auctions on 01633 254044. And don't miss the best dream homes in Wales, renovation stories, and interiors - join the Amazing Welsh Homes newsletter, sent to your inbox twice a week.
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