Imagine strolling back to your home only a few minutes from one of the most wonderful beaches in Wales after a day of relaxing, socialising and water-based activities to be greeted by one of the most wonderful style of period properties in history.
From the stunning sandy shore of the Blue Flag award winning Port Eynon beach to one of the prettiest properties not only in the village but on Gower peninsula, there's an armchair in front of the fireplace in the cosy front room waiting for you. It's a tantalising proposition and one that many people can get behind.
Port Eynon beach is a popular spot with families thanks to its mile long stretch of soft, golden sand that is deemed by The Beach Guide to be a 'safe' beach, which is also easily accessible, has parking and is well-served by camping and caravan sites, as well as a fish and chip shop with the best sea views.
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For people who are up for something a bit more strenuous than sand castle building, bathing and exploring the sand dunes that back onto the beach, activities to try at this beautiful slice of Gower heaven include surfing, sailing, kayaking, canoeing and wind sailing.
The beach is able to offer a slipway into the water as well as onsite toilets, a lifeguard during the summer season and refreshments. But if this pretty thatched cottage is your character-packed abode, it's only a short distance to stroll from the sand to your front door to provide your own facilities.
Reviews on website Trip Advisor share the love of this beach and Gower village across the world, with one review summing it up clearly, saying 'Just beautiful!!!! There are no words for how lovely a place this is. Warm sea, soft clean sand and blue skies. Hard to beat.'
For socialising or exploring the small number of roads that house your neighbours, there's a stroll across the sandy bay to one end of the bay to the village of Horton, plus of course the village that surrounds this period thatched house in Port Eynon has a number of inviting pubs and cafes.
Website Enjoy Gower states that the history of the village goes back centuries and is thought to be named after the 11th century Welsh prince, Eynon. The church of St Cattwg dates back to Norman times, although renovated and updated in the 19th century when the village was a thriving hub of fishermen, mariners and quarry men.
On the bay's headland you can explore the ruins of the 16th century Port Eynon Salt House that website Coflein states represent salt-collecting reservoirs, a boiling house and three stone lined chambers.
It appears the building was abandoned and partly demolished in around 1650, and had to wait until the 1980s to be excavated, revealed and subsequently enjoyed by daily visitors.
But the history of this area includes shipwrecks and smugglers too. The Enjoy Gower website states: 'Around the headland to the west is Culver Hole, built into a deep fissure in the cliffs. A man-made cave, possibly associated with the long-vanished Port Eynon castle, it appears to have served as a smugglers' den, armoury and dovecot, and there is supposed to be a lost secret passage under the headland to the Salt House'.
There is evidence that the area has long given seafarers a brush with potential danger out to sea, away from the shelter of the headland and into the fierce cross currents and frequently heavy seas.
The most recent and so therefore most memorable was in 1981 when the Prince Ivanhoe, with 400 passengers on board, struck a submerged reef off Port Eynon Point and had to be run aground at Horton. The abandoned wreck succumbed to the winter weather and began to break up. A salvage operation began to remove as much of the hazard as possible. Two orange buoys still mark the undersea remains of the wreck.
Nature can be a constant and enthralling neighbour if you are lucky enough to call this village your home, including the complex of beach sand dunes, the National Trust-owned limestone headland known as Port Eynon Point, and of course the stunning beach and foam topped waves.
Billed by review websites as 'the most spectacularly wild stretch of coast in the whole of Gower' the rugged cliffs between the village and Rhossili along the coast attracts flocks of walkers in the summer, and could be your daily invigorating exercise if you make the charming Rose Cottage your new home by the sea.
Tucked away along a quiet residential lane off the main road through the village down to the seashore, Rose Cottage nestles amongst period properties and opposite the historic church. As soon as you arrive its pretty garden sets a delightful coastal cottage scene that includes an ornamental fish pond and stone pathway to the thatched porch.
There is plenty of onsite parking to the side of the cottage that includes an electric car charging point, and the attractive outdoor space then continues at the rear via a south westerly facing garden.
This attractive rear garden has multiple places to sit and relax as well as multiple levels that gently transport you up the garden path, literally. These levels and the abundance of planting provides an oasis of natural beauty and tranquillity, no doubt regularly visited by refreshing sea breezes, as well as family and friends.
And if you did live here you'd better get used to the door bell ringing because as soon as everyone knows you live in a spot that is the most southerly point on Gower peninsula and within the designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty just minutes from the beach, they'll be turning up.
But if you can't get rid of them, there are up to three bedrooms at this charming abode, so an overnight stay is an option. The spot is such a lovely place to park yourself, it's likely you'll have trouble getting them to leave.
The cottage is thought to date back to the late 17th century and inside it doesn't disappoint on character, serving up a yummy plate full of period features. In the living room there's a huge inglenook fireplace that happily houses a substantial log burner and includes a slate topped step which must be a delightful place to park yourself next to the fire during the cold winter evenings.
This cosy and characterful room also includes exposed ceiling beams, oak flooring, and a broken plan connection via an arched open doorway and partial dividing wall removal to create an arched internal 'window' into the kitchen diner at the back of the cottage.
It's a clever way to connect the two sociable spaces, plus share light and garden views between the front and back of the cottage, without too much destruction and structural work. The kitchen diner is a very welcoming space, with a wall of glass doors and floor-to-ceiling windows creating a seamless visual and physical flow between the eating zone and the garden patio.
The Shaker-style, soft grey toned kitchen has a range of integrated appliances as well as an electric Aga in an eye-catching royal blue shade, plus limestone flooring that changes to engineered 'aged oak' in the dining and seating area.
The room on the opposite side of the central oak staircase at the front of the cottage is currently set up as a more formal dining area but this versatile space could be dedicated to other functions such as a home office. The third bedroom, which is currently being used as a storage room, completes the main spaces on the ground floor.
Then the central staircase gets you to a separate shower room and two double bedrooms that can boast exposed beams, white-washed stone walls and the cutest of windows and fireplace spaces.
The master bedroom can boast an ensuite bathroom that includes brass fittings and beautiful blue wall tiles that subtly remind any occupant that the sea is a close neighbour of this charming abode, that is just waiting for a new owner to bring their own personal interior design style to the spaces inside - that's when they're not enjoying quality time at the beach at the end of the road.
Rose Cottage is on the market for £569,500 with estate agents Simpsons, call them on 01792 361144 to find out more. And don't miss the best dream homes in Wales, renovation stories and interiors, join the Amazing Welsh Homes newsletter which is sent to your inbox twice a week.
