Cornwall has a lot of coast

Widemouth Bay by simpologist

One of my reasons for moving to Cornwall is that there one is never all that far from the sea - the question I find myself asking is whether I want to actually be beside the sea or whether simply being in Cornwall will be sufficient.

Truro

Truro Cathedral by trueclearlight

My next-door neighbour has recommended Truro as a lovely small city. I did a flickr search and this photo was the first up - lovely isn't it! And it was uploaded on the 19th January - which just happens to be the birthday of the first person I knew from Cornwall - I still remember her delight at university when we had snow - she'd rarely seen it before. So all good omens so far :-)

Primelocation currently has 215 properties listed in and around Truro. (Plus 30 that are under offer). Though their idea of near Truro is rather larger than I'd like at least with their map view its clear where things are. -very useful for someone like me planning to move to an area where my geography is even more patchy than usual.

In the dream category are:

At a guide price of £1,150,000, location given as Truro though looks like its nearer St. Agnes, somewhere near Mithian/Mithian Downs

A secluded country retreat with letting income situated in a hidden valley near the coast. 4 bedroom period cottage, second dwelling, holiday cottage and apartment, garage and workshop, gardens with trout stream and paddock.

Stags

It has 6.7 acres some of which is woodland.

At a guide price of £1,100,000, St. Erme

Formerly part of the neighbouring Resugga Farmhouse, Starlight Barn is much more than just a beautiful barn conversion. It comprises a spacious 5 bedroom family home with three letting cottages and an office/studio, perfect for those looking for that idyllic country living.

A former grain store has been carefully and sympathetically converted to provide a pleasant and flexible country home with much attention to detail and complemented by its gorgeous south facing gardens and grounds including a paddock, arboretum and 3.5 acre field suitable for horses.

Savills

The names of the buildings are very new age: Starlight Barn, Light House, Sunlight Cottage, Moonlight Studio.

In all about 6.5 acres.

...t.b.c

St. Agnes

2006-10-29 Chapel Porth 41 by kernowseb

St. Agnes is described thus by one of the estate agents, Miller Countrywide:

St Agnes is a very popular vibrant coastal village situated on Cornwall’s scenic north coast with good local facilities including a range of interesting shops, cafes, restaurants, public houses and hotels open all year round. The village is an old fishing and mining community, a beautiful sandy beach at Chapel Porth and a second beach at Trevaunance Cove, both of which are popular with surfers.

I'd considered St. Agnes before but I'm distinctly worried by the degree of old mine workings there - I don't want a house that collapses into an old tunnel. However in looking for possible eco-houses I've found this one which is a new build in St. Agnes:

West Polberro, 3 bedroom detached, Guide Price £475,000 (on primelocation its given as OIEO)

This house does pretty well on the eco front:

• Use of local construction materials - e.g. stone recovered from the site
• Solar panels pre-heat the thermal store for hot water and underfloor heating
• Rainwater is used to flush the loos and for the washing machine
• Heat recovery stops loss of heat from ventilation fans

Less impressive:

• Space for an American style fridge-freezer - I've never soon one of these that is efficient!
  
• The third bedroom is tiny. And the second isn't large.
  
• Only double, not triple glazing (assumption based on not being mentioned as triple and all new windows must be double these days)
• No garage and no mention of off-road parking.
• Small gardens with little growing space and no mention of rainwater collection for watering of garden plants.
• No green house.
  
• No mention of systems to cool the house - it may be sufficiently well-insulated that it won't get too hot in the summer but without a rating being given that's hard to judge
  

There is nothing in the details to show how this building measures up on the new Energy Performance ratings which is a shame as I'd like to know just how much better it is than the average house. Especially as I regard this one as being expensive for a 2/3 bedroom house. It will need to save a great deal of money to make it worth the mark-up from a purely economic point of view. Though its location might make up for that - it seems to have lovely views.

However the biggest strike against it for us is that it seems to have rather small gardens - not consistent with the grow your own vegetables life style that I see as going with an eco-house. I've not seen them but when I've asked the agent I just got yet another pdf of the brochure and the developer has yet to reply.

Some of the other houses currently available in St. Agnes:

• Wheal Kitty, 5 bedroom detached, Two annexes Guide Price £795,000 This one seems to have gone now. 31 dec 07
• 4 bedroom house OIRO £725,000 - very close to a beach
• Wheal Friendly, 3 bedroom cottage, £600,000 - this one has its own engine house!
• 3 bedrooms detached bungalow with land (3 acres) Guide Price of £450,000
• Middlegates, 3 bed detached bungalow Asking price of £310,000 This one seems to have gone now. 31 dec 07
  

Padstow

"Padstow_S00973" by Ennor

Many people now associate Padstow with Rick Stein and the lack of lobsters available locally since he ate them all! Maybe I've got that slightly wrong... I don't eat lobster myself... ;-) It does seem to still be a working fishing port so there must be some fish left.

Cornwall's north coast beaches seem to also be good for surf - but again that's something else I don't actually do - though its wonderful to watch (for a short while!).

Padstow looks photogenic.

There are currently 61 properties on rightmove in Padstow. (N.B. There are several that are the same property on with different agents - no idea how many distinct ones there are.)

I'm not getting an urge to live there right now - but then I've not visited it yet...

"Padstow, Cornwall" by John Tobin

St. Ives

2006-01-25 "Godrevy breaks 49" by kernowseb

St Ives is a wonderful mixture of art and surf. Barbara Hepworth's house and garden and the Tate at St. Ives, not to mention all the artists currently living there - go in September to see loads of open studios, during the 2 week long festival which includes music as well as art events.

"Hepworth Squared" by mind the goat

In many ways this would be my first choice of place to live - the only drawback is just how popular and busy it gets. Also the problems of driving in it let alone parking... It is also extremely expensive. Oh and how steep it is - if one lives up the top its a long and steep way down to the beach.

St. Mawes

my crop of "IMGP2192" by richardk

This looks like a beautiful place to holiday in. Whether it would be good to live there is not so obvious.

Ideal for people with small boats. Lots of chances of sea/ river views. Some beach though the harbour is more obvious.

Expensive...

One of the (expensive) estate agents, Savills, describes it thus:

St. Mawes is centred around its small stone harbour and has its own beaches, sailing club, moorings, castle and a handful of good pubs and restaurants, including of course, Olga Polizzi's Hotel Tresanton, which continues to lure the rich and famous.

"Passing St Mawes Castle" by Drewhound