This holiday cottage by the beach has a new life and its own wishing well after a major renovation by a young couple

“He said he thought we should buy it but I was against it because of the amount of work it would take. I’m not sure how but he managed to persuade me it would be a good idea,” says Victoria, who works for the NHS.

She channelled Kirsty and Phil’s catchphrase “location, location location” to help get her through the early stages of what was a mammoth project because, for all its challenges, she recognised that the property was in a prime spot.

It sits by the esplanade overlooking the lovely seafront in Redcar and while the age of the cottage was unknown, Victoria turned detective to find out as much as she could about its history.

She says: “It was minute and there was no bathroom and no kitchen, so it was hard to believe people had lived there like that but they did.

“I love history so I joined some local history groups online to research what I could about the house and a census showed that a lady lived there with her niece in the late 1800s and in the early 1920s, a man had lived there but it had been listed as not lived in since the 1940s.”

The original plan was to renovate and significantly extend the property and sell it as a family size home until Andrew started work on the building and began digging around the original foundations only to find a 27ft hole by the front door.

It turned out to be a centuries old well that was still full with crystal-clear water.

The discovery scuppered the plan to significantly extend the building to create a family size home so the couple changed tack and decided to put the property to use as a holiday let, whuch turned out to be a smart move given its impressive location.

Redcar has long hosted holidaymakers. The fishing village became a seaside resort for Victorian tourists thamks to the opening of the Middlesbrough to Redcar Railway in 1846. A pier and Redcar’s racecourse built in the 1870s added to its charm, followed later by amusememt arcades and a helter skelter.

It has lovely golden sands, a vertical pier known as the Beacon, and says Victoria: “Redcar is up and coming with a new cinema and a multi million pound hotel being built by the seafront.

“Plus it’s just a 15 minute drive to Saltburn-by-the-sea and a 40 minute drive to Whitby.”

The couple could’ve covered up the well but history lover Victoria was loathe to do that and instead came up with the brilliant idea of making it into a quirky feature in the hallway, based on its original use.

Andrew installed a pump to create a “wishing well” and added lights on the wall of the shaft before topping it off with protective glass.

Victoria says: "The brickwork in the well is absolutely amazing. It is made from handmade bricks, which are still immaculate.

“We've also got a little slot on the wall of the well so people can drop pennies in and make wishes and you can see right down to the bottom. Everyone loves it, especially children.”

While Andrew tackled the renovation, a small extension using the original bricks from an outbuilding and organising a connection to the grid to get an electricity supply to the cottage, Victoria got busy planning the interior design and sourcing everything that was needed, while also juggling her work for the NHS and looking after the couple’s two young children.

The layout includes a sitting room with a cosy, double-sided wood-burning stove that now boasts a mantle made from an old ship’s mast that Andrew found washed up on the beach.

Bay windows deliver sea views and there is a kitchen/dining room, a shower room, a bedroom with double bed and a second bedroom with a zip and link king-size bed that can be split into twin beds.

The flooring is hard-wearing Indian stone topped with large rugs and says Victoria “The stone is hard to clean but it is dog-proof.”

The walls are painted in neutral colours with the sitting room brightened by a triptych of prints of the sea, an autumnal wreath above the fireplace and a macrame wall-hanging.

The dining table and the sofas were investment items, made to last, from Barker and Stonehouse.

“We thought it was pointless spending money on sofas that wouldn’t last,” says Victoria, who has also invested in top quality beds and bedding from a hotel supplier.

Outside, there is an enclosed back garden with patio and garden furniture, hot tub, washing machine and dryer plus a bike store and dog shower. The couple also managed to acquire a small piece of land to create a parking space for one car.

An awful lot of hard work went into giving the derelict period building a new life but the time, effort and expense was worth it and the property has been reborn as Bute Cottage, a holiday let that is hugely popular.year round thanks to to its location, its interiors and amenities

“It’s a stone’s throw from the sea which helps plus it is dog friendly and the extra piece of land to create a gated parking space has really helped with bookings,” says Victoria, who adds: “We’ve had holiday makers and people visiting family staying here and we have some great reviews .

“I am glad Andrew persuaded me to buy the property. It brings a lot of joy to people who stay and it brings in an income for us.”

Bute Cottage is for let via www.cottages.com.