Luxury Holiday Homes In Northumberland and the Scottish Borders

Welcome to Sandcastle Cottages - our little holiday home business comprising of two very different but equally as charming holiday cottages in Coldingham in the Scottish Borders and Seahouses in Northumberland.  

To be honest, we never meant to set up a holiday home business, it just sort of happened as many good things do!  

Nick and I fell in love with Coldingham many years ago.  We'd not long been back in the UK after a year living out of rucksacks and visiting some of the most stunning beaches around the world when we stumbled across Coldingham beach on a hot and sunny afternoon.   We were both in awe of the stunning setting and couldn't believe we'd never visited despite only living a couple of hours away in Newcastle when this beach topped any of the tropical beaches we had visited on our travels.  

Fast forward a good few years, careers in PR and IT and three children later, when Nick spotted a cottage for sale on Coldingham beach called The Gegan. We went to view it and then did exactly what you're told not to do when buying a property and let our hearts do the talking and pretty soon we were the custodians of the cutest cottage on our favourite beach.  

But we had very little idea what we would do next.  Part of us wanted to move to Coldingham lock, stock and barrel but with jobs and family on Tyneside we made the decision to create  a holiday home we could share with others.  After a full renovation, it didn't take long for the bookings calendar to fill and I remember that first year forgetting to book any time for us to enjoy it and by the time I did, all the school holidays were booked solid - we definitely haven't made that mistake again and have enjoyed many happy summers with our friends and family on Coldingham beach!

Then along came Saltwell Cottage - a very different proposition.  This was a derelict detached bungalow in the bustling village of Seahouses.  We had holidayed in the area for years as my parents had had a caravan in neighbouring Bamburgh so we knew the place well and loved spending time there. This time however, our hearts would not get in the way of our heads as we had a plan:  buy this dilapidated house, renovate and extend it and then sell it on. Except the best laid plans often go awry and we never managed the latter! The more time I spent there, the more in love I became with the once derelict house and I just didn't want to let it go.  So rather than a quick renovation, Saltwell Cottage became a labour of love and we built two additional bedrooms and bathrooms in the roof to create a stylish, light filled 4 bedroom, 4 bathroom house right in the heart of the village - simply a perfect holiday let!

So here we are, running Sandcastle Cottages, our own small holiday cottage business that was never planned for but was absolutely meant to be and we are loving sharing our houses with wonderful guests from around the world.