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A hiker and their dog hiking in the mountains of the Lake District

We caught up with the owners of one of our lovely cottages in Windermere: Hazelnut cottage, to find out more about their journey from buying a holiday cottage, to working with us at Lakelovers and bringing their property to the lettings market.


1. Tell us about your choice of Hazelnut Cottage, what led you to purchase the property and did you do any research around the location?

We loved Hazelnut Cottage straight away, seeing through its very dated interior and realising how much potential it had. Having lived locally for most of our lives we knew that the traditional appearance of the cottage, coupled with an excellent village centre location and even its own private parking space would appeal to so many guests as it did ourselves!

The garden of Hazlenut Cottage

2. Did you always think of it as an investment holiday let?

It was always our intention to holiday let it, having had some experience in this field previously.

3. Did you have a lot of renovation and decorating work to do, and how did that go for you, if you were living away from the Lakes?

We managed to purchase the property in the early part of 2020 and were busy planning extensive renovations when lockdown hit and work was unable to begin. As soon as we were able we began work, my dad (a time served joiner by trade), being ably assisted by our nephew, William.

We did almost everything you can think of, new windows and doors, we tanked the cellar to create two usable basement rooms, removed a staircase to create an en-suite bathroom for the master bedroom, knocked walls out to create a larger living space, re-wired, added new radiators right through, completely renovated the family bathroom, a new kitchen went in and then decorating, new carpets, beds, soft furnishings and everything else which followed to ensure it was kitted out as well as we possibly could! Phew.

As we live locally we were able to project manage the renovation with relative ease, using contacts we already had in the area, the only thing that held us up was Covid!

4. We love your interior design!  Did you do everything at Hazelnut Cottage yourselves or did you have an Interior Designer?

Thank you! Yes, we did it all ourselves, using well trusted local companies along the way who have supplied items for our own home. We wanted our cottage to be really comfortable and unique in its look so have lovely bright pops of colour.

The headboards, lampshades and blinds all came from Inkwood Interiors in Kendal and nearly all the furniture from Home Designs in Kendal finding it best to support local businesses who were both beyond helpful. We also commissioned the 2 oil canvases in the lounge area from Mark Brierley Art, a local artist and friend and hope you agree they are a lovely finishing touch.

Living room in Hazlenut Cottage featuring a Mark Brierley painting.

5. What were you looking for in your letting agent?

We really needed the cottage to work for us financially after the investment we had made renovating it to the standard we have and so we were mainly looking for an agent who had a good local presence and who we felt would be able to market the cottage to its best potential.

6. What made you choose Lakelovers? Was there any individual person who worked hard on your behalf you’d like to mention?

In the end it was down to the friendly and helpful service and suggestions that helped us along the way from Marie (Holland) in the Windermere office. She even came up with the idea of how to create the en-suite! We were also convinced that the marketing power held by Lakelovers would stand us in good stead to maximise the potential of the cottage.

Hazlenut Cottage Bathroom

7. How was the process from gathering information, to our visit and then signing up with us?

Easy peasy! Marie had everything to hand, photographed the cottage beautifully and communicated with us really well throughout the process, making sure we had all our health & safety certificates lined up

Amazing! We are absolutely delighted; we have been literally totally full since the day we opened the door to guests with the exception of 1 or 2 days here and there. We had to block the cottage off so we could spring clean, touch up some paint etc ready for the coming season or we knew there would be no availability!

We are full until the end of this year bar a few days at the end of November and beginning of December and think these could well fill up with short break bookings nearer the time as they did last year.

Hazelnut Cottage Dining Room

10. We are always striving to surprise and delight our guests. Are there any little touches or extras you added to Hazelnut Cottage  which you’d recommend other Owners to consider, which surprise and delight your guests?

We think one of the best things we did when setting up the cottage was the ‘games room’ in the cellar. Here we have a huge flat screen TV with DVD player and large selection of DVD’s, dart board and Subbuteo football table. Nearly all guests remark on how much they have loved this – especially our family groups (which make up the vast majority of our bookings).

We also put a welcome letter we have written ourselves in the cottage every week – next to a large bowl of toffees – which is just a little hello from us and some little tips about the cottage and area.

Lastly, we also pop a little welcome basket in, with locally made items such as jam, Kendal mintcake, handmade chocolates from Hutton’s of Bowness and local tea or coffee. People really appreciate the little touches which we are lucky to be able to offer living so near to Hazelnut.

Hazelnut Cottage Kitchen

11. Where would you recommend your guests visit when in Windermere: any favourite or unusual restaurants, bars, or tourist attractions you’d recommend?

Our very favourite spot in Windermere for brunch, lunch or a cake has to be Homeground (next to the petrol station), it never disappoints. An ice-cream from The Little Ice-Cream shop is also not to be missed! We like to eat at Boardwalk, right on the lake in Bowness, superb steaks & delicious weekly specials as well as burgers with twists.

For family adventures in the summer we recommend guests get out on the Lake. Our kids love to paddle board, kayak and swim but for teenagers we would highly recommend Windermere Wakesurfing for great fun and the opportunity to try something new. Lake cruises are also to be enjoyed all year round and give you a totally different perspective of the scenery.

Hazelnut Cottage TV Room

12. And where’s your favourite walk in the area?

Our favourite walk, which we do as a couple and as a family group, takes in several of the best views in the area and is known locally as the ‘Windermere 5 Peaks’! It can be enjoyed as one longer walk or the 5 ‘Peak’s’ can be done individually so it is really versatile and suitable for all.

The walk begins in Windermere, taking in Orrest Head viewpoint, walking on to School Knott, little known Grandsire, Brantfell and finishing on Post Knott. 


Feeling inspired to stay? Book Hazelnut Cottage today!