To the lighthouse: Couple buy dream historic hotel with life savings
John Harris and Helen Mason who've swapped Sheringham for Scotland where they've bought a remote hotel adjoined to a working lighthouse. - Credit: Supplied
A Norfolk couple quit their jobs to buy a remote 19th century Scottish lighthouse hotel 400 miles away from home.
The Corsewall Lighthouse Hotel. - Credit: Supplied
Helen Mason, 60, and partner John Harris, 62, from Sheringham purchased the Corsewall Lighthouse hotel which is situated in the keeper's original home.
The property adjoins the lighthouse tower built in 1815 by the engineer grandfather of famous Treasure Island author Robert Louis Stevenson.
The hotel has also hosted guests such as Hollywood movie star Gerard Butler.
It's perched on the northern coast of a peninsula, the Rhins of Galloway, in the south-west of Scotland.
You may also want to watch:
Ms Mason, a former head of music services for young people, and Mr Harris, a BT IT manager and professional photographer, gave up their jobs to relocate there.
It's currently closed because of coronavirus restrictions.
Most Read
- 1 Police condemn 'blatant' lockdown breaches as 160 fined
- 2 MP moves to reassure public as film crew hires out village homes
- 3 'Travel bible' names Norfolk beaches in list of UK's best
- 4 Dispute over coastal holiday park plans
- 5 'They think they can get away with it' - crowds flock to seaside village
- 6 100 cannabis plants found at three neighbouring properties in village
- 7 Man dies after rescue operation to cardiac arrest call
- 8 Parts of north Norfolk coast stay quiet in first weekend after roadmap
- 9 Popular heritage railway to reopen in April
- 10 Lifeboat called to four people and dog stranded off the coast
Ms Mason said: “We came up here and stayed in a friend’s bothy about eight years ago, saw the area and fell in love with it. We almost forgot about it but once Covid hit, we decided that the time was right for us to make a change.
“When we saw the hotel was for sale, we realised it could be the ideal opportunity.
"It’s perfect for John’s photography. After spending a week there in the summer we were sure this is what we wanted.”
Set in one of Scotland’s most spectacular stretches of coastline, the lighthouse played host to Gerard Butler who filmed blockbuster The Vanishing there. The property has en-suite rooms, a restaurant and five holiday cottages.
The couple don’t actually own the working lighthouse, which is operated by the Northern Lighthouse Board but they are hoping to open it up for tours.
The Corsewall Lighthouse Hotel in Scotland. - Credit: Christie & Co
“It’s a hidden gem,” said Mr Harris, who was a coastguard in Sheringham. “During the Second World War, the lighthouse was blackened with soot to hide it from German bombers. But the Luftwaffe accidentally bombed it anyway, mistaking it for key military targets across the Irish Sea in Belfast."
And the couple are undeterred by worries of how Covid may affect their new business. Mr Harris said: “People are looking for boutique hotels in slightly remote locations and, living in a post-Brexit Britain, I think people will not want to travel abroad as much as they have done."
The couple put £400,000 of their life savings towards the purchase of the property, for sale for around £450,000, and secured a commercial mortgage from specialist finance group Together.
