Property

New Price £459,950 – No Onward Chain
Period Features Throughout
Lounge, Dining Room, Breakfast Kitchen, Separate Utility Room
4 Bedrooms consisting of 2 Double Bedrooms downstairs, 1 single Bedroom/Study, Bathroom & Cloakroom
Bedroom 3 Upstairs with Sitting Room and En-suite Bathroom
Driveway for 3 Cars
Integrated Double Garage
Well Maintained Private Gardens
Predominately Double Glazing
Gas Fired Central Heating
Manx Telecom Fibre Optic Broadband
Note:  Dining Room could be 5th Bedroom if so required

Agents Comments:  ‘The cottage has been the subject of major refurbishment indoors in recent years including complete rewire and central heating with condensing boiler installed by Manx Gas. Roof insulation has also been installed. Connected to Manx Telecoms Fibre-optic broadband & VOIP’.

Viewing by appointment only with Manxmove 619966

SITUATION  Leaving Ramsey in the direction of Maughold follow the Coast Road for approximately 2/3 mile taking the first turning on the left into Maughold.  Continue over the tram tracks and past the turning to the beach and turn left into The Colony where Grey Cot will be found a short distance along on the left hand side identifiable by the white gate.

ACCOMMODATION

ENTRANCE  Beautiful Clematis climbing above the half glazed hardwood door opening into the porch.

PORCH   Quarry tiled floor.  Inset foot mat.  Windows to the front and to the side. Beautiful coloured glass and leadwork in the inner door which opens into :

HALLWAY  High ceiling with cornicing.  Period door with glazing above opening into :

LOUNGE (approx. 14’3 x 12’0)  Welcoming room with triple aspect windows overlooking the colourful gardens and rear driveway.  Attractive cornicing.  Fireplace with working open fire with marble hearth, marble slips and wooden mantel over.

DINING ROOM (approx. 11’6 x 10’0)  Lovely size dining room with window to the side.  Original cornicing.

KITCHEN BREAKFAST ROOM (approx. 15’5 x 14’2)   Fitted with a range of base and wall mounted units with contrasting worksurface.  Rangemaster Toledo cooking range.  Additional built in cupboards. Space and plumbing for a washing machine and a dishwasher.  Space for a fridge/freezer. Picture window overlooking the front garden.  Door into :

UTILITY ROOM  (approx 14’3 x 5’0 max)  Fitted with base units with stainless steel sink and worksurfaces.  Space for a tumble dryer and a freezer. Built in shelving.  Half glazed rear door leading to courtyard.

INTEGRATED DOUBLE GARAGE  (approx 20’0 x 14’7)  Up and over electric door.  Window to the side.  Built in shelving. Space for work bench.

BEDROOM 1   (approx. 11’6 x 10’0)  Spacious double bedroom, again immaculately presented.  Built in triple wardrobes with storage above.  Window to the side.  Coved ceiling.

BEDROOM 2  (approx 11’5 x 10’2)  Lovely double bedroom with coved ceiling and window to the side.

BATHROOM  (approx 7’0 x 8’2 max)  Fitted with a spa bath with a shower screen and electric MIRA Sport shower.  Wash hand basin with storage below, above and to either side.  Low flush W.C.  Window to the front.

SEPARATE W.C.  Wash hand basin.  Low flush W.C.  Window to the front.  Coved ceiling and picture rail.

BEDROOM 4  (approx 11’3 x 7’0)  Study area with two windows to the front.

Contemporary alternative tread stair to first floor 

SITTING AREA  (approx. 10’10 x 9’2)  Sitting area with dormer bay window to the front.  Initial restricted headroom.  Built in wardrobes.  Access to eaves storage

BEDROOM 3  (approx  9’6 x 11’3)  Velux window with blind.  Chimney breast.

BATHROOM   (approx. 9’3 x 11’1)  Nice size bathroom fitted with a panelled bath with mixer tap and hand held shower attachment.  Wash hand basin set on a vanity unit with storage cupboard and drawers.  White low flush W.C.  Velux window with blind.  Access to eaves storage.

OUTSIDE From opening the front gate it’s clear that the owners take great care of the property and the gardens, they are immaculate and beautifully presented. There is also a Summerhouse for the garden equipment and seating etc.  Mature hedging provides privacy and established plants and flowers to the borders. There is a delightful lovely courtyard to the side with York stone paving and gravel inclusions that’s private and enjoys the sunshine. Gated driveway for three cars.

INCLUSIONS   Floor coverings.

RATES   £174.00 Rateable – £1222.40 Annually.  For latest rateable value please contact the Rates Office on 685661.

Historical Provenance of the property

Grey Cot is a unspoiled hidden gem.  A 1908 Edwardian country cottage with an interesting Arts and Crafts historical provenance.  It was designed by a Chartered Architect, Bernard W H Brameld FRIBA, the senior partner of Brameld & Smith, Salford, Manchester.  Mr Brameld had, at that time, a second home at Maughold. He received his commission from the Hon James G Groves DL MP, also of Salford, who had become first acquainted with the Island when he was sent to it by his family to finish his private education.

James Groves was a wealthy man of business as well as political influence.  He was Chairman and Managing Director of Groves & Witnall Ltd of Salford, the brewery firm. He, like Bernard Brameld, also had a second home on the Island. Lewaigue Cottage at Slieu Lewaigue.

In March 1907 Mr Groves purchased 5 acres on the Gob-ny-Rona peninsular from the Port Lewaigue Estates Co Ltd on which to erect several Arts and Crafts dwellings, including Grey Cot, for his family’s private interests. The design of the other houses, and one which he subsequently occupied himself with his family as a second home, was similarly entrusted to Bernard Brameld, whose other work on the Island around this period include The Dhoon Church Hall and Sunday School at Glen Mona. All the building work in The Colony was undertaken by Mr R G Corkhill of Ramsey.

The Manx National Heritage library contains a guide book about these dwellings – referred to as ‘Villas,’ in the Isle of Man Examiner edition of 17 August 1907 – produced for the visit to The Colony by the Manchester Group of the Victorian Society in 1982 who also viewed other notable Arts and Crafts dwellings on the Island.

The Colony, named as such by Mr Groves, is a made-up, private and gated carriageway. Grey Cot stands in The Colony on a corner plot screened, and hidden as such, by mature mixed evergreen hedging and lying in an enviable sheltered position in the lee of the Maughold Hills – in spite of its immediate walking proximity to the sea, Ramsey Bay and the coastal path on the Maughold Brooghs.  The Brooghs were subsequently bequeathed by the Groves family after WWII to the then Manx National Trust.

The plinth-stoned wet-dash finished elevations with the double raking buttress to Grey Cot stand beneath three attractive conjoined green Westmoreland slate covered pitched chimney gabled roofs high- lighted by the leaded eye-browed dormered window serving the attic rooms with which Grey Cot was originally provided. These, and the other typical Arts and Crafts features of Grey Cot, are carried indoors. Here the rooms with many of the unspoilt joinery and plaster features of the period, including the vestibule lead-light screen, can only be fully appreciated by a first- hand visit.

20 May 2021

Copyright: Stephen L Meadows FRICS