Saturday 8th September 2012 Sally Shallam As soon as I’ve slung the car into a at work, and then with Watchet. On that Gripes? Dark roman blinds mean I have to parking spot, I’m following holidaymakers, wedding-plan trip they ended up buying choose between privacy or daylight, and beachbag-toting parents and children a holiday house, then, when the old bric-a- the extractor fan goes on for ever. swathed in multicoloured towels, flip- brac shop next door came up for sale they flopping towards the harbour. Just as the bought that too. Jobs were chucked and A quick blast up on to Exmoor, and dinner marina comes into view, so does a big, renovation began just after last Christmas. at The Culbone, a pub serving Brixham green steam engine, heaving and sighing This is their B&B’s first week in business. fish and moorland beef, then sleep. Mmm, its way into Watchet station. bed’s wonderful. Jason tells me all this in the flagstoned You’ve probably heard of Minehead – “shopfront”, perched at a wooden table Herby mushrooms and poached egg on home to Butlin’s and a wide sandy beach large enough to seat all eight guests (so toast, and fresh carrot and ginger juice go – and also Hinkley Point, the nuclear power a place for sociable types). The vibe is down very nicely in the morning. Never plant about 20 miles east of the resort, industrial-luxe, the walls dark slate – had breakfast sitting in a shop window but you might not have come across a shade I liked a lot more before this before… gosh, the Quantock Pharmacy is Watchet. The pint-sized harbour town is washout summer – and at the far end busy. “Wish you were here,” I scribble in poised on the rocky coastline between is a fat (grey) sofa, cast-iron fireplace, my notebook, thinking of London friends, the two, the Bristol Channel ahead of it, a Mickey Mouse figure in a glass case because Swain House is a rather chilled Exmoor behind. and shelves of design books. As guest place to be. sitting rooms go, it’s compact. I predict sunlounger-style sofa bagging at wine The vibe is industrial-luxe, the o’clock when all four rooms are full. walls dark slate – a shade I liked a lot more before this These are on the first and second floors: washout summer – and at the far larger rooms at the front, smaller ones end is a fat (grey) sofa, cast-iron overlooking pretty courtyard gardens at fireplace the back. My monochrome bedroom faces a quaint-looking chemist’s over the street and has a dressing area and bathroom The river Washford flows between with slipper bath, walk-in shower and cottages towards the sea, the heritage full-size REN products. West Somerset Railway runs down to the port, which dates back 1,000 years, and The only splash of colour is a picture wall, the tiny main street is a Victorian gem. but attention to detail comes in spades. Get to the point… where’s the B&B? In the Water in a stoppered bottle, a tea tray middle of that high street – an old shop, has sugar tongs and muffins in a paper by the look of things. I ring the bell. Here’s bag, the black wardrobe contains iron Jason Robinson at the door to let me in. and board and the TV is subtly placed. He and his wife, Annie, discovered the The shower has a recessed shelf and, joy, town while searching for a wedding venue. controls I can reach before stepping under Former creatives at Disney, they fell in love the shower head. December 2012 Four-Second Commute With a background as creatives in the in the Victorian period, with a floor kitchen and Jason decided to have Jason says: “When it came to what the Disney business it’s perhaps no surprise added above and an alley in between it capped. rooms would look like we made three that Jason and Annie Robinson have a them. The upper floors still bridge above Look Books using all sorts of ideas we flair for interior design. the passageway. Fortunately for the “One day I hope that the next person who found in magazines and other places. We Robinsons the building was not listed, renovates the place will find the well, researched all the materials online to get So when they decided to get into the B&B which Jason finds odd as most other which is why I wanted it capped rather costings and did extensive research on the business, it was with a view to creating properties in Watchet are at least Grade II. than filled in. I believe that it used to be colour scheme. something very out of the ordinary. outside the property but when it was The result is Swain House in Watchet, “The shop was on the market at £125,000. rebuilt in Victorian times it somehow came “We wanted to repaint the outside of both Somerset, a gem of a place to stay in a It was a wreck inside and not really suited to be inside. I don’t think it was used houses so they matched, and we had to perfect jewel of a town. to a developer. However, as soon as we after that.” get permission for that and it decided the made an offer other buyers came out of colour of the interiors. Watchet’s harbour is said to have inspired the woodwork and so it went to sealed In addition to all the refitting, there the opening lines of The Rime Of The bids. We put in a bid for £137,000 which were, of course, building regulations to “We went for a monochrome scheme with Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor was what we reckoned we could afford, comply with as well as soundproofing to Farrow and Ball’s Downpipe as one of the Coleridge, whose bronze statue now and it was accepted,” says Jason. be installed in order that the Robinsons’ main colours. We also bought the murals, overlooks the water. Otherwise, it’s pretty house would not be disturbed by the which are based on Old Master paintings, unknown. The Robinsons stumbled on That only left the small matter of change guests next door. Rubber matting made from a company called Surface View this charming backwater while booking of use from a class A property to one from recycled car tyres and soundproofing which is licensed by the National Gallery in a nearby venue for their wedding. They which would be Class C. It’s becoming boards were used and Jason says that the London to reproduce some of their works. were looking for B&Bs where their guests easier to do this but even so there’s property is so quiet now that it’s hard to could stay. reluctance in many places to lose shops tell if anyone is indoors. Swain House was finally ready to receive because you don’t get them back. its first visitors in August 2012. The “We loved the town,” says Jason. “It’s got a The Robinsons employed a private Robinsons charge £125 per night for marina, a pretty harbour and the heritage Undaunted, Jason went ahead with the building regulations contractor instead each of the four rooms, all with en suite West Somerset steam railway running application, dashing down from London of the council employee, and Jason designer bathrooms. down to the port. We thought it would for planning meetings to argue the case. believes that this was a more efficient make a beautiful escape from our London solution, which cost only a few hundred By luck one of the first bookings was lives and when we saw there was a house “They were not happy about losing a shop pounds extra. travel journalist Sally Shalham who put on the market, we bought it and used it as but it had been closed for years and I Watchet, and its new B&B House, on the a holiday home for a year. talked them round.” Throughout the process, Jason had been map, describing it as “industrial luxe”, with researching other B&Bs and he visited just a quibble about the size of the guest “One week when we came down we found By now Annie was expecting a child so two which were particularly notable: The sitting room. That is something that Jason that the property next door, an unused the move to Somerset was put on hold Ashton, in Lancaster, and The Reading would like to address in the future. shop, was for sale and I made a flippant until Archie, their son, was three Rooms, in Margate. Both are luxury guest remark about how we could buy it and do months old. houses with a small number of rooms. “I would absolutely love to do another bed and breakfast. one, perhaps something that would be Jason was told the renovation work The owners were happy to talk through classified as a hotel, but my first priority is “I had left my job as head of design for would take up to 16 weeks but, inevitably, the problems and experience of running to make a success of this venture,” he says. one of the Disney channels and was it took longer. The entire shop had to such an establishment. It emerged that it turning 40. It seems my mid-life crisis be gutted, and new floors, electrics and was not worth doing your own laundry: manifested itself by wanting a boutique plumbing installed.