Interiors: 8 Victoria Road, North Berwick

Before Alison Hall viewed this 200-year-old terraced cottage in North Berwick she had no idea it had a garden, never mind one measuring 100ft.

"When we opened the back door we thought, 'wow!'" recalls Alison, who grew up in the east-coast town.

"Our family home was at the back of the town," she says. Only after her sister Lorna moved close to North Berwick's coast with her own family did Alison realise how lovely it was to live by the sea. And when this old fisherman's cottage on Victoria Road subsequently came on the market in 2004, she was quick to view it.

Although the cottage is set back from the water, Alison was immediately struck by how clearly she could hear and smell the sea while standing in the garden. However, she was under no illusions as to what the renovation of the cottage would entail.

"The stairs moved when you walked on them," she recalls, also recounting the day a built-in wardrobe upstairs was removed, causing the wall behind it to collapse.

Both Alison and Lorna had experience of refurbishing their own homes, but this three-year project proved to be quite a challenge.

Few changes were made to the internal layout, with the exception of an en suite added to an upstairs bedroom. A new extension replaced an old appendage at the back of the cottage, which Alison initially thought dated from the 1960s. However, when this was dismantled, she realised it was stone-built and possibly used originally to house livestock.

Alison wanted the new extension to make the most of the cottage's outdoor space. A magnificent oak-framed design, by Treewrights at nearby Gosford, Longniddry, does just that; there are glazed doors on the end wall and an entire side wall slides back to better integrate inside and out. The gable end is also glazed, maximising light within the garden room that occupies the structure's one-and-a-half storey height.

A pan-tiled roof, by a roofer from Port Seton, helps blend the new building with the cottage, while stone from the old extension clads a section of the new end wall.

Fitted with a wood burner and oak floor, the garden room has a stylishly mismatched look. Sofas picked up on eBay are accessorised with quirky cushions made by Lorna, creating a laid-back vibe.

Leftover insulation from the extension was packed into the cottage roof while the walls, which were taken back to stone, were re-insulated before new plaster was applied, to boost the cottage's eco credentials. Alison introduced sections of tongue-and-groove wall panelling and in the kitchen this complements a fixed bench seat made by her joiner.

The original sash-and-case windows were retained, but overhauled to eliminate draughts; broken floor tiles were removed to reveal original floorboards; and a gas-fired Aga inherited from the previous owner scrubbed up well. It's complemented by freestanding furniture bought in Habitat's sale.

This renovation gave Alison an outlet for pieces she had hoarded for years.

A painting of a boat by North Berwick-based artist Mark I'Anson hanging above the kitchen table was much more suited to the seaside than her city home.

The table was one of several buys from East Linton Pine, while the antique bench came from Old Pine & Pieces at Fenton Barns. Alison couldn't resist the floral patterned chair from Laura Ashley that completes the seating arrangements.

In the cottage's cosy sitting room she removed a reproduction Victorian fireplace not in keeping with the house. A log burner was installed in its place and the installer chipped away at the wall until he revealed an original hearth that suits the room's proportions.

Lorna ran up curtains for this room (and bedrooms) using fabric sourced on eBay; the same material upholsters the cushion on a rocking chair.

Overlooking the garden at ground level is a single bedroom where Alison has found a home for an antique timber chair she's owned for years. Meanwhile, a chair that belonged to her grandfather has been reupholstered in deckchair fabric, in a quirky merger of old and new.

Under the stairs, a small storage room was cleared to make way for a new toilet, at which point it was discovered that the old staircase was literally propped up, with timber beams, on sand. The new, custom-made timber staircase is reassuringly solid.

Upstairs there's a bathroom alongside two double bedrooms and a bunk room with decor inspired by the experience of being on a ship.

Glimpses of the sea are possible from this room, for which window shutters were purchased from a reclamation yard that East Lothian Council once ran for swapping salvage.

The biggest bedroom felt too large for the house, and after the aforementioned built-in wardrobes were removed, Alison installed an en suite shower room (with the boiler stored alongside). One of several old maps picked up in Edinburgh years ago was pasted to the wall behind an elegant iron bed.

For both the en suite and bathroom Alison chose glass wall tiles, reminiscent of the sea glass that a beachcomber might collect from the shore.

A beautiful Welsh blanket brings colour to the remaining bedroom where a framed photograph, by Lesley Clarke of local company, Red Kite Cards, highlights the yellow painted iron of the old pier at North Berwick.

With the help of family, Alison spent weekends clearing the garden of its conglomeration of rubble, old sheds and a dog run before her sister helped her transform the space.

While moving paving stones, Alison discovered a well, since rebuilt using stone from the old extension.

The same stone was used to construct low walls to establish "rooms" within the garden, while a new path of reclaimed brick leads under timber arches (made by Kevin McClure of Elementscotland) to a hut which houses a small sauna. With great soil and a temperate climate, the newly planted garden is flourishing.

Having invested in more fishermen's cottages in North Berwick and Dumfries and Galloway, Alison and Lorna have turned pleasure into business.

All are available to holidaymakers, but whenever there's a slot in the diary, Alison and her husband Colman make a beeline for 8 Victoria Road, one address where she will always feel at home.

8 Victoria Road, North Berwick, tel: [phone], visit

www.gonetothebeach.co.uk

This article was first published in The Scotsman, 19 March, 2011