Two Lake District village guest houses have been sold in the same week.
Ambleside’s Haven Cottage was sold from an asking price of £825,000 and Hillsdale from an asking price of £725,000 by real estate firm Colliers.
They have both traded as guest houses since the 1950s and since then, have benefited from an extensive refurbishment which saw a complete reconfiguration of both properties in 2016.
Haven Cottage is an award-winning Lakeland village guest house full of character and consistently achieves high rankings online, climbing its way to first place in Ambleside on Trip Advisor.
The property sleeps eight guests with en suite facilities and boasts a self-contained duplex owners’ apartment.
Owners Chris and Allison Hodgson have now set up a new company, Lakes365, providing support to other small local businesses.
The hotel has been sold to Mark and Amanda Sarjant, who are moving to Ambleside from Shrewsbury. Amanda is a nutritional therapist and hopes to run wellbeing retreats in the future.
Built in the late 1800s as a gentlemen’s residence, Hillsdale is an eight-bedroom guest house with front and rear gardens, on Church Street in the centre of the village.
Hillsdale was operated in the hands of long-term guest house owners George and Lindsay Staley who have decided to retire and live locally.
Hillsdale has been sold to Steve Pirone and Carole Stooke who move to Ambleside from Worcester.
Steve and Carole have more than 40 years’ hospitality experience and have worked tirelessly in a very short period of ownership to upgrade and redecorate the property in readiness of their first season at the helm.
Haydn Spedding from Colliers’ Hotel Agency team said: “Despite all of the problems thrown at us by COVID, 2021 was exceptionally successful and we sold 20 properties in Cumbria and The Lake District with a total sale value of £350 million.
“With a continuing confidence in the market in the Lake District and Cumbria where bookings are at record levels, buyers are seeing the area as a very safe place to invest. We look to continue this success in 2022 with a significant number of sales already in solicitors’ hands.
“It was a pleasure to work on both property transactions and we wish the new owners a long, and successful future with the business.”
