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| The Beach House - Waterside property for sale - © Glyn Davies 2011 |
The mountains had seemed small under the weight of the clear blue sky as I drove down to the village. Brilliant sunshine blazed across the Menai Strait, sparkling off the gentlest of ripples on the surface of the water. As I walked towards the landing stage my breath created soft plumes of condensation in front of me. A solitary figure in a rowing boat slid across the silver surface of the sea towards our motor boat, and a soft, silent shimmer of brine was left in the wake.
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| Me on the cruise home, pic. by Paul Lucas |
I hardly ever do commercial work any more but never say never ! If I find a genuine, amenable and pragmatic client with an interesting commission, one who trusts me and who respects my vision and what I can do for them, then I'm all ears! So it was with my client and friend Paul Lucas who runs a successful estate agents here in the village. He has huge respect for my landscape work and often recommends his clients to my gallery just down the road. He asked me for a quote, I gave him a quote, he was happy with the quote, he paid the deposit without any fuss, this is the perfect client! If he treats his suppliers with this much respect, his own property clients must think he's amazing ! In fact, one of his clients, Mike, a designer/builder was with us today, grabbing the chance to see his project from sea level!
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| Paul Lucas, estate agent with his builder client, Mike © Glyn Davies 2011 |
The sea you see, is part of the appeal of this waterside property, as it is even supported on columns plunging straight down into the depths of the Strait, but with view right out across the channel to the phenomenal views of the mountains beyond, this is a dream location and a fascinating contemporary designer house with a long history attached. "The Beach House" is actually the original bathing house for the "Bishop's Palace" (now a huge block of apartments but as per the name, once a stunning residence for the Bishops of Bangor). Mike and the architects have built upon the original stone structure to create these 'wings' of large and airy glass fronted rooms, hanging directly over the sea.
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| Skipper Stan Zalot of Starida Sea Services, (used to film crews !) © Glyn Davies 2011 |
When Skipper, Stan from Starida Sea Services powered up his fishing launch, I could swear it was fast enough to water ski on :-) It zipped along the flat water creating a cool breeze on our faces in the early morning sunshine. We were at the location too soon, I'd have been happy blasting along the whole of the Strait to Puffin Island where Stan also runs boat trips but we had a job to do. This vessel was perfect for what I needed, a high vantage point from the water back towards the amazing building, a RIB would have been too low to the water and would have required substantial perspective correction in software later, as well as having foreground water too prominent in the shot. Stan threw the throttle to idle and we just sat there on slack tide, hardly moving a foot or so, perfect. I clambered right up onto the coach roof amongst the life-belts and radar equipment to gain as high a vantage point as possible. We gently drifted alongside the property with the tide and this allowed several different viewpoints as we did so. We repeated the process three times, and tried shots with and without people and rowing boats in the foreground.
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| Me on coach roof amongst nav units, getting a higher vantage point - pic. by Paul Lucas |
Too soon we had the shots in the bag and it was a blast back to Menai Bridge, Telford's Bridge itself glowing in the now slightly hazy morning light.
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| The Beach House from the West, note the old bathers steps - © Glyn Davies 2011 |
If any of you require details of this fantastic property with an even more fantastic location, then you really must give Paul a ring at his office here in Menai Bridge. If you can prove you have the spondoolies and genuine interest in this level of property, I think Paul is keen that you see it from the water too, so chances are you will repeat my uplifting morning cruise ! :-)
"The Beach House"
Paul Lucas Estate Agents
Tel: 01248 714567
Web: HERE
E-mail: HERE
All words and images are strictly copyright © Glyn Davies 2011
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