Perfect for families
RED Roofs is exactly the kind of house you'd expect to see in a storybook, with its perfect proportions, pretty red and white façade and eye-catching gables and chimneys.
So it was almost no surprise to learn that this Edwardian house may have been named after an Enid Blyton book.
The house is such a pleasure to rest your eyes on, with its red paved drive and velvet green lawns, that I dawdled outside for a few moments before knocking on the door.
Having been welcomed inside by owner Mary Roberts, a quick glance around told me that the inside of the house more than matched the splendour of its exterior.
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All the lovely original features from when the house was first built in the early 1920s, like stained glass windows and parquet flooring, remain intact. But they are now complemented by the best of modern comforts, including a kitchen that most cooks would sigh over.
I hardly needed to ask what first attracted Mary and her husband Dafydd when they first saw the house 26 years ago. With two small children, we were looking for the perfect family home.
''It had so much character with the stained glass and the high ceilings that I just fell in love with it, even though it was decorated in flowery 1970s wallpaper at the time!"
Mary noticed from the deeds that the house had originally been called Sea Spray. but was renamed Red Roofs after the war.
"The Family at Red Roofs is the name of a book by Enid Blyton and I imagine that's what inspired the name change because the house does look very similar to the one in the book."
One could certainly picture young children living here and having an Enid Blyton-style childhood.
With five bedrooms and lots of space, there is plenty of room to play hide and seek, and, outside, the whole of Langland Bay is your playground.
The views of the sea from the house are another of its many attractions, especially from the stylish loft conversion, which really does have the wow factor, and which has added a self-contained suite of bedroom, sitting room and bathroom to the existing accommodation.
With three ingenious Velux windows that each open out into a balcony, you can sit and admire a wide expanse of the Bristol Channel or lie in bed and look out over the sea.
Back in the main part of the house, there are four bedrooms on the first floor. The two at the front have lovely views and huge windows, cast-iron fireplaces and lots of room. There's also a family bathroom on this floor.
On the ground floor, there is a lounge with a big bay window and multi-fuel stove, a dining room, study with woodburner, wet room and utility room.
The fantastic bespoke kitchen is the real talking point, with its cream wood cupboards incorporating a large Welsh dresser, an electric Aga range and hand-painted seaside tiled mural.
"We got someone in to make the kitchen because the ceilings are too high for normal kitchen units," said Mary. "His wife was an artist so she made the tile mural for us, and I asked her to include green beach huts like the ones at Langland Bay."
The lovely kitchen has French doors through to a traditional conservatory with both dining and seating areas overlooking the pretty, well-kept garden. That in turn has doors to a paved outdoor dining area.
There is also a large lawned and paved area at the back of the house, which is completely enclosed and not overlooked, and a double garage.
It's all just perfect, but with their children all grown up and moved out, Mary and Dafydd realise it is time for a change.
"We have been lucky to live here," said Mary. "It is so convenient for Mumbles and Langland. The house is nearly a hundred years old, but we are only the fourth family to live here.
''I think that tells you that when people move in, they like it!"
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