Turning this Ilkley house into a fabulous holiday let means it can stay with the family who have owned it for 57 years

They never did and the end terrace house has remained, much-loved, and in the same family for the past 57 years, though it now has a new role.

Barry passed away four years ago, followed by Katherine last year but their son Nikk and daughter Mischelle were torn when it came to putting a “For Sale” sign up and closing the door forever on a childhood home that held a lot of happy memories.

Keeping it empty clearly wasn’t an option but letting it as a holiday property was and so that is what they did.

The transformation from family house to Wharfe View Cottage, a holiday let set over three floors, took 18 months of hands on graft by Mischelle and her husband Nige and Nikk and his partner Mary.​

The result is a lovely property that sleeps six and is packed full of character, along with everything a visitor could wish for and more.

The bones of the house and its layout were exceptionally good thanks to Barry, who was a highly respected builder. It was he who made the living and dining room open plan.

He also converted the attic into a third bedroom, making clever use of the space to create a wardrobe and other storage areas.

His other main legacy is the roof terrace accessed from the second bedroom. He constructed that for Katherine, a dressmaker who often took her sewing machine onto the terrace so she could work in the sun.

This “outdoor room” has now benefitted from an upgrade with new railings and composite decking.

Barry also created a couple of extra touches in the 1970s that guests now appreciate. They include a tiny bar in the dining area and every vinyl lovers’ dream, a super cool built-in unit for a record player and LPs.

“We didn’t want to get rid of everything and take all the character away and I’m so pleased we kept the bar because guests love it,” says Mischelle.

“We put a little fridge and a neon bar sign in there plus glasses and cocktail recipes and the guests love taking pictures of themselves in there.”

What did have to go was the dated and bulky 1970s stone fireplace which was replaced by an unobtrusive hole in the wall fire.

The old kitchen units were replaced by a new Magnet kitchen and laminate flooring was laid throughout the ground floor.

Nigel, who owns a car body shop in Ilkley, had a long to-do list, which included decorating, making stone shelves, spray painting the white window frames grey and swapping the plain glass in the vestibule door for multicoloured glass.

Artistic Nikk, a sheet metal engineer by trade, also had a long job sheet, which included plastering and creating everything from hooks and signs to a shoe rack, along with many other fabulous handcrafted pieces.

Statement lights, many from DAR, were also installed throughout the house and the window seat was treated to new cushions from Rachel’s Made to Measure in Otley.Other cushions and some of the throws upstairs were from Hello Fern, a Leeds-based online shop.

Yorkshire sayings on signs made by Nikk bring a smile to people’s faces, as do the words to “On Ilka Moor Bah t’at”,which wend up the stairway wall to the top floor bedroom, which features a Barker and Stonehouse king size bed with an inbuilt pop-up TV, bottle lights made by Mischelle and handmade lampshades from Yorkshire-based Etsy shop Justmehandmadegifts.

The first floor main bedroom with the view to Ilkley Moor has a vintage Singer sewing machine in its beautiful wood case, as a reminder of Katherine.

The small second bedroom on this floor required clever use of space with bunk beds and works wonderfully. Outside at the rear, there is off-street parking and an outdoor room with barbecue.

Mischelle oversaw the project and hunted for furniture, furnishings, bedding and accessories and says: “I wanted leather sofas because they are hard wearing and I knew it was really important to get the beds right so the mattresses and the bedding are top quality.”

Mischelle loves colour, quirkiness and clocks in her own home and added some of this aesthetic into Wharfe View Cottage, including the elephant trunk coat hooks from Etsy, which make guests smile.

She has also gone above and beyond in thinking of everything guests might need while adding lots of extras.

The latter includes a welcome basket fullof Yorkshire treats, a box of her own handmade chocolates, along with mini boxes of chocolate on every pillow and there’s a handmade ceramic tag with guests names on that she pops round their complimentary bottle of wine.

Fresh flowers from the Yorkshire Flower Academy are a must and there’s a front door wreath from Ivy & Eve florists.

​The enormous of effort that has gone into the property has been rewarded with great reviews making the hard work and £35,000 upgrade worthwhile.

“It’s wonderful that we can keep the house in the family while making people happy and I think mum and dad would’ve been proud of what we’ve done.

For details visit Wharfe View Cottage, Ilkley, visit at www.wharfeviewcottage.co.uk and on Instagram at wharfe_view_cottage_ilkley