Touch Of Class

Caroline Hartley had long admired this converted village schoolhouse, and couldn’t believe her luck when it finally became her home

When Caroline Hartley was a teenager, she regularly babysat for a family who, for 30 years, ran a hotel in her home village of Sandsend in North Yorkshire. ‘They lived in the schoolhouse next door to the hotel and I loved it,’ says Caroline. ‘It was such a beautiful building but I never imagined I’d live there myself.’

Fast forward 40 years and Caroline’s sister, who had taken over both the hotel and schoolhouse in 2006, decided to pass the house on to her. ‘I was 50 and realised that if I didn’t do it then, I’d simply never do it,’ she says. ‘I love the village and this building, so I couldn’t wait to put my own stamp on it.’

MAKING CHANGES