Welcome to our "upside down" house by the sea

Visitors to Stuart and Kate Bradley’s house in Penarth,

South Wales, can be assured of a warm welcome with

magnificent, panoramic sea views - but that’s not the

only uplifting experience.

Originally a Penarth boy, master mariner Stuart and his wife Kate, a former Royal Navy “Wren” both have the sea in their blood. They sought a final retirement home back where his roots are, and where their daughter and grandson also now live. Stuart enjoyed a long and distinguished marine career, holding a number of senior positions in the UK ports, shipping and ferry industries before retiring. He met Kate in Malta on board a cruise ship in Grand Harbour, Valletta, while

she was on Admiralty duty. The devoted couple had two children and have now been happily married for over 58 years.

Now both in their eighties, Stuart is not so good on his sea legs these days and suffers back and leg pain from a condition called spinal stenosis. Yet they could not pass on their dream two-storey house with stunning first floor lounge balcony giving elevated frontline views directly across the Severn Estuary. The uninterrupted sea view is to die for - you can see both Severn Bridges on a good day, and also the offshore nature reserve islands of Little Holm and Steep Holm, with the South Wales and West Country coastlines shimmering in the distance.

With the bedrooms all on the ground floor, the Bradleys immediately dubbed it their “upside down” house. They wasted no time neatly bypassing the problem of regularly climbing stairs by fitting a remarkably stylish Lifton Homelift - designed and manufactured by domestic lift company, Stiltz Lifts.

“We come straight inside our front door and whisk ourselves up to our seaview lounge, kitchen and daytime living area in around t en seconds” said Stuart.

“I am impressed with the precise and innovative engineering of our Lifton Homelift, with its two unique slim steel “stilts” which run from ground floor to first floor ceiling. These take all the load-bearing needed, and the lift operates from a standard 13 amp plug power source for the virtually silent electric motor. It is more compact than a windlass at sea, and we also use it as a “dumb waiter” to winch up all our grocery supplies!’’

Kate loves the stylish and elegant light grey curved glass design of the Lifton Homelift, and finds the half-door offers a light and airy environment to move quietly, smoothly and safely between floors. They “dock” the lift upstairs at night and use the remote control to call it down in the morning. “Our 11-year-old grandson, Josh, has rather taken to the lift too, and visits us regularly”

“I like the cut of its jib. We regard our Lifton Homelift as an attractive piece of kit in its own right - it’s an important investment and asset to the house, which adds value. We won’t need to move again, and it takes us as close as possible to the sea and sky. I like to think I am still on watch” concluded Stuart.