Explore the Project: Sunnyside, Appledore

Client Profile: Sunnyside is a Victorian villa holiday let on a quiet cobbled street in the heart of Appledore, North Devon, owned by Alison Cooper. Set over three floors, it sleeps eight across four bedrooms, and most rooms look out across the estuary towards Instow. Guests have the whole house, an enclosed garden, a sunny deck over the water, and a guest shed full of games, wetsuits and boogie boards. Dogs are welcome too. Alison already knew us from building her Alison Cooper Studio website, so Sunnyside felt like a natural next project.

Client’s Objective: Sunnyside was already taking bookings through Airbnb and Holiday Cottages, but Alison wanted a home for the property that was entirely her own. She needed somewhere to show off the house, the views and the village, with live availability, while still sending guests to Airbnb to book. It gave her the reassurance of a trusted platform while she built her confidence with direct hosting. She wanted it to feel warm and personal, reflect her own branding, and be something she could update herself.

Project Scope: We designed and built a one-page WordPress website that takes guests through the property from start to finish. Early on, we mocked up three design directions, ranging from a clean, Airbnb-style layout to a brighter, livelier look. Alison chose the brighter option, and we refined it together around her own hand-drawn logo and a sky blue and yellow palette. That fitted the seaside setting perfectly.

The page opens with the key details guests look for first: four bedrooms, eight guests, three floors and dogs welcome. From there it moves through each bedroom, with pop-ups showing the bed setup and views, plus a full photo gallery. After that comes the property description with a floor plan, a complete amenities list, and a carousel of real guest reviews.

A key feature is the availability calendar. We connected it to Alison’s Travel Chapter / Holiday Cottages iCal feed, so it updates automatically whenever a week is booked or blocked, with nothing for her to maintain. Every booking button then takes guests through to her Airbnb listing.

Once the site was live, we took care of the domain transfer and launch, then ran a training session with Alison. It was recorded so she can watch it back, and covered how to add reviews, swap images (including inside the bedroom pop-ups) and update the amenities herself.

Future Prospects: The site is built to grow with Sunnyside. As Alison becomes more comfortable taking bookings directly, it can be extended with direct enquiries or bookings, so she relies less on third-party platforms and their fees. There is also good scope for SEO around holiday lets in Appledore and North Devon to help more guests find the house.

Conclusion: Sunnyside now has a website that feels as welcoming as the house itself: bright, personal and easy to browse, with live availability that looks after itself. It is a simple, focused build tailored to where Alison is today, with plenty of room to grow her direct bookings in the future.