A stunning UK town located on the southwestern coast of England has been dubbed ‘Hollywood-on-Sea’ because of the number of famous faces who live there. One person has explained what it is like to live in this scenic Cornwall spot alongside some big names from the worlds of music, movies and entertainment. Mawgan Porth is located in northern Cornwall, north of of Newquay. Here, you will find many futuristic multi-million pound homes belonging to Hollywood heavyweights.
Among the stars who call this place home are Coldplay leading man Chris Martin, Irish actor Jamie Dornan, actress Imogen Stubbs and Hollywood star and famous foodie Stanley Tucci. Recently, Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett purchased property here and is currently having a five-bedroom eco-mansion built. This comes after she got planning permission to knock down the £1.6M cottage she bought with her playwright husband Andrew Upton.
Recently captured pictures show this property along with other mansions in the area, displaying the Californian-style cliff-side living being enjoyed by some of the world’s most famous faces calling Cornwall home.
Having previously been called “Cornwall’s best kept secret”, the area has become popular with celebs and fears of locals being priced out have emerged. One local revealed that strangers have passed her mother’s house and offered her £2 million to buy it even though it is not listed for sale.
The NHS worker, who moved to the area in 1987, said: “It has always been a popular holiday destination as it’s between Newquay and Padstow and near a National Trust hotspot. It’s become more and more popular every year.
“The locals have sold up here and the properties have been taken down and there’s modern complex, cube-shaped, Californian-style buildings instead of your 1930s bungalows. There’s a lot of posh cubed modern buildings. Those properties are now going for over a million.”
She continued: “You can’t buy a property here for under one million. Not one local can afford to buy anything here. We’re near the Scarlet Hotel which attracts a lot of celebrities. There’s a certain clientele.
“It’s good for the builders as there’s constant building work going on. There’s a real architectural divide. My mum lives on the sand dunes. She’s lived here since 1987 when she bought her bungalow. We’ve lived there ever since.
“All the houses around there were knocked down and a posh flat roofed house was built owned by someone in London. He rents them out a lot. There’s a holiday home where the likes of Chris Martin and Gary Barlow have stayed.
“All the houses have been bought up by second homeowners. In the winter all the houses are all pretty much empty. They do bring money to the village, but at the same time local people can’t live here.”
Meanwhile, locals have also complained of noise from the construction of Blanchett’s mansion. She has also purchased neighbouring land and applied for planning permission to turn it into a parking area for four cars, which was met with anger from locals.
Official objections accused Blanchett and her husband of having a “total disregard” for neighbours. Holiday let owner Karen Burgess said: “I am deeply concerned that there has already been a total disregard for the noise that has destroyed the family holidays of all my guests.”
However, architects Watershedd responded: “Throughout the whole process of the build on our clients’ property, we have been in regular communication with friendly and accommodating neighbours to ensure that they are aware of works starting, and to alleviate any concerns regarding usual or anticipated construction noise or disturbances.”