In-depth · St IvesEverything a St Ives homeowner asks before ordering.
Streets we cover: Fore Street, The Wharf, Fish Street, Porthmeor, Porthgwidden, Porthminster, Carbis Bay, Lelant, Trencrom Lane, Longstone, Halsetown and out along the coast toward Zennor.
St Ives housing — some of the tightest apertures in the county
St Ives has the narrowest, tightest street pattern of any Cornish coastal town, and the cottages behind Fore Street and around the harbour have apertures that no two are the same. Doorway heights vary by four inches across a single terrace, jambs are rarely plumb, and the granite lintels are as-set from the 1700s. Templating each frame to its exact aperture is the difference between a door that seals properly and one that whistles by year two. The higher-value properties above Porthminster and around Carbis Bay take standard modern apertures but carry the full Atlantic exposure of the north coast.
St Ives salt, wind, and the specific problem of horizontal rain
The famous St Ives light comes with famous St Ives weather — Atlantic wind straight over Porthmeor, salt spray reaching several streets inland, and horizontal rain that finds any imperfect seal. Every TR26 install uses A4 stainless fixings, a marine-grade skin colour-guaranteed for a decade, a drainable stainless-clad threshold, and a compression seal on a triple-brush upstand. The lock is set to the tighter closure profile because wind pressure on the door face in a January gale is genuine.
Colours that suit St Ives light
The St Ives light flatters pale colours — Cream, Off-White, pale grey and Duck Egg Blue lead the order book, and all of them read beautifully against the whitewashed cottages behind the harbour. Chartwell Green is a strong secondary. Deeper colours (Racing Green, Anthracite) suit the Carbis Bay villas where the setting is greener and the light softer.
A St Ives install day
The harbour-side streets are pedestrian in summer and access-restricted in winter — we schedule around the parking window at the start of the day and continue the install on foot once materials are inside. Larger properties on Porthminster and Carbis Bay take standard van access. Every install finishes inside a working day with paperwork handover on the doorstep.
For St Ives second homes and holiday lets
St Ives has one of the highest holiday-let densities in the UK and the front door on a rental property faces both the salt exposure and 40+ opens per week in season. Composite is the honest recommendation and we usually pair it with a keyless smart lock for remote changeovers. For second-home owners: a composite door won't need painting between visits, which is the single biggest maintenance saving over timber.
