4 days ago
11
Despite the edge-of-the-seat tension, viewers of James Norton’s latest ITV drama Playing Nice were glued to one thing only - the iconic seafront house which plays home to the show’s villains Miles and Lucy.
And the Mail on Sunday can reveal the five-bedroom luxury dwelling, Sand Dunes, is located in a stunning Cornish bay nicknamed ‘Hollywood on Sea’ by locals and is set to be rented out by its new owners for £5,000-plus a week.
Celebrities including actors Cate Blanchett and Jason Statham and Coldplay star Chris Martin all have homes in trendy Mawgan Porth on Cornwall’s north coast between Padstow and Newquay.
ITV rented out Sand Dunes - the fabulous glass and stone property which has won a clutch of architectural awards from previous owner Lebanese businessman Marzouk al-Bader - to film the chilling baby swap drama in late 2023.
Rumoured to have fetched over £4 million when Mr Bader sold it a month ago, the house, with its floor to ceiling windows looking out over the cliffs, provided the perfect sinister backdrop for Playing Nice’s super-rich couple played by Downton Abbey star, Jessica Brown-Findlay, and the Mare of Easttown’s James McCardle.
It plays host to some key scenes in the atmospheric drama as Miles and Lucy try to claim custody of both babies - their biological child who was mistakenly sent home with less affluent couple Pete and Maddie, played by Norton and screen wife Niamh Algar, and the baby they went home with, Pete and Maddie’s natural child. The babies were mixed up in a fictional hospital blunder.
Mr Bader, 58, developed Sand Dunes from an average Seventies bungalow in 2013 for his young family after ‘falling in love with the community and Cornwall’.
Spread over three buildings, it was designed and built to complement its surroundings using locally sourced natural materials and took two years to complete.
The iconic seafront property Sand Dunes is the home of Miles and Lucy, the villains in actor James Norton’s new ITV drama Playing Nice
TV rented out Sand Dunes - the fabulous glass and stone property which has won a clutch of architectural awards from previous owner Lebanese businessman Marzouk al-Bader
The property has panoramic views of the stunning Cornish bay nicknamed ‘Hollywood on Sea’ by locals
The retired financier, who now runs architecture firm Watershedd (correct spelling) said: ‘I wanted not just to build a house, but I wanted everything to be from Cornwall: the tradesman, the architect, the materials.’
The home also includes a pool house with a whirlpool bath, a gym, a 14 person eating area with an indoor wood-fired pizza oven and a sunken lounge facing a log fire.
Sand Dunes has won architectural accolades for its modern design including one from RIBA – the Royal Institute of British Architects.
Mr Bader also previously rented out the home for £5,000 a week through an exclusive travel company when his twin daughters with former wife Countess Christine d’Ornano, global vice-president of the cosmetics brand Sisley, left home.
A source confirmed the property’s new owners plan to rent out the luxury home to holidaymakers.
James Norton as Pete Riley and Amy Morgan as Jen in ITV's new hit baby swap drama Playing Nice
The home's previous owner Mr Bader, 58, developed Sand Dunes from an average 1970's bungalow in 2013 for his young family after ‘falling in love with the community and Cornwall’
The retired financier said: ‘I wanted not just to build a house, but I wanted everything to be from Cornwall: the tradesman, the architect, the materials'
An nighttime exterior of the property, which is set to be rented out by its new owners for £5,000-plus a week.
The luxury property has five bedrooms, including this one with a balcony and beautiful sea view
Sand Dunes has won architectural accolades for its modern design including one from RIBA – the Royal Institute of British Architects
Spread over three buildings, Sand Dunes was designed and built to complement its surroundings using locally sourced natural materials and took two years to complete
English (US) ·