Swiss Cottage Proves A Hard Sell

It’s back to the drawing board for Swansea Council after a businessman pulled out of plans to rejuvenate a unique park cottage.

The council said it would now look at alternative options for Swiss Cottage, Singleton Park, which it owns.

The authority had awarded businessman Michael Border a lease for the Alpine-style building in 2023, and he spoke of plans for a cafe-restaurant, a street food kitchen and an external serving area for drinks and ice cream. Community activities were also in the offing to position the building as a real  local hub.

Mr Border, a joint director at Tifa Property, said at the time: “It’s great to be taking it over. It was sad to see it in disrepair. The feedback has been really good. People want this to be something again and not fall into disrepair, it’s a landmark.”

Grade two-listed Swiss Cottage was badly damaged in an arson attack in 2010 and, despite being restored externally, has proved a hard sell despite its fine south-facing views across the park towards Swansea Bay.

A fair bit of refurbishment work is still needed internally but Mr Border, speaking in 2023, said this was “nothing too troubling from a build perspective”. He added that heritage funding would be needed to make it viable.

Council leader Rob Stewart, when asked by a group of oppostion councillors last week why there had been no development at the cottage, said the prospective tenant had formally withdrawn “notwithstanding considerable support from council officers”.

A council spokesman said it had provided considerable support to help restore the building’s exterior.

“While it’s disappointing that the current leaseholder at Swiss Cottage has decided to surrender the lease, we remain committed to finding a suitable sustainable and will now look at alternative options to achieve that,” he said.

The cottage, built in 1826, was designed by Peter Frederick Robinson, who also designed nearby Sketty Hall for the Vivian family in the early 19th Century. Mr Robinson had visited Switzerland and been impressed by the timber-built houses with balconies and external stairs.

An inscription in German on the front of building translates as, ‘Live that you may live again’.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service contacted Tifa Property to speak to Mr Border but no-one responded at the time of going to press.