News
New Trinity House homeowner Louise Purchase reflects on how she found her perfect “Goldilocks” home
21st February 2025
Gazing quietly out to the Solent through the huge sash windows of the living room in her new Trinity House apartment is, says Louise Purchase, simply bliss. “It’s been quite a journey getting here,” reflects Louise, 75:
“Gosport still has an undeserved reputation, a legacy from its long association with defence and naval supply, but things have moved on and I wouldn’t live anywhere else.
“I moved from Southsea, where the general view of Gosport is, why? Really? Yet, having had friends over they are starting to see the joy. Less crowded, less traffic, with both ‘surf and turf’, as I live between the 24-mile coastal walkway and Alver Valley County Park, on the 62 acres of Royal Haslar.
“I was drawn to the area by the opportunity to live at Royal Haslar, with its amazing history, and had, to be honest, minimal expectations of anything else. What a surprise! There are lots of unusual museums to explore, such as the Explosion Museum and we have the Gosport Museum & Art Gallery, with events and classes. When it comes to bread and cakes we have amazing sour dough from champion baker, Banjo’s Bread and custom cakes from Nanny Sam.
“I have sat in Stokes Bay and seen sunsets better than those in Santorini! The light here is so amazing. It’s great. I love walking with dog Bobbie down to Haslar Marina, just five minutes away, and stopping for a coffee at The Creek, or on other days walking a little further into Gosport town and catching the ferry over to Gunwharf Quays. I do drive, but try to also get my steps in.
“The high street is in need of some TLC, but there is a lovely coffee shop opposite the ferry and the council have great plans for the waterfront, which they are consulting on. A little west of Gosport there is also Lee-on-the-Solent with a great independent bookshop, The Book Shop, who will also deliver locally.”
"To own a home in such an architecturally important heritage building with the best of contemporary interiors, in stunning parkland and with the most incredible sense of space through sea and sky, really is a piece of heaven.”
In fact, Louise – who was raised in and around Stoke-on-Trent, started work in the family factory when she was 15 and had bought her first home by the age of 18 – was so smitten with Royal Haslar, she has owned two homes here. She and her husband, Stewart, bought a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment in Canada House in 2022, but having suffered ill health for many years, they could sadly only enjoy it together for six months before he died.
Wanting to downsize to both free up cash and have a fresh start, Louise began a new property search, viewing a range of apartments and small houses in and around South Hampshire, but found nothing that felt quite right.
“I was aware that Trinity House was being developed, and came to have a look around,” Louise says. “The high ceilings and light-flooded rooms just made everywhere else I looked seem oppressive. I viewed a range of different apartments here, before settling on my ‘Goldilocks’ flat, perfectly sized with 785 sq.ft. of space, one bedroom and one bathroom, and moved in in November 2024. It’s just right for me and my shih-tzu, Bobby.”
Like many of her neighbours at Royal Haslar, Louise has had a rich and interesting life. Having also run her own catering company and had careers with Italian home appliance firm Zanussi, as well as with the South Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire probation office, she was married twice before she met and fell in love with Stewart, who she married in 2003, and has a passion for historic properties.
Homes over the years, in and around Stoke-on-Trent, Berkshire and Shropshire, have included historic cottages in need of restoration and a seven-bedroom barn, as well as a house on a Greek island. More recently, to be closer to Louise’s son, living in the boatie haven of Hamble-le-Rice, near Southampton, and Stewart’s son and daughter in London, the couple moved to a three-storey Victorian townhouse in Southsea.
When the stairs became too much for Stewart (in the meantime, the ever resourceful Louise had donated a kidney to Stewart, had trained as a community first responder, and also how to use a haemodialysis machine so she could support her husband through treatment at home), they made an offer on a flat in Gunwharf Quays. When the sale fell through, and they found themselves living in an eye-wateringly expensive series of Airbnbs, Louise recalled the views she had enjoyed of Royal Haslar when out walking Bobby on Southsea Common, and a visit she had made when work first started on its transformation into a residential community.
“I remembered the intangible sense of peace as soon as you step onto Royal Haslar’s grounds, along with the sheer sense of space,” Louise says. “It’s impossible to describe, but everybody feels it.”
With the encouragement and support of their children, in 2022 Louise and Stewart moved into their Canada House home, with wonderful views over Gunwharf Quays and Emirates Spinnaker Tower. Sadly, they were only there for six months before Stewart’s health took a downturn, and Louise was widowed. 
Drawing on two of her key strengths – resilience and common sense - Louise realised that “rightsizing” for her and Bobby would have to be the next move, as she no longer needed a two-bedroom apartment, and wanted to free up some capital. With Trinity House being transformed into stately homes, staying on at Royal Haslar was a no-brainer.
“There can’t be many places with this mix of heritage buildings, protected trees in a parkland setting, open green spaces, a beautiful memorial garden and a sea wall frontage for walks, plus views over one of the busiest waterways in the world,” she says.
Having settled on a one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment on Trinity House’s second floor, for sale for £285,000 and with wonderful sea views, there were some complications in the chain on the sale of her Canada House – swiftly alleviated by Royal Haslar, who stepped in and offered her the use of an apartment rent free for three months while she waited.
Today, she and Bobby are perfectly settled in their new home, with Trinity House’s stunning Georgian architecture the perfect backdrop for Louise’s interiors aesthetic. Her biggest extravagance, she says, was on electronically controlled, embroidered window dressings, in a range of hues, in all the main spaces, as she wanted to make a feature of their extraordinary size and elegance. Given a generous flooring allowance by the developer, she has chosen soft green and cream carpets, and kept the walls neutral to showcase her large collection of antiques.
“My Trinity House home is a wonderful place in which to display my own history. I have many treasured pieces passed down from my great grandparents, each one telling a story.” Rococo mirrors, large-scale oil paintings, prints and black and white photos of London taken by her father create a sense of drama as well as luxury.
Louise has become close with many of her neighbours – “there’s a wonderful sense of community across the site” – and has joined the Royal Haslar choir, while often also meeting up with old friends to lunch and shop at Gunwharf Quays, just a short walk and ferry ride away, or in Old Portsmouth.
After many years of managing Stewart’s care, however, and the logistics of hospital appointments and house moves, Louise says simply being able to quietly enjoy her new home is enough. “Waking up and knowing that there is nothing I have to do today, except gaze out of the window, over positively Turner-esque sunrises and sunsets, is wonderful. It's independent living at its best.”
When completed, Trinity House will provide 185 one, two- and three-bedroom apartments, ranging in size between 600 sq. ft. and 1,720 sq. ft. wirth an impressively large average 968 Sq.Ft. In the meantime, work on Trinity House’s new ground-floor communal areas is underway, which will include a Café, Residents’ Lounge and Library (read on for more information), with plans in place for the creation of a magnificent Romanesque-style health spa in the vaults with gym, pool, steam room and sauna.