Highbrook Cottage

Vintage Cottage Charms

A warm, cheery hideaway with sweet vintage styling and an unassuming eye for design, this boutique country cottage lets you swap your everyday reality for idyllic Welsh wilderness. Surrounded by a start-up natural winery set in a lush landscape of oak, hazel and heather, this pretty vacation home for rent in Wales is crossed by babbling brooks, home to resident sheep and wayfaring ducks, and offers an upbeat world of rural seductions.

The story goes that this storybook country cottage grew out of a couple’s shared love of good food, great drink and warm hospitality. Turning their industrious DIY sensibilities towards upgrading the family sheep farm, the two left jobs in London to pour their entrepreneurial passions into creating a low-intervention vineyard in Wales and offering restful, slightly nostalgic stays at their tranquil country cottage. 

Intentionally updated to be a whimsically retro getaway, the secluded retreat is swathed in pastoral surroundings on 550 acres, a fourth-generation sheep farm that once housed agricultural laborers. Today, the 16th-century cottage sits prettily on its wooded lot, where patterned linens, drapery and upholstery and local vintage treasures soften its heritage-rich original structure seen in exposed beams, wood wainscoting, and open fireplace. A welcome basket with homemade Welsh cakes, a bottle of something local, and eggs from hens next door will greet you, along with responsibly sourced firewood and all the gear necessary for a walk (or stargazing foray) into the woods or on the old farm. Bring your wellies.

AROUND

Located down a quiet country lane next to a gurgling brook, this vacation home for rent in Wales is situated on a 550-acre, family-farm-turned-vineyard. Surrounded by rolling hills, the property’s wine operation produces natural (hand harvested, unfiltered, and wild yeast-fermented) wines that reflect the wildness of this remote part of Wales known as the Radnor Valley. The cottage sits in the foothills of Radnor Forest, occupying a landscape cradling the border of England and Wales, where ancient woodlands meet heather-covered moors. This mountainous green landscape offers miles for hikers, bikers and nature lovers to explore. There are mysterious castles, stony villages, dark night skies, and wide open vistas in abundance. Hergest Ridge looms in the distance, land loved by rock climbers and rugged trekkers, and more readily accessible outdoor adventures nearby include the dauntingly named Break-Its-Neck waterfall and short hike less than 10-minutes’ away, the nearly 600 foot summit of Whimble Hill located right on the farm, and a walk through the adjacent woodlands where wild pheasant and rabbit, ducks, buzzards and red kites roam.

LOCATION

New Radnor, Powys, Wales, UK. Nearest airports: Cardiff (65 miles), Birmingham (72 miles)

BEST TIME TO VISIT: April to September