Orchard Cottage

A Village Cottage on the Cornish Coast

Redesigned in 2023 by its owner, architect Alexander Mackison of Architecture Office, this Cornish classic nestled in the quiet village of Golant along the south coast offers calm, unexaggerated styling with a subtly modern bent.

The home sleeps up to eight guests across its three second-story bedrooms (a super king, a double, and a room with two singles for youngsters). An additional Annex can be added, a cozy annex tor two with an independent living area outfitted with a log burner, a kitchenette, and a double bedroom with en-suite bathroom. The Annex is not available separately.

A classic English cottage on the outside, the home blends tradition with contemporary living. Interiors are timelessly muted and elegant, soft and serene, with a stylish simplicity that invites slowing down. The décor is minimal and the look is prim and tidy, if sleekly modern. The buttercream kitchen is practical, and there’s dining space for 10, a private garden with manicured patios, and private parking.

Around

Situated within the peaceful village of Golant, on the site of a former orchard overlooking the Fowey Estuary, the home is surrounded by oaks and rolling hills, and the village and its picturesque estuary offer plenty of easy recreation options accessible on foot.

The village is home to classic pubs and shops, the former with local ciders on tap from the pastoral, local landscape. The Fowey Estuary can be rowed by kayak or toured on a stand-up paddle board from Encounter Cornwall, and walkers can wander its banks or take to the region’s rolling hills crossed by footpaths such as the South West Coast Path that weaves through woodlands and around creeks.

The coast is a quick drive from the home, with Readymoney and Peel Coves, Menabilly and Landsallos beaches, a National Landtrust designated bay and photographic points and headlands among the must-sees. Gribbin Head, a headland west of Fowey Harbor, is marked by an 84-foot-tall, red and white striped Gribbin Daymark. Nearby Coombe has been farmed for thousands of years, with ruins revealing an Iron Age settlement, medieval hamlet and cultivated cliffside fields. The beach at Coombe is a relaxation spot today that was once home to pirates and smugglers who’d stash their loot there. The clifftop remains of St. Catherine’s Castle near Fowey in Covington Wood is worth a visit. And, the upper reaches of the Fowey is marked by Ethy Wood, where a network of hiking paths winds through oak forest and wetlands home to egrets, kingfishers, and other aquatic birds.

Location

Golant, Fowey, Cornwall, England. Nearest airports: Newquay (40 minutes), London (4.5 hours)

Best time to visit

April to October