8 Coastguard Cottages, Portloe
A pleasant, well made victorian terraced Cottage built for the coastguards with a good view out to sea to watch for smugglers using the beautiful cove of Portloe.
It has both an enclosed garden and also a spectacular high level terrace both looking out over the small harbour to sea beyond.
Click here for rates and availability
- Sleeps 4 /5 (with folding bed)
- 2 Bedrooms, (King & twin)
- Sea Views
- Parking nearby (100 yrds away)
- Front garden
- Large terrace above
- 4 minute walk to harbour
- Other beaches a short drive
- Open fireplace
- Night storage heating
- Small dog welcome
- Saturday Changeover
Number Eight Coastguard Cottages in Portloe is the second cottage in a white washed, south west facing terrace built in 1825 to house the coastguard families. It is very similar to Number 9, nextdoor, but the bedrooms are arranged differently and the kitchen wall is open to the living area, creating a breakfast bar. It is a good combination of gentle modern and old fashioned in style and is a welcoming, well loved, family cottage. It has a sunny terrace way up on the bank behind (difficult to do it justice in my photograph, here) as well as a pretty (enclosed) lawned garden by the cottage, so is suitable for children in a range of ages and a well behaved dog is welcome.Every window sill has a happy looking Geranium in an ancient looking pot which seems to indicate a long term cared for house with good light, which it is.
Layout
The entrance door is at the rear of the terrace and opens
onto a carpeted hallway and understairs cupboard with useful items, like deck chairs. The kitchen is to the right and sitting/ dining room is at the front, leading to the garden.The kitchen has a vinyl floor and white fitted units. A breakfast bar separates it from the living area. A large window looks upon the steep rear garden. There is a fridge freezer, washing machine, microwave and an electric cooker.
The Sitting room has a sash window and a glazed door opening to the pretty enclosed garden. There is a traditional tiled fireplace and it is possible to use the grate, alternatvely there is electric heating. Sofa and armchairs are arranged around this and at the other end of the room, there is a dining table seating 6.
There is a small (14 inch) television and a dvd player and the wall by the fireplace has shelves stacked with books and games. An alcove contains a fine old model ship made in the village long ago and reminiscent of the main means of transport hereabouts until quite recently. Given the tiny lanes you will have come down to arrive, you will probably see the advantages of this.
Upstairs there is a bathroom with wc, basin and bath with
electric shower over. Also an airing cupboard with immersion heater.The Double bedroom has a kingsized bed and deep silled window looking onto the terraced garden climbing steeply behind the house. There is a well stocked bookcase, and fine mahogony chest of drawers.
The twin bedroom has 3 foot divan beds and a window overlooking the front garden and the lovely ever present sea. There is a curtained alcove wardrobe, a chest of drawers and if required there's a third (pull out) single bed suitable for a child. Cot and high chair are available.
The Garden and Beach access
After parking in the village carpark (honesty box) the cottage is 120 paces up a gently sloping lane. Through a nice old, wrought iron garden gate reminiscent of something in Italy, there is a small area of communal lawned garden and you are facing the inland end of the terrace. To the left the path takes you to the rear of the cottages where the 'front' doors are.
There is a lovely enclosed, lawned garden on the seaward side of the cottage, with a dining table and chairs. This is accessed from the sittingroom through a glass door. There is another very attractive outdoor space, too. Like all of this terrace, behind the cottage there is a 'hidden garden' - rather a steep climb up steps you arrive at a high terrace - beautifully paved with local slate. There's a great view from up here of the sea, coast and the village below. It faces south and has lovely light. A good place to have a barbeque or sunbath in quiet. There's a stone built summerhouse to retreat to. Small children would need close supervision up here. The steep slope below the terrace is a mass of shrubs and flowering plants, beautiful to look at, but not at all suitable for playing in.
Location
Portloe is a very small fishing village set in two steep sided valleys which come together at a small south east facing cove. Unlike so many coastal villages in Cornwall the landscape has prevented much additional building, so the village remains old fashioned with traditional cottages crowded around the small harbour and a great green unspoilt cliff and wooded landscape all around. In past times it was apparently a busy place for 'free traders' as those who evaded import duties were known and the row of coastguard cottages together with the old boathouse and the head coastguard's house are of clear importance in the layout of things.
There is a good local pub, The Ship, which serves food and local St Austell ales;, a small shop with post office and the rather smart Lugger hotel which has an excellant restaurant and also a Spa, open to non guests.
The cliff paths either side of Portloe have just lovely, startlingly beautiful scenery - along with some quite steep drops (keep reins or close eye on children). Driving or walking back about 3 miles along the amazingly narrow & windy lanes that are the only way to reach the village, you can get to the other side of the Nare headland to Carne and Pendower beaches, both long and with fine sand.
.
Rates & Availability:
