Porthevan, North Cornwall
A house above the cove
Eight rooms finished in hand-burnished lime, a short dinner written each afternoon, and a bathhouse cut into the rock. Open all year.
Check availabilityThe bathhouse
The sea keeps
the bath's hours.
The bath is cut into the rock below the house, and the sea fills it. It comes in over the seaward sill in surges — a swell breaks, the level steps up, the backwash draws it down a hand's width, and the next swell takes it higher. Scroll to bring the tide in. It is only a bath at high water.
The cistern on the right is spring-fed from the hill and stands full at every state of the tide. It does not keep the sea's hours — that is the one water here the sea does not govern.
Eight rooms
No two the same
The Cove Suite
from £340Sea-facing, south-west · sleeps 2
The corner room the house was built around — two tall windows onto the water and a burnished plaster bath.
The Lantern
from £290Sea-facing, west · sleeps 2
A top-floor room that keeps the last of the light, with a reading seat cut into the gable.
The Garden Room
from £240Garden-facing, sheltered · sleeps 2
Ground-floor and level, opening onto the walled herb garden the kitchen picks from.
The table
One short menu, written each afternoon
Four courses around what the boats and the walled garden gave us that day. Wednesday to Sunday, from seven.
See dining
The bathhouse
A bathing room the same lime as the walls
A warm plunge, a cool one off the cliff spring, and a cedar steam room. Free to residents; day guests by appointment.
See the bathhouseCome and stay
Rooms held on request, all year. Tell us the dates and we will write back the same day.