Wildlife was very sparse apart from gulls and a few corvids no other birds were seen.
The weather was wild, wet and windy, but the house was warm and cosy. Outside the wind howled and buffeted the very solid house and the stormy sea raged in anger every day, thirty feet high, awe inspiring waves crashed against the land and cliffs sending huge white plumes of foam high into the air. The pretty little bay was visible from almost every window, five of the six bedrooms overlooked the bay, and there were also sea views from the lounges downstairs.
The beds were the most comfortable we have ever slept in, they were savoir beds as used in the Savoy Hotel and five of the six bedrooms were doubles with an option of either two single beds or one double. The floors were oak, beautifully fitted with oak doweling plugs filling the fixing holes. Delightful Jane Lampard pictures decorated every room and the house was also full of potted orchids in full bloom.
Exquisite taste shines throughout Porthcothan House overlooking Porthcothan Bay in magical Cornwall. The curtain fabrics were amazing, I particularly liked the fabrics used in the master bedroom --- although truth to tell the bedrooms (except the single) were all so large and welcoming that whichever room one had slept in, it would have felt as good as any other.
Megan my elder granddaughter was very taken with the Mexican tiles in the four bathrooms and the steam room. Imogen, my younger granddaughter loved her bedroom so much that she spent a great deal of time in it, her only disappointment with the house was that she didn't see a ghost while she was there and despite searching high and low in every room found no evidence of one either!
In the master bedroom are two sets of french windows, each with a juliet balcony, the design of the eye catching railings to these two balconies came from the windows of an old cart shed on the site, they were arched and quite monastic in appearance, they also reflected the design of the windows in both the conservatory and the end of the dining room, where stood a table and enough matching chairs to accommodate the largest family gathering. Every meal time was very special with four generations present, and the very tasty Christmas meal was a tribute to my daughter Angie who worked very hard and gave us a wonderful feast.
Yesterday a long awaited dream came true for me when together with my grandson Ric, his partner Juliet and their son Haruki ,we went through a maze of tiny, narrow lanes to Tintagel, with its famous post office and Tintagel Castle although the castle was closed, we were still able to get a feeling for the place and we all thoroughly enjoyed the trip.
As we slowly cleared and depersonalised each room, the house quickly became itself again --- a beautiful empty shell, waiting for the next visitors footfalls and calls.
