You can imagine the Earl of St Germans walking the landscaped acres on a pre-prandial potter. Now you too can play country squire in six acres of South Cornwall garden and wooded hillside. Take it easy with a book and a bench seat overlooking the sea.
After a game of giant chess and a barbecue around the south-facing terrace table, take the rickety path down to the private beach for a dip, bodyboarding, walking to Looe at low tide, or just rooting around in the rock pools. Head back up and strap on your boots for the coastal path to Downderry, Seaton and Portwrinkle.
The inside at Coral Marine is the exercise in eclectic charm you’d expect from the artist and musician owners. Bold pops of colour and character sit alongside family portraits and fine art created by the owner, and the living-room stove is a perfect woodburning toe-wiggler at the end of a long day’s exploration.
There’s an open-plan feel here in the main living areas, with the squishy sofas arranged around the 50” smart TV. Get the gang together to explore the BT package, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video streamed over 60mbps Wi-Fi. Sing along around the grand piano. Need a dose of cosy? Bag a book and bunk off to the gallery.
The grand old kitchen here comes with toasty four-oven Aga, four-burner Miele and another oven in the gallery. Stock up the fridge-freezers with goodies from the Quayside Bakery, Downderry Stores or Tredinnick Farm Shop, or just sit back and wait for Waitrose or Morrison’s to deliver.
Eat in the open-plan dining room or out in the south-facing sunshine of the wooden terrace with the sun glinting on the ocean with a dessert. There’s some coal provided for the barbecue and the Dolce Gusto and cafetiere should wrap things up nicely.
Take away or stay put in the Coddy Shack: stop off for fish and chips after a day on the beach or share seafood with friends. Walk just a quarter mile to the Beach House. Eat at The Endsleigh Hotel, part of the exclusive Polizzi Collection. Try tapas in the village at Brewsheas on the Beach. Or go veggie at Summink Different.
Eat locally and sustainably at the friendly Finnygook Inn on grilled ribeye steak or dirty burger. Enjoy a Sunday roast over the papers at the Inn on the Shore. Tuck into a Michelin four-course menu at Boringdon Hall. Or try Talland Bay Hotel, where a Michelin-trained chef comes paired with the best sea view in Cornwall.
Coral Marine is a three-storey home, perfect for capturing south-facing sea views, and bedrooms come spread over two floors. With six acres of silence around you and the wash of the waves on the beach below, deep sleep is inevitable.
On the first floor, bedroom one comes with a kingsize double bed and en-suite with bath, shower cubicle and balcony, while bedroom two offers a kingsize complete with ornamental fireplace.
On the second floor, bedroom three is a superking with en-suite bathroom with bath, while bedroom four provides superking or twin beds with an en-suite shower room. Bedroom five offers kid-friendly twin beds with shower room, while bedroom six offers a zip and link and a single bed. There’s another ground-floor shower room ideal for showering after the beach.
If there’s one thing kids love more than a Cornish coastal holiday, it’s one that comes with a long, twisty road up to the front door. Coral Marine helps build that excitement and doesn’t disappoint when you arrive. Children will leap out of the car, eager to explore the grounds and desperate to get to the beach.
This is a prime Cornish location, with six acres of lush greenery and wooded hillside in which to hide, seek and generally disappear, usually right before mealtimes. So keep an eye on them by eating al-fresco on the south-facing terrace with meat sizzling on the charcoal barbecue and the sun sparkling on the sea below.
Pack their boots for the coastal path beyond the garden gate that takes you to Portwrinkle or Seaton. Scramble down the goat track to the private beach below for dips in the sea, bodyboarding, crabbing, rock-pooling or walking to Looe at low tide. Head back up to the garden to relax overlooking the sea.
After hearty meals from the Aga, evening get-togethers come around a wood-burning stove with smart-TV entertainment care of BT, Netflix or Amazon Prime, or go off-grid with sea shanties around the grand piano. Stream the fast Wi-Fi for Insta pics. Then sleep to the soundtrack of the sea washing over the beach below.
