"...It is easy to understand how people fall under the spell of this corner of the earth ... The barn is a true home from home, cosy, friendly and beautifully done up..." (Our first visitors)

Listen to larks and watch buzzards wheeling in the sky over an idyllic working farm while you ramble over the fields and let your children loose to get happily muddy playing in streams or building camps in ancient oak woodland. Then return to the comfort of a sensitively converted barn which, whilst being superbly equipped, maintains all the atmosphere of an ancient stone farm building.

Prices range from £350 to £1300 pw

Most of our visitors do not seem to want to stir off the farm - and they are welcome to "lend a hand" and learn about lambing, haymaking, hedge-laying or whatever the seasonal work happens to be. This is a paradise for anyone who loves wild flowers and birds or who simply wants to wander round the farm and soak up the peace.

We are on hand in the C16 farmhouse across the yard to help in any way we can to make your stay a pleasant one.

East Penrest is away from the crowds but is nevertheless well positioned for many tourist attractions. Within an hour's radius are National Trust houses, beautiful gardens (such as the Lost Gardens of Heligan), walks on Bodmin Moor and Dartmoor, and wonderful beaches on both the north and south coasts. The new Tate Gallery at St Ives might take a little longer, but it is only a 15 minute drive to the golf course at St Mellion.

There are good riding schools nearby, and sailing and windsurfing on a reservoir 20 minutes away. Paintballing, canoeing and rock-climbing are all available in the area. Let us know and we can usually arrange it for you.
It is a mile to the small village shop, and the pub with the best food in Cornwall is only half a mile down the road.

The Barn was renovated in 1996 and was awarded a commendation by the Cornish Buildings Group the following year for its "sympathetic conversion".

On the ground floor, where cows, pigs and hens were housed, there are four double bedrooms and two bathrooms. Two of the bedrooms have double beds and two have twin beds; bunk beds can be provided if required, allowing a total of 10 to be accommodated. There are old slate floors and massive exposed beams. Each bedroom has a stable-door opening out onto a south-facing stone terrace below which is a lawn bordered by a small stream and a pond, with a low stone wall separating this area from the farmyard.

Upstairs, in the old threshing barn, where hay and straw were also stored, the roof timbers have been left exposed and there is a lovely spacious living/ dining/kitchen area approximately 50 feet long. This has double doors at one end opening onto steps that lead down to a paved area for eating al-fresco and barbecuing, with a sheltered orchard just behind.

Also at this level is a small extension housing a utility area and a third bathroom, which has a shower designed for the disabled. (A ramp leads up to the back door to facilitate wheelchair access.)

At the other end of the barn is a comfortable sitting-room with a large wood-burning stove and one wall entirely lined with books.

The Barn has full central heating, electric ceramic hob, combination microwave/oven/grill, oil-fired Nobel cooker (similar to an Aga), large fridge, dishwasher, washing machine, video, television, hi-fi unit and telephone. Bed-linen, is provided (inclusive with the rent), as are electricity, oil and logs. Baby-sitting can be arranged. Home-cooked meals can also be provided by prior arrangement.