Mellinzeath Farmhouse, Helford

Mellinzeath was once the farmhouse of the miller in this wooded valley which has a thousand years of recorded history. Thought to have been rebuilt after a fire in 1665, it has been little altered since – a really forgotten although renovated house. It retains its original size, thick granite walls and many features. We think the valley is quite extraordinarily lovely, with a tiny meadow, streams of fast rushing water, total seclusion and privacy, shelter from the wind, facing south with meadow, hillside and woodland to explore.

The house is thatched. In the floor is set a worn millstone; there are two fireplaces, a bread oven, a winding stair to a high trussed romantic roof. The bathroom, in an extension alongside, has an arched door and mediaeval windows reused from an older house. Outside, there are stone walls, a granite barn, spring and shallow streams for children to play in. You can walk round the hillsides – and also to a good pub. This is perhaps our most popular house, but you need a spirit of adventure. Although many visitors never leave the house, garden, water and woods, Mellinzeath is in the prime Helford River area, close to every facility of Falmouth, the Helford Estuary and Lizard Peninsula.

Mellinzeath has a sitting room combined with kitchen, two bedrooms and bathroom. The second bedroom has a small, high bunk for a third child. The timber kitchen is basic but has built in cooker and hob, fridge, fitted table and benches. Downstairs the floors are the original rough granite or slate and the upstairs bedrooms both have wide timber floorboards, both with rugs. There are large open wood fires for heat and electric radiators upstairs. The refitted bathroom is in an outside wing with a roll top bath on splendid feet, and a secondary hip bath for the adventurous. The water is heated by electric immersion. Free wood and mains electricity. No TV reception, no washing machine, no freezer.

Fifteen acres of wooded valley and streams; local walking permitted. You are met in the village and led to the car park in the farmyard. You and your luggage are both delivered and picked up from the house, other times it’s a 660 metre walk from your car. It is for the more adventurous, with fewer facilities than most, but loved by children, young couples, honeymooners, grandparents and those seeking quiet. The adjoining barn has been rebuilt as a wood store on the ground floor and for play, contemplation or camping on the first floor with good lighting and shutters. Bring Rubber Boots. Ideal for dogs.