Three cosy cottages we're booking this month
Autumn brings a slowing of pace and a desire to wind down after the frenzy of summer. As the leaves turn golden, thoughts turn to long walks, hearty meals and cosy evenings spent by roaring fires – so it's little wonder we've been on the look-out for lovely cottages designed to provide all of those things. From a charming house on the edge of the Peak District to a cottage on the Cornish coast, here are the three spots we're booking now.
Dean Hearne1/3Bert's Cottage, Derbyshire
Featured in House & Garden as an interior design project of note, Bert's Cottage was renovated and decorated by antique jewellery dealer Matthew Gerrish and his partner, the Royal Ballet principal Lauren Cuthbertson. It is a quintessentially English place that ticks every box, from pretty wallpapered bedrooms and riotously colourful sitting rooms to roaring fires and large bath tubs.
The cottage is situated in Bonsall, a vibrant Derbyshire village complete with tea rooms and pubs. A popular spot is the King's Head, which has been active since 1675 and is directly opposite the cottage. Bert's is also ideal for walkers, as it's perched right on the edge of the Peak District, meaning guests are perfectly placed for a really good romp across the dales. Chatsworth House, Hardwick Hall and Haddon Hall are also easily accessed by car.
- Sleeps: 8
- From £630 per night
Will Slater2/3Plum Cottage, Cornwall
Another delightful holiday cottage which has previously been spotlit by H&G is the charmingly named Plum Cottage in Padstow. Owners Jessica and Ash Alken-Theasby own other holiday homes around Cornwall under the name Atlanta Trevone, but for the Grade II-listed Plum Cottage they approached Tom and Kate Cox of HÁM design studio to reimagine the interiors.
Though surely a delight to stay in at any time of year, the house's earthy, layered palette is tailor-made for a cosy autumnal getaway; olive, terracotta and slate tones pair with flagstones and original floorboards, with tartan and ticking striped soft furnishings. Nautical-themed pictures hanging on the walls nod to the cottage's coastal locale. ‘We imagined someone quietly creative living here, someone bookish and introspective. It needed to feel like a place where time had settled in,’ Kate told us when we first featured the house. Its central location means you are mere moments from everything Padstow has to offer, including no less than six of Rick Stein's restaurants.
- Sleeps: 4
- From £330 per night
3/3Bonington Farm, Leicestershire/Loughborough
From Buxton in Derbyshire to Stamford in Lincolnshire, the midlands seems to be having a moment for those wanting a Cotswolds-style rural idyll – without actually going to the Cotswolds. Bonington Farm, in the Leicestershire countryside, is where we’re booking for a cosy retreat that’s easy enough to access from almost everywhere in the UK. Farm accommodation here is split into four unique places to stay – with two one-bedroom cottages, one three-bedroom farmhouse (with its own nordic sauna) and one four-bedroom cottage. It’s this four-bedroom stay, called Pamella’s Place, that we’re eyeing up for a weekend away with friends – complete with long-table dinners, late nights playing board games by the log burner and days spent between wood-fired hot tubs, countryside walks and a private cinema with comfy sofas.
- Sleeps: Cottages sleep 2-8, or 20 for a full farm takeover
- From: £212 per night
