NATIONAL TRUST HOMES FROM CORNWALL TO DEVON, May 15 - 16, 2018

TUESDAY, MAY 15

With one day to do some exploring nearby, we headed off to see Lanhydrock near Bodmin, Cornwall. 

Enormous and gorgeous estate, left completely in tact with all its furnishings. Piano playing in grand hall upstairs, walked the gardens, formal hedged topiaries, lunch was supposed to be in Looe for mussels but we got stuck in the town center on tiny one-way streets and when we finally got out, we just left! 

LANHYDROCK

A perfect country house and estate, amazing in size but quite a comfortable interior. 

 The beauty of formal gardens as well as ancient woodlands to walk, even peaceful riverside paths. This would be a property fun to live near as you have such spacious parklands to enjoy.

 The kitchen, vast!
 "After a devastating fire in 1881 the home was refurbished in high-Victorian style with the best in country house design and planning with all the latest mod-cons." NT

Even a modern slow cooker 

 How did they ever build these enormous and stunning structures????

WEDNESDAY, MAY 16

Well, I knew our fab weather wouldn't last forever and we woke to chilly and foggy skies on Wednesday. With two stops planned as we left Cornwall and drove on to Devon we got an early start. The plan was to be at our next housesit by 5:30 later that day. No time to waste.

COLETON FISHACRE 

Kingswear, Devon

A 1920s jazz era stone house built by producer of Gilbert & Sullivan operas, a country home in the Arts and Crafts style. Art Deco elegance everywhere from the glamorous Saloon to the airy servants quarters.  Estate with sea view and gorgeous gardens. Hot soup in the tiny tea room was perfect for this cold drizzly day.Too rainy to walk down to seaside plus we had a 2pm parking time for our next stop, Agatha Christie's summer home. 

GREENWAY HOUSE AND GARDENS

SUMMER HOME OF AGATHA CHRISTIE

Beautiful and all original to her life and set in the 1950s when Agatha and her family would spend summers and Christmases here. 

 A large and romantic woodland leads downhill to the Dart estuary and the boathouse, the scene of the crime in "Dead Man's Folly". The surrounding structures include the battery, compete with a cannon.

 I picked up a copy of the book as we headed back to the car and our continued route to Otterton and our next house sitting.