'High tech, high style meet the romance of Du Maurier territory'

In the know

House style

Contemporary, award-worthy architectecture

Grounds

The house’s small lawn garden and private beach overlook Pont Pill creek on the Fowey estuary and are surrounded by National Trust countryside

Sleeps

Ideally 8–10 adults plus a four-bunk children’s room and a single child or baby’s room. There is some flexibility in the rooms but 16 is the maximum number of guests allowed.

Ideal for

Fully catered dinner parties, intimate getaways, birthday celebrations, sailing breaks and weddings

Rates

£2,500 a night; from about £300 a person a week, based on ten people sharing.

Minimum hire

Pencalenick House can be rented by the day. The rental period starts at 2pm and ends at 10am.

Also

Pets are not allowed, and guests are requested not to smoke in the house

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Interior

Bedrooms 

Bedroom 1: Ground floor double bedroom with en suite shower room. Bedroom 2: Ground floor master bedroom with en suite bathroom and separate shower. Bedroom 3: First-floor master bedroom with en suite bathroom and wet room. Bedroom 4: Single room with a cot – an ideal child’s room. Bedroom 5: This bunk bed room sleeps four children. Bedroom 6: Smaller double room with an en suite bathroom. Bedroom 7: Secluded double bedroom with en suite shower room. Bathroom: The family bathroom overlooks the estuary.

Kitchen The open-plan kitchen is in the central part of the house, where the chef can prepare a wide range of meals for guests. The dining table enjoys excellent views, as does the rest of Pencalenick House.

Living room The double-height 40-foot room at the centre of the house has huge windows with views along Pont creek and a centrepiece fireplace clad in Cornish stone; there’s an extensive library of books, too.

Dining room The dining table comfortably seats eight guests although it can be extended to accommodate more. It's right infront of the huge picture windows so the view over the estuary is fantastic. There's another dining table outside on the terrace, too.

Other The games room has a 42-inch plasma screen TV with DVD library and full Sky package, table football, children’s games and books. There's a separate treatment room for massage and beauty treatments. There's also an office with a Mac available.

Outdoor

Gardens There’s a small area of lawn in front of Pencalenick House, with a terrace ideal for outside dining in the summer. The views across the estuary to Fowey are spectacular.

Parking There’s space for about 10 cars.

Other Yes, indeed – small yet perfectly formed. There’s a slipway for the dinghy to take you out to the yacht or across the water to Fowey. In the woods a short walk from the house there is a barbecue platform where the chef can prepare more informal meals.

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Planes Newquay airport is 30 miles from Fowey, with daily flights from Gatwick and Stansted. Plymouth airport is 40 miles away and also has flights from Gatwick. There’s a helipad in Fowey.

Trains First Great Western, Virgin and Wessex trains operate services to the nearest stations at Par and St Austell; the journey from London Paddington takes about four hours. (www.trainline.co.uk).

Local taxi service For car hire, click on our Travel Offers page. Smithcard holders get a 10 per cent discount with Hertz.

Directions by road Pencalenick House will provide you with directions (which are invaluable!). Beyond Exeter, take the A38 via Plymouth and Liskeard, then the A390 to Lostwithiel and towards St Austell. At St Blazey take the A3082 to Fowey. Pencalenick House is on the opposite side of the estuary but there is a car ferry between Fowey and Bodinnick. The ferry operates 7am–6pm from October to April and 7am–8.45pm during the summer months. The house can always send a boat to get you if you get stuck.

Review

Pencalenick House was designed as a private home – a perfect modernist hideaway on the Fowey estuary in Cornwall. While the owner has comprehensively succeeded in creating the house of his (or anyone’s) dreams, he’s been less successful in dragging himself away from the office, which means you get the opportunity to enjoy the property in the meantime. Yet while Pencalenick House looks and feels like a home, it comes complete with the kind of service that you’d find in the finest hotels. This place should be part of everyone’s work-life balance.

Carved into a wooded hillside in a peaceful spot overlooking Pont Pill creek, the house was designed by architect Seth Stein using local Cornish stone. The use of natural materials gives Pencalenick a richly organic feel and, if you approach from the landward side, the property is almost invisible. In contrast, the seaward side of the house opens up onto spectacular views across the water to the town of Fowey. The rooms are versatile and children are well catered for. It’s even possible to host weddings here, but this is really the perfect setting for the most luxurious of house parties or private escapes with a select group of family or friends.

The interiors are as stylish and contemporary as the house itself, furnished with custom-made elm tables and Jasper Morrison chairs. The central 40-foot reception area is the hub of Pencalenick House and is dominated by the large stone fireplace and enormous double-height windows that bring the outside in, even in winter. The seven bedrooms are arranged over two floors that curve gently along the hillside, giving every room a view over the creek; the floor-to-ceiling windows and the terrace outside the first-floor rooms make them particularly bright and filled with the sea breeze.

Pencalenick may have an irresistibly relaxed atmosphere, where you can happily spend your time browsing the library or playing table football in the games room, but the full-service attention is always impeccable. Deborah the full-time house manager is on hand to ensure that guests have everything they need, so you can enjoy your stay in total seclusion, or spend your time horse riding, sailing or walking along the coastal paths. Fowey’s excellent seafood restaurants struggle to compete with Chris, the house’s expert chef, who prepares all meals using fresh Cornish ingredients (some from Pencalenick’s own organic garden). There’s an excellent wine cellar, too. The barbecue area in the woods next to the house is an ideal place for dinner on a warm summer’s evening.

The garden, with its terrace and lawn, is relatively small but few houses come with their very own private beach. Much of the surrounding woodland and beautiful open farmland is protected by the National Trust so there’s plenty to explore. At low tide you can walk along the shoreline to the charming village of Polruan. Just when you think you already have everything you could possibly need for the perfect escape, you discover that Pencalenick House also comes with a classic 1930s motor yacht. Pip the skipper can take you around the coastline to some of the superb local beaches for the perfect picnic. Enjoy it all now, before the owner takes early retirement.

Reviewed by Jim Whyte

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