In the know

House style

Tiny 18th-century former pilchard press

Grounds

A small courtyard, perfect for those who need somewhere to sneak out to for a cheeky smoke, and also sufficient room for you to have a barbecue.

Sleeps

2, and possibly a small baby.

Ideal for

Couples under 6ft.

Rates

Low season (1 November–13 March): Friday to Sunday, £300; Friday to Monday, £400; Four-night midweek break, £480; Full week, £585. High (14 March–30 May; 30 August–31 October): Friday to Sunday, £330; Friday to Monday, £480; Four-night midweek break, £570; Full week, £685. Peak (31 May–29 August): Friday to Sunday, £360; Friday to Monday, £500; Four-night midweek break, £600; Full week, £785.

Minimum hire

Ideally, two nights at weekends; four nights during the week.

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Interior

Bedrooms 

Bedroom 1: The bedroom is fantastically cosy, with a beautiful wooden armoire and Bose radio by the kingsize bed, festooned with Oxford pillows and embroidered cushions.

Bathroom: Wonderfully roomy, with a huge freestanding bath, it's big enough for a giant to relax in – even if they’d have a job wandering around with their head up high elsewhere. There’s a shower of Pavarotti proportions, and a dainty rectangular bath ensuring it hits all the à la mode design notes. And forget run-of-the-mill Molton Brown – the toiletries here are decidedly more special; both scented and local, they come from Seboni Cornish Spa Essentials. Fresh orchids are the perfect touch of floral luxury in a bunk-up that begs you to relax and take your pace down to a Cornish pace.

Kitchen Fully equipped with Smeg range cooker and triple oven and a diminutive dishwasher, as well as all your electrical accoutrements such as Miele mixer, toaster, blender, etc; you can really flex your Delia desires too thanks to scales, peeler, grater, whisk and more in the drawers, and also cookbooks galore. Ready for your arrival, the cupboards are also stocked with the basics such as tea, milk, salt and pepper.

Living room The upstairs sitting room exemplifies the handpicked approach to the chic-trad furnishings. An old horsehair-stuffed brown-leather settee and super-comfy armchairs has been given a new lease of stripy deck-chair upholstery life. Choose a DVD from a shelf brimming with pretty blue-and-white Cornish crockery. An old-fashioned glass float from Penryn is a nod to the seaside location, and a tiny stained-glass window decorated in pilchards is a wink to this house’s former life. Light the wood-burning stove, and make yourselves at home and surf the many channels available on the big flatscreen TV.

Dining room The corner table in the kitchen can seat four (or more if you fold it open) but it is perfect for two. And if you’ve got a laptop with you, this is the perfect spot to plot up and consult the www.smithandfriends.com website to decide what to do while you’re away, while you chat to whoever’s in the kitchen fixing supper.

Other 

Outdoor

Gardens Skipper’s has a tiny courtyard with a wrought-iron table and chairs are a sweet spot to enjoy a cup of tea alfresco.

Parking This is in the car park; usually £2 a day although the owners will organise this for you in advance so that you don’t have to pay.

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Planes Newquay International, Cornwall’s main airport, operates regular flights from Stansted with Ryanair, Gatwick with British Airways and Manchester with BMI Baby. Cornwall also has its own airline, Air Southwest, which flies from Bristol, Manchester and Dublin, among others, from around £35 each way (www.newquay-airport.co.uk).

Trains There are regular, direct trains from London Paddington to the South West, taking between four and five hours, with Virgin (www.virgintrains.co.uk) or First Great Western (www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk). The latter also offers the very civilised Night Riviera Sleeper to Penzance, departing London shortly before midnight and arriving at around 8am; to book tickets, ring 0845 700 0125.

Local taxi service Penzance Taxi Company, 01736 366366. If you want to hire a car down there, try DW Car Hire (+44 (0)1736 754197; www.dwcarandvanhire.com). Prices from £22 a day for a small five-door hatchback. Alternatively, click on our Travel Offers page. Smithcard holders get a 10 per cent discount with Hertz.

Directions by road Wesley Square is a tucked-away pedestrian square, so even those Sat Navved up will need some tips. As you come into Mousehole you’ll see the Old Coastguard Hotel on your left and a Rover garage on your right; drive along with the harbour on your left, little shops and houses on your right. Bear left past the Ship Inn through the village, up a short hill until it levels out. Take the first left down a short steep hill into a car park. Take the path that hugs the edge of the sandy beach past the row of cottages overlooking the harbour. Skipper’s is effectively behind these. At the end of this path is a large granite house with Bay View etched on the glass above the door, the entrance to Wesley Square is to the left of this. Walk along the square ignoring the steps to the right; Skipper’s is the last house on the left, and it’s clearly marked with a plaque.

Review

Little wonder Dylan Thomas dubbed Mousehole the loveliest village in England: lush, sub-tropical gardens, delightful tea shops, a boat-filled harbour – the postcard-perfect fishing village pronounced ‘Mouzel’ provides a storybook Cornwall experience. Wake up to the sound of seagulls, take long lazy walks along the rugged coast, stop for a Cornish cream tea overlooking the harbour… who needs to holiday beyond England’s shores?

The perfect Cornish self-catering property in which to play house, this darling little rental cottage, Skipper’s, is a ten-minute drive from Penzance. Tucked in the corner of a hidden-away pedestrians-only square in Mousehole, Skipper’s is a patch of Fulham on the coast. All-white walls lend a seaside freshness and low, beamed ceilings and a narrow staircase provide a diminutive stature which is part of Skipper’s charm (although under-6ft guests may enjoy it most). And why the south-west London reference? Joss and Philippa, its owners, ditched the rat race in London, and scurried to Mousehole to dip their toes into property renovations and hospitality. Mr & Mrs Smith were the first-ever guests in this, their first finished product, a totally transformed former pilchard press, now a chic retreat for two, furnished in an adorable Chelsea-does-the-countryside décor. Freshly cut flowers, pretty polka-dot crockery, local artwork of Cornish scenes – it is the prettiest pied-à-terre possible, a world away from city life.

Enter a stable-style door from the courtyard into the eat-in kitchen, with its big range cooker and every culinary implement you could wish for, begging for the cookbooks to be made use of. And those who don’t fancy themselves as frustrated Jamies, Nigellas or Delias can enlist Joss and Philippa’s fridge-stocking services, and request some foolproof steaks or ready-to-eat lobsters to await their arrival. In summer, the little outdoor courtyard can host a barbecue, so say the word and an organic BBQ pack can also be at your disposal. Joss and Philippa are keen to discourage the need for guests to visit any big supermarkets and will provide local food and drink where possible – they even have their own sommelier.

A huge bathroom, also on the ground-floor, begs for guests to enjoy some R&R at Skipper’s, and where giants would be hunched under the low ceilings, they’d have no problem stretching out in the freestanding Albion bath. A delightful window onto the old brick wall outside is made a feature of and compensates for there being little view of the outside world. But chances are its your olfactory senses that will be overwhelmed; the air is infused with a delicious fig-scented air perfume (mimosa in the bedroom), and also on hand are some heavenly local Seboni products including a fragrant candle, indicative of the exemplrary attention to detail.

Upstairs, light a fire in the wood-burning stove and cosy up on the beaten leather sofa in the sitting room in front of a huge flatscreen promising the full digital gamut and DVD options. Then when the sea-air has worked its soporific powers on you, collapse into the super-comfortable bed and drift into a slumber like no other.

Reviewed by Juliet Kinsman

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