Newsletters and press releases
Peruse the latest updates from Unique Homestays HQ in our Newsletter and Press Release Archive.
New Arrival: Mirana
Weathered barns rise anew in the Helford countryside, where a bold marriage of Cornish stone and glass emerges from a glade. A natural swimming pond glimmers emerald, while steam rises from a wood-fired hot tub. Here, luxury is measured in dappled sunlight and starlit dips.
Where the magic lives
This month, we´re exploring homes where true magic lives—not in picture-perfect styling, but in ancient floorboards and time-worn stones that hold centuries of stories. From a crooked Cornish cottage to a mountain shelter in Kerry, each hideaway blends historic character with modern comfort. These are sanctuaries that speak of simpler times, where luxury means having nothing to prove and everything to discover.
Win a stay for two in Cornwall
We´ve teamed up with SheerLuxe, the UK´s leading online fashion, beauty and lifestyle publisher, to give one lucky person the chance to win a stay at Kailani in Cornwall. This idyllic fisherman´s cottage resides in the postcard-perfect village of Mousehole; complete with serene seaside views, a cosy lounge for stormwatching, and an outdoor William Holland tub.
New Arrival: Thalia
Part eco-warrior, part luxurious retreat, this remarkable modern home in Cornwall’s Camel Valley was designed to be at one with the environment. A family sanctuary, this reimagined smallholding marries Passivhaus principles with local craftsmanship.
New Arrival: Quantum
A barn conversion, but not as you know it. Here is a place where sleek modernity replaces typical rustic charm. Agricultural on the outside, architectural within; all poured concrete, glass and soaring heights. Float across the indoor pool, stargaze from the comfort of bed, or try your hand at golf on your own garden green at this RIBA award-winning home, where a new kind of Norfolk awaits.
The curator´s edit
The act of curation lies within us all and can offer a window into our innermost interests. As Architectural Digest’s Maya Ibbitson recently noted: “Living with things—knick-knacks, hobby collections, the products of trinket shop sifting—creates a narrative of you, one that people can study and glean personality from when they enter your spaces.” Here, we round-up the homes that function, in part or whole, as living museums; spaces where objects, however small, form part of their story.
Endless summer
The UK summer may be drawing to a natural close, but we’re not ready to hibernate just yet. With little persuasion, several homes are extending their season this year to include swimming pool access until the end of October and beyond.
Christmas with Unique Homestays
It’s now less than three short months until advent. That magical time of year when it feels like the good old days again. Mornings spent foraging holly and mistletoe for those final touch decorations; afternoons of scrabble and gingerbread; and evenings fireside in a stupor of port-induced chuckling, Christmas Day gravy bubbling away on the stovetop.
Travel the folkways
There was a time when we revelled in the romance of travel, writing postcards for each hour passed on these scenic routes. We longed for great locomotives; all clacking wheels and hissing steam. Midnight trains from Edinburgh, slow boats across Windermere. Road trips accompanied by bellowing soundtracks and triangular sandwiches. But what is a journey without the "are we nearly there yet" destination, after all?
New Arrival: Tilda
Emerging from the Hampshire landscape like an ink-wash painting, Tilda is a study in harmonious contrast. A noir silhouette against nature´s canvas, this woodland cabin with hot tub nestles in the New Forest; fusing contemporary design with rustic serenity. With rejuvenation in mind, at this restful retreat, the River Allen´s gentle murmur replaces the city´s clamour.
Weddings at Florin
A Victorian fever dream of grey turrets and arched windows frames the backdrop for the most striking of summer wedding soirées at Florin. Here, Welsh tradition and country manor house flamboyance combine... with rooms that unfold like a cabinet of curiosities and enchanting gardens to get lost within. This is a home at which the most bespoke of weddings are crafted, and the most lasting of memories are made.
Could this really be Britain?
For a nation bounded by history and damson hedgerows, bread-and-butter Sunday suppers and stoic stone circles, there´s still places that feel unexpectedly global. Think Hebridean beaches that feel more like the Bahamas and Anglesey coastlines that have a hint of the Atacama.
New Arrival: Seafold
Perched high above Seaton on the Cornish coast, Seafoldstands as a love letter to light and landscape. The house unfolds like origami; an architectural chameleon that shifts with the rhythms of sea and sky, blurring the boundary between home and horizon. Just a five-minute amble from the beach, Seafold emerges from the cliffs as a modern-day sea nymph born of glass and imagination.
New Arrival: The Knapp
With roses and wildflowers in abundance and kitchen garden breakfasts encouraged, wake to kites soaring overhead, and deer grazing on the lawn. At this reimagined historic home, hand-painted ceramics adorn shelves, confiscated masts from pirate ships reside over fireplaces and Hungarian folk furniture passed down through the generations frame rooms. The Knapp may seem typically Cotswold on the outside, but it has global sway within.
Going to the garden and we´re...
This wedding season, it´s all about "the scene". Though there´s much to love about embroidered veils and Swiss meringue, modern lovers know that such sweet details don´t hold a candle to the destination. We´ve seen stately homes and city halls, overseas vows and week-long nuptials; now, secret gardens are having a moment. Here, we present venues for utterly wholesome at-home weddings in Britain´s loveliest lawns: think Father of the Bride on home soil.
From the Unique Marketing team: June highlights
In our new owners´ newsletter, we´re pleased to showcase our press coverage highlights, an overview of social activity, and the top journals and newsletters from June. Here, we shine a light on our new digital and UX partnerships, and the ads that are driving ongoing traffic to our collections.
New arrival – Watermark
In the middle of a South Hams AONB, just paces from one of the prettiest villages in Devon, Watermark is a former boat repair workshop reimagined as a luxe waters’-edge home by a Sydney girl and Surrey boy. Bringing Aussie influence to an utterly English creek, the property is very much in cahoots with the great outdoors; expect canoes instead of cars, children crabbing on the causeway, and chic shacks serving St. Ewe eggs and lemon-thyme wine.
New arrival – Elberta Barn
Most barns install mezzanines that hide their height. Most barns put plasterboard between the studs and rafters. Most barns lose the essence of their pastoral roots. But this is not most barns; Elberta Barn goes to great lengths to uplift its origin story. Set west of Dedham Vale — the prized postcode in the heart of Constable Country, and once a playground for celebrated English landscape painters — this is the rural home of a curator turned landscape designer.
The summer pilgrimage
Ancient traditions of overland travel, innate and deep-rooted: pilgrimages have been part of the fabric of humanity for eons. This month, we’re waymarking home-hopping routes made for hikers who hold a candle for Champagne brunches and private pools. In place of cairns, you’ll find iconic addresses. Where there were tents, it´s terrace suites. Connecting honeypot cities with medieval villages and toll houses with Victorian manors, this is thru-hiking gone luxe.
The secret garden stays
There´s Guernsey lilies and grape hyacinths. Sea lavender, sweet peas, and potatoes that splash about in good olive oil. Gooseberries and fennel and a hoi polloi of herbs: coriander for the salsa, mint for the julep. The gardens are fit to burst. And all this meaning now’s the time to visit those homes with rosemary-scented potagers and apple orchard. But best hurry, before the bees and butterflies beat you to it.
Feeling impulsive?
...and in celebration of such, we are extending our Loyalty Points scheme from now until the end of July. Whatever a summer escape looks like to you - whether it´s five days on a remote Scottish island, two weeks in Cornwall´s wild west, or a weekend wandering The Cotswolds´ rolling hillocks, just the two of you, there´s still time to up sticks with a spontaneous break away.
New property arrival - Nocturne
A wine bar, a classroom, a restaurant, and an antiquarian. This isn’t a listing of what awaits in the market town of Stow-on-the-Wold; it´s a century-by-century chronicling of the many lives of Nocturne. Inside, there´s a grand piano, a movie parlour, a glasshouse hot tub, and a snug that gives all the cosy pubs of the Cotswolds a run for their money. It’s one of those old homes with a happy history. Now, its owners are handing the keys to modern travellers.
New arrival – Carnivàle
Here’s the rules: we spend every sunset at the rum shack, have upside-down cake for breakfast, and never go a day without getting our feet wet. On Isle of Wight time, we make our own commandments. From the creators of Bestival, this limited-edition waterfront pad — with a heated pool, skate ramp, woodfired hot tub, yoga studio, and sauna — is what happens when barefoot island living meets private festival.
New Arrival: Hansa
Turn onto a forested track and wend your way through a woodland in which little trace of realism resides; just you, the birds, and rays shining through the canopy. You’ll come to a little cottage, a gingerbread house adorned with twisting motifs, and a woodfired hot tub hiding between the rhododendrons; the only commodity to separate Hansa from the imaginations of the Brothers Grimm.
New arrival: The Tapestry
When a well-travelled tastemaker and a style savant create their dream home, the result is this 17th-century Cumbrian farmhouse; a daring opus of art, textiles, design, and ceramics that could give any museum a run for its money. A masterclass in curation, come here to live a vibrant life behind walls of whitewashed stone, high up on a tarn.
New arrival - The Gallerist
With Ashdown Forest (of Winnie-the-Pooh fame) and the South Downs to the east and west, Brighton and The Big Smoke to the south and north, these are sought-after coordinates. On them, you´ll find an architectural country house with a lawn pool, private screening room, and violet-veined Calacatta marble from Italy’s Apuan Alps. Pull up a parasol, this is laissez-faire living on tap.
New arrival - Solunar
Mid-century at its core, but reimagined through a tapestry of generations, Solunar was conceived by architect John Crowther in the 60’s, when all was mottled render, and cool, steel lines. Now clad in larch and wrapped in glass — and with its own slipway — this luxury home is a modern-day pilothouse for prospective buccaneers. Come here to make easy work of the art of waterside leisure.
The upgrade - The Viewing Gallery
Guest favourite The Viewing Gallery, a home that looks a lot like a scene from The Notebook, has had an uplift. Now oozing modernity, but still with that signature prairie-style wraparound deck, this handsome clifftop beach house is the antidote to city living: think nautical portholes, seascapes painted by the owners´ daughter, and an enviable location overlooking Portreath Beach.
Limited availability - Felicity Park
We´re welcoming back the daringly fun and flamboyantly colourful Felicity Park to our Limited Edition collection. Available for six weeks of summer only, this luxe estate in Hampshire is an original Victorian red brick that´s been turned into a playful château; a place where wildflowers border formal gardens, bohemian umbrellas shade the heated pool, and pompoms swing in the orangery.
Safari on home soil
Safari has shaped a global identity all of its own, one that extends beyond the deltas and deserts of the Okavango and Kalahari. Over time, it has come to encompass a thicket of travel experiences outside of Africa. From Polperro to Pembs, we’re rounding up our big five: properties with a front-row seat to all that’s wildlife and wilderness.
The darling homes of May
Rituals of "the long weekend" are a thing of family folklore. We poach eggs and visit lighthouses and never have a lunch that´s not a picnic. We take country walks, go more than ankle-deep in the sea, and hire Cornish Shrimpers with red sails and river maps. From storybook cottages to stately manors, island homes to cabins that teeter on cliff edges, where will you spend your Maycation?
New arrival - Salterton
A period home with a modern edit, this Victorian manor has all the hallmarks of the era. But within its fine rooms, there’s just enough newness to anchor Salterton in a century of design and innovation: a movie projector, maybe the most Upper East Side bathroom suite in the county, and a courtyard pool within walking distance of the mussels and burrata of Port Isaac (of Doc Martin fame).
New arrival - Enkel
Forest bathers, welcome. Set on five acres of subtle gardens near Southwold, this Suffolk pavilion is the poster child for transitional design, evoking the feeling of being out among the moss and meadowlands even when sipping coconut water in the studio sauna. Discerning. Grown-up. Serene. Come here to live in the hush of the silent travel trend; think new-wave writers´ retreat meets digital detox.
New arrival - Nyssa
Owned by a bohème and a music man, Nyssa is "positive energy architecture" embodied; a lesson in restorative design that takes inspiration from the meditative retreats of Morocco. A rustic sanctuary with a 1970s twist, this luxury farmhouse – with its extravagant LA-worthy yoga studio, ice bath, sauna, and hot tub – makes easy work of relaxation. Call it the eighth chakra.
A pool of one´s own
Inspired by Virginia Woolf´s essay on liberty, we’re uncovering a world where the pursuit of personal space goes beyond four walls – not a room of one’s own, but a pool of one’s own. You’ll find them in the real Hundred Acre Wood, close to the Cornish village that A-listers love, and high on the Jurassic Coast; all proof that you needn’t travel past Britain´s borders to lounge by the waters’ edge.
Any day stays
Gone are the days of poring over family calendars, swapping swim meets, and cancelling conferences, just to meet the check-in criteria. As far as we’re concerned, your holiday home should flex to suit your schedule, not the other way around. So... arrive any day, leave whenever you like (so long as you bed in for at least two nights), and do away with the rigidity of set arrival and departure days.
You need a break
In case you need a reminder, these are the lighter days you´ve been waiting for, so don´t waste them; pack a case, prep a road-tripping playlist, and browse our collection of extraordinary homes with nick-of-time availability. Dispel the myth that group gatherings require months of careful planning, and adopt a carefree approach to family travel, from clifftop nooks to modern estates in ancient woodlands.
Finding the family tree
Put away in the attic, there is a cardboard box; and in the box, there is a photograph; and in the photograph is a secret. No shutter fast enough to capture it. No dark room that could process it. Something that could never be shrunk to a 3:2 aspect ratio. We’re in pursuit of time travel; finding places made for the inner child, for sitting cross-legged with sister in the garden, and – with any luck – arriving to mum and dad waving in the doorway. One of life’s great nostalgias is rooted in a falsehood. You can go home again.
The Newlywed Times
From the caricatured Cornish cottage made for "Sarah Jessica Parker meets Shakespeare" micro-weddings to the Cotswolds estate with all the free-wheeling pluckiness of a Mad Hatter banquet, these venues might just be the best-kept secrets on the British wedding scene. This year, plan the kind of wedding you wish you were invited to.
New property arrival - Kailani
Through helter-skelter lanes, beneath rainbow lanterns strung along the harbour wall, and past granite cottages with tiny fisher-folk doors, Kailani sits against the sea at the outer reaches of Mousehole. Beyond the boundaries, you´ll discover seafood bars, artisanal bakeries, and farm shops stocked with scones and apple cider. But inside, it´s all natural linen and sinking sofas; call it Cornish klys.
The year of AI*
It´s the year of AI, but not the one you might´ve imagined. Our portfolio is an alphabet soup of tangible marvels: manors designed by king’s architects, true-as-can-be treehouses, and castles where every surface is printed and patterned. Every inch of them is real and human-made. Craft is who we are, trust is what we offer... and from cloister to cantilever, nothing about us is artificial. Artificial Intelligence, meet Architectural Integrity.
Oh, the places you´ll go
As the season for twinkling lights and not-so-silent nights comes to a close, and all about are swirling notions of what 2024 might bring, we become a collective of hopeful look-aheaders. Here´s your annual reminder that these are the good old days. So before life gets in the way, while there’s still tea in the pot and piles of shortbread to fuel the search, we invite you to indulge in the thrill of the finding...
New property arrival - Moku
With pats of concrete and teak, Moku is a modern twist on a coastal classic — you won’t find an ounce of shiplap or seashells between its copper and fluted oak walls. Think skylit mezzanines, munchkin snugs, and a nucleal living space where all the world is put to rights over pots of béchamel and bottles of Malbec. All this just paces from the sand, in a portion of Cornwall that has become something of a micro-mecca for musicians and movie stars.
New property arrival - Talisman
Picture an art gallery: all harmony and geometry. Then, imagine a troop of younglings were made its curators. In studio-meets-street market fashion, this beach house is a riot against essentialism: pickle green beams, Tiffany blue doors, marigold alcoves, and art couriered from Lebanon. This is Talisman, a RIBA award-winning family fortress with an indoor pool in Cornwall´s "Hollywood-on-Sea."
The Journeyman
Compelled to move, inspired to taste, and destined to travel; the human instinct to be in motion is so ingrained within us, that it´s no wonder the journey so often exceeds the destination. It´s in the pitstops and encounters, starlit suppers by the sea and train station samosas. For these journeys stay within us; they are our blueprint, our purpose. Our need to roam a part of our souls passed down through the generations, an inheritance of adventure, if you will.
Who owns Britain´s best homes?
From rockstars to restaurateurs, artists to astronomers, it takes extraordinary people to make Britain and Ireland´s most unique private homes. Here, through words and films, they invite you into their moorland manors, Italianate music halls, and "floating worlds." And now´s your chance to join them. We’re unearthing the nation’s most unique homes (and owners) to join our portfolio.
To the ends of the earth
All explorers have their ideas on the matter. Some call to Ushuaia, the gateway to the land of icy tundras. Others claim the title belongs to Svalbard, Siberia, or even the Pacific Ocean habitue of Easter Island. But the notion that an “end” exists reveals a truth so often missed. Let them say what they will about the Arctic or Alaska, wise are those who find expeditionary extremes close to home.
The ultimate Christmas gifting
This festive season, give the gift of roaming. From beach idling to playing hide-and-seek in country kingdoms, gift vouchers are an honest offering for Unique Folk, from Unique Folk.
The British Nordic
We owe much to The Nordics. Givers of Edvard Munch and the Moomins, of LEGO and longships, of saunas and smörgåsbords. Somewhere along the way, we borrowed their yoke sweaters, and they our Fair Isle socks. We ate cinnamon buns and sang Super Trouper and coaxed ourselves into lakes too cold for our own good. This month, we´re shining a northern light on the best of British Nordic: from tables piled with cocoa and honey loaves to seaside cottages that are more Copenhagen than Cornwall.
Where to spend New Year´s
There´s fortresses that happen where The Jungle Book meets Pride and Prejudice, manors with lashings of royal flavour, and music halls that are no stranger to Champagne-coupe countdowns. Whether your New Year´s Eve reveries involve banquet tables toppling with pistachio macarons and goat´s cheese crostini, or the quiet creep of midnight with card games and cocoa, we know just the place...
New property arrival - The Studio
In the beating heart of one of England’s “doubly-thankful” villages, The Studio is close to the art galleries and old inns of Stow-on-the-Wold, yet far enough from the bustle to hear the nuthatches. From humble cream-and-cheese beginnings to something that wouldn’t be out of place amidst the warehouses of artsy Tribeca, you might expect Basquiat to be reclining in the Eames chair, or perhaps a certain Q.
The season inbetwixt
From valleys inhabited by the Pooka of Dingle to collegial streets where the Nazgûl took literary form, the British Isles contain enough folkloric tales to fill a thousand bedtime books. For our latest journal, we´ve curated our pick of mysteries and mythologies to inspire torchlit travel during these in-between months. Expect to find homes where the devil (and the angel) is in the detail, and places that´ll see you through from Hocus Pocus to Home Alone.
Wedding wanderlust
This wedding season, it’s all about "the scene". Though there´s much to love about embroidered veils and Swiss meringue, modern lovers know that such sweet details don´t hold a candle to the destination. Recollections of calligraphed menus and wildflower bouquets may pale, but there are two things that live on in eternal vividity: the people and the place. That´s where we come in...
Meet The Whimsies
Our homes are not just destinations; they are canvases upon which our guests can paint their unique stories. In our newest brand campaign, The Whimsies, we set out to honour the unique people who make unique places. Real people, found folk and friends, with authenticity baked into their bones. Between now and Christmas, they´re taking over the London Underground; but those in the club can meet them first, here...
New property arrival - The Milk Wood
Deep in Pembrokeshire´s Nevern Valley, there is an ancient sessile oak wood; and in the wood, there is a clearing; and in the middle of the clearing is a secret. A farmhouse, a barn, a cottage, and a bothy. Four dwellings so covert that only the wildfowl and weasels know their coordinates. In them, there´s curtained cubbyholes, cabinets licked in basil and burgundy, and outdoor rolltops that bring all the ethologists to the yard. There´s never been anything quite like it.
Meet the architect-designed homes
So commanding, yet at the same time so unobtrusive, does a well-architected dwelling appear; some boast sedum roofs sprouting with wildflowers, others seem wedged like glass birds´ nests amongst the old oak trees. Here, we celebrate some of our most intentional architect-designed homes; the ones that stand out, sink in, defy gravity, or might as well be brandishing invisibility cloaks.
Just launched: Retreats
In partnership with luxury wilderness specialists RVIVAL, we introduce our trio of limited edition retreats in Cornwall and the Cotswolds: Return to the Wilds, A Survival Anthology, and Modern-Day Hunter-Gatherer. Think hands-on fire building, masterclasses on packrafting, and camera-tracking wild deer in the company of like-minded folk. All this in luxe comfort.
Any day stays
Gone are the days of poring over family calendars, swapping swim meets, and cancelling conferences, just to meet the check-in criteria. As far as we’re concerned, your holiday home should flex to suit your schedule, not the other way around. So... arrive any day, leave whenever you like (so long as you bed in for at least two nights), and do away with the rigidity of set arrival and departure days.
The summer house
From grand villas with crooning Salzburg appeal to clapperboards that feel more Colorado than Cornwall, our round-up of Britain and Ireland’s best summer houses will take you from Nicholas Sparks’ chapters to the silver screen. Expect to find a Banshees Of Inisherin-esque cottage in a Dark Sky Reserve and a "front row" beach home in the West Country that could´ve been plucked from The OC.
New property arrival - Hiraeth
Part concrete burrow, part timber birdhouse, Hiraeth happens where adobe architecture meets the Pembrokeshire rubric. Connected by a walkway flanked with old sessile oaks, its cottage and bothy are far enough to afford privacy, close enough that the young´uns may still hang tin can telephones between the windows. Expect a sauna, outdoor bathtub, and perhaps some Tylwyth Teg in the garden.
New property arrival - Huckleberry
Two households, both alike in dignity; one cottage and one barn, all beamed and bespoke, with separate living spaces and hardly a straight line between them. Inside, there´s microcement walls and softened angles that mimic the cavernous, cave-like interiors of the Cyclades. Outdoors, there´s a river hammock, rockface kitchen, fire pit, and hot tub that evoke feelings of a new life in the Welsh wilds.
Stories from the hils
These are the places you catch a glimpse of in the distance; the kind that make you cross your fingers and toes in the hopes that maybe, just maybe, that one’s yours. Think carpets of wild thyme, glacial landforms, and pilgrimages that keep hill-walkers on their toes.
New property arrival - Monterey
Sitting on a grassroots surf spot, Monterey is one of a new generation of beach houses in Cornwall: subtle, convivial, and just a few salty paces from the sea. There’s something about it that harks to a dream from the salad days: a beach of one´s own, porpoises for neighbours, and sunsets so pink they turn the whole place to candyfloss.
New property arrival - Four Hundred Summers
Would you like an adventure now, or would you like to have your tea first? Those glittering words, tumbled from the mouth of Peter Pan, were penned here in the Wolds. And Neverland, they say, was his ode to these milk and honey hillocks. Proof that there are still realms in England that have the floating power of pixie dust, Four Hundred Summers might be the AONB´s most becoming cottage.
New property arrival - Suki
Named after a concept that teaches the delights of refinement and exquisitely performed tea ceremonies, Suki is a Cornish beach house that could’ve been plucked from beneath a weeping cherry tree in Kyoto. With blushing plaster walls, a crackling woodburner, and furnishings kept to a meditative minimum, even Marie Kondo would approve of this joy-sparking space.
New property arrival - Leopoldina
Created by the master architect behind Buckingham Palace, you´ll find this former aristocrat´s stables where landscaped gardens meet private beaches on the River Dart. A waterside home so sensitively shaped that it was commended in the Architect of the Year Awards, Leopoldina´s heated pool and yoga terrace bring modern chi to the ever-present flair of 1805.
New property arrival - Botania
With rooms big enough to dance in and enormous mullion windows that overlook rewilded gardens, Botania is an Arts and Crafts manor with a life of its own. Here, moss carpets the steps, lilac wisteria braids the balustrades, and damselflies play hopscotch on the lily pond. Think Secret Garden meets Great Gatsby, and you´ll be partway there.
New property arrival - Orpheus
Fantasy pokes a portal into the real world at Orpheus, the 17th century estate where off-kilter tradition trumps modernity. With palatial bathtubs, state-of-the-art facilities, frescoed walls depicting the bards of Greek mythology, and a pool that could be lifted from Lake Como, Orpheus was made for the footloose and fancy-free. The secret´s out: this is where off-duty A-listers go to let loose.
New property arrival - Gorsestone
Passed hand-to-hand from 15th-century herders to modern day professionals seeking refuge from the city, this former longhouse brings biophilic flair to Devon’s wildest chapter. From the glasshouse yoga space with views over butterscotch moorland to the “see it to believe it” cinema room, this is an archetypal celebration home where families come to create a lifetime of spirited stories deep within Sherlock’s storied country.
New property arrival - The Marlings
With storied lintels, velveteen loungers, and lofty halls that could fit the Brady Bunch three times over, The Marlings unfolds across four dwellings, a banquet hall, and a pool house near the Cotswolds.
Spring starts with a splash
With May comes the grand reopening of our private pools for the season. From the secluded backyards of village manors to the sprawling grounds of country estates, these homes become aquatic wonderlands at this time of year, primed for serene solo swims, Gatsby-esque pool parties, and all that’s in between.
New property arrival - Lowenek
Named after the Cornish word for joy, this coastal pile has all the hallmarks of a luxe beach house, but with cool familial flair. Part easy seaside retreat, part cheerful multi-gen gathering place, Lowenek might appear to be all floating aspects and modernity, but there´s cosy bones to this castle in the air that hovers overs Portreath Beach.
Fancy yourself a Unique Homestays owner?
Many of our Owners began as guests who went on to create their own portfolio-worthy paradise. So, if you´re seeking a new investment to provide a lucrative return, our Property Finding Service might be of interest to you too. A simpler home-finding experience, we can afford you unfettered access to our architectural expertise, interior know-how, and black book of contacts.
New property arrival - Celestia
Here is a farmhouse fit for gathering, with secret sleeping nooks, suspended staircases, and century-old fireplaces that beckon bookworms and red wine drinkers to bask in the glow of open flames. Resting on a clearing beneath the flat-topped peaks of Pen-y-fan with stargazing gardens designed by Chelsea medallists The Rich Brothers, Celestia keeps lost forests, wild swimming spots, and constellations in its backcountry pocket.
New property arrival - Margot´s Townhouse
City dwellers get in line. With direct lines from Bristol and Waterloo, and hourly trains from Paddington, you´ll soon slip into holiday mode when you descend on the golden streets of Bradford-on-Avon. At this weaver´s workshop turned luxury townhouse, expect slick slabs of marble, gilt-framed mirrors, and a greenery-infused internal courtyard, all a three-minute walk from award-winning restaurants and pretty cycle paths on the riverside.
Win with Unique Homestays & The White Company
Milk-white cob walls, artisanal earthenware, and glass bottles of ‘sleep mist’ at the bedside; The Fable is an ode to simple living. This spring sees the page turn on a new chapter as the storybook home features in a collaboration of fairytale proportions - painted head to toe in White Company details. To celebrate this first-of-its-kind partnership, we´re offering the chance to win a stay at The Fable, plus £500 to spend with The White Company.
Lazy Sunday stays
Because everybody loves a lie-in, we´re offering generously late check-outs at select homes this season so that you can well and truly slip into Sunday mode. The all-new Lazy Sunday stays collection is designed for those who crave a weekend break, but can’t escape the Monday morning meetings. These two-night Friday to Sunday breaks, with an extended departure time of 6pm, ensure you get to make the most of your weekend away.
Storybook homes
We built our childhoods in those pages. We climbed the beanstalk, tasted the porridge, and got lost in Hundred-Acre Woods. When we grew up, we never expected to find homes of storybook character nestled in our own backcountry. Yet, here they are. With turrets and follies and islands and eiderdowns, this curated collection invites you to fall down the rabbit hole to a life of fairytale proportions.
Marvellous Maycations
It´s a truth universally acknowledged: a weekend well spent brings a week of content. With a trio of bank holidays on the calendar this May, there´s plenty of opportunity to satiate your inner nomad with a chic short-haul stay.
New property arrival - Under the Yew Tree
A softened monastery, infused from doorknocker to chimney with monkish aestheticism and riddled with French-Greek fingerprints, Under the Yew Tree is British history incarnate. These days, its modernised insides are part Provençal, part Aegean; but leaded windows and penny-plain walls are the heart on its stone sleeve that speak to age and provenance.
Spring breaks for good eggs
We root about the garden on cocoa-scouting pilgrimages, herding foraged chocolates into baskets and keeping watch for bunnies darting between the daffodils. We return indoors only to turn boiled eggs into pastel Fabergés, and to make ice cream sandwiches out of hot cross buns. With little ones on a break from phonics and numeracy, there´s days to be filled by the coast and country.
Unique Homestays launches The White Company´s first holiday cottage
The White Company partners with Unique Homestays to launch an experiential holiday cottage in an exclusive, first-of-its-kind partnership.
New-wave wellbeing
There’s an art to practicing wellbeing, a fine balance of the little and the lofty. A eucalyptus-infused steam room here, a private wildflower meadow there. Sometimes a swim in the ocean to wash the day away, others a dip in the plunge pool. There’ll be mornings where the whole caterwauling crew will eat pancakes at the breakfast table, and evenings that call for a solo dinner in the village. More sleep, more tea, more laughter, more time, together.
The great indoors
With gorgeous garden tubs, beds swathed in woollen blankets, and tables toppling under the weight of heavy cream and tarte tatin, our homes are at their most inviting during these chilly months. For coastal retreaters, painting in the window and dunking local shortbread into cups of cocoa are all that’s on the seaside syllabus. And in the glens and hilltops, country-goers will slosh through puddled bridleways and dream of the stew simmering on the Aga.
A toast to new wedding destinations
For you, the star-crossed lovers of the nation, home went from being a place to a person a long time ago. And yet, here are two destination venues sure to hold a place in your heart forever. Two of our favourite properties have evolved to incorporate all-new spaces for wedding celebrations; places for shared vows, swapped rings, and memories made. Will you pick the wisteria-clad façade of the country manor adjoining The Lost Music Hall, or the sleek finish of Anthology Farm’s new wedding barn?
The forecast: what´s trending for 2023
As we look ahead to 2023, we’re seeing out-of-the-box thinking (and travelling) on the horizon. Helipads, moated castles, and goat yoga on waterfront decking: just some of the requests so far. We´re kicking off January with a round-up of our top trends for this year, from the inside-outside snow globe aesthetic to places fit for shinrin-yoku.
These are the good old days
As the season for twinkling lights and not-so-silent nights comes to a close, and all about are swirling notions of what 2023 might bring, we become a collective of hopeful look-aheaders. Here´s your annual reminder that these are the good old days. So before life gets in the way, while there’s still tea in the pot and piles of shortbread to fuel the search, indulge in the thrill of the finding...
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