TRAVEL
Originally published on Thursday, 17 January 2008
Over Designed
We Londoners are notoriously hard to please when it comes to getting out of town, even for just a few days. We want all the at-your-fingertips trappings of city life without the over-designed and over-priced weekend accomodation that routinely disappoints.
Which is why we're feeling the stunning Higher Westcott Farm, a 300-year old granite walled Devon longhouse in the middle of Dartmoor National Park. This new boutique guest-house delivers comfort and style without the unnecessary design-for-design's sake that has become the unfortunate hallmark for many country guest-houses aimed at the London market.
Owners Sam and Jo - the latter a former manager of chic London restaurant Le Coq D'Argent - have gone for a contemporary yet rustic style with wood-buring stoves, leather sofas flatscreen TVs and stylish bedroom suites. Breakfast and dinner is - of course - locally sourced using organic produce and the well-stocked bar has a selection of aged rums, malt whiskeys, cognacs and champagne. Shooting and fishing can also be arranged with the yield of the day cooked and prepared for dinner.
For those who are detoxing, the guesthouse even has its own natural spring water supply and grows many of its own vegetables. So, let's consign the over-designed and impractical to the short-break history books. For style and substance (spruced up) rustic living is where it's at.
Higher Westcott Farm - 01647 441 205
Westcott, Moretonhampstead, Devon, TQ13