Wonderfully secluded cottage close to the lake and village; enjoy dark, starry skies at night and days exploring walks and cycles in every direction from this comfortable cottage.
This cottage is situated in one of the UK's most enviable locations overlooking the beautiful Buttermere Valley and sleeps up to eight people. Just a short stroll down a bridleway and across the fields is Buttermere village with two pubs, a cafe and an ice cream parlour. The mountain scenery is unrivalled with Red Pike, High Stile and Mellbreak all clearly visible from the cottage, as are the sister lakes of Crummock Water and Buttermere. The cottage is named after the stream that runs through the large garden which has a picnic table and a large wooden deck for relaxing and admiring the view. The shingled shores of Buttermere lake are just a few minute's walk from the cottage and the 4-mile circuit around the lake is a delightful child-friendly walk with at least two ice cream stops, a tunnel and two waterfalls en route; so much so that it regularly features in national newspapers' 'top ten walks in the UK'. The two pubs in the village; both serve good food and local ale and benefit from beer gardens with the finest outlook for miles!
The cottage was originally built as a farm smallholding in 1787 and, until the 1950s, was owned by Oxford University along with much of the surrounding land (indeed, the rent collector used to live in the cottage). It was bought from the university in the 1950s by the current owner’s grandfather and has been in the family ever since, albeit more recently with heating, electricity and Wi-Fi!
It is possible to walk or cycle in just about every direction from the cottage, and you can easily to spend a whole week without needing the car. There is a separate bike/outdoor gear store for storing equipment and a drying room for clothes.
However, for those in search of local and outdoor shops, cinema, theatre, restaurants and pubs, then the lakeland towns of Cockermouth and Keswick are a 20-minute drive away and are well worth a visit. In the valley adventures include the Honister Slate Mine with unique mine tours and a Via Ferrata which is just a few minutes' drive up the Honister Pass, and there are mountain biking trails and a ‘Go Ape’ High Wire Adventure at Whinlatter Forest Park which is 10 minutes' drive in the other direction.
This eco-friendly cottage sleeps up to eight people in four bedrooms in a stunning location overlooking Buttermere. Guests are greeted with a welcome pack containing locally sourced goodies from a cafe located in Buttermere village.
When you first arrive, entry to the cottage is through a main front door from the lane into the living room, which is comfortable and spacious, with a stunning view down to the lake and seating for eight people. The wood burner is the focus of the room for those wintery nights when you need to keep warm and toasty after a bracing day on the fells. The cottage is ideal if you want a digital detox away from all the screens in your life as there is no TV and no mobile signal but there is a landline at the cottage for guests. There is Wi-Fi, but it can be intermittent because of the remote location of the cottage. Instead, the owners have provided a Bluetooth speaker for guests to use, as well as plenty of interesting books for all ages and a very well stocked cupboard of board games, playing cards and jigsaws to keep everyone occupied! There's also a large toy chest for younger kids.
Just off the living room, there's a large dining room with retro style furniture and upholstered chairs for eight people. A wide selection of local walking books, maps and guides including all the Wainwright books are kept in the sideboard for visitors to use. There is a window seat facing the barn.
Also off the living room is a small corridor leading to a spacious cloakroom / drying room, a door out onto the terrace and the downstairs double bedroom which features a huge window to enjoy the panoramic view of Buttermere, Crummock Water, High Stile and Red Pike. Grazing Herwick sheep can be seen in the fields and woodland in the foreground. The bedroom has a king-size bed, a large double wardrobe, two bedside tables and an armchair which is perfect for curling up with a good book. There is also an en-suite wet room with a WC and walk-in power shower, featuring slate floors which echo the geological surroundings of the house.
Outside is a large wooden deck with a porch and a handy bench for putting on and taking off walking boots or just sitting and taking in the outstanding view! There is a BBQ for guests to enjoy during their stay.
The kitchen is accessed via the hallway, it has deep modern worktops, an electric oven and separate hob, microwave, fridge and dishwasher. There is a large utility room/pantry across the hall from the kitchen, complete with a full-size freezer, washing machine, ironing board and iron. The kitchen is fully equipped with cookbooks and plenty of crockery and kitchen utensils and there are plenty of cabinets there for you to store your things. The window has a lovely view of the garden and across to Rannerdale Knott. There's kids fishing nets stored in the porch off the kitchen. There is another door with direct access out to the garden.
Climbing the old slate steps to the first floor, you will find a single bedroom, a family bedroom containing a double and a single bed and a large double room.
The single bedroom has a wonderful porthole window looking out onto the garden and a skylight to give the room a light and airy feel. There is a chest of drawers and hangers for you to hang your clothes.
The family room is large with a view of the barn, hooks with hangers for you to hang your clothes and two chest of drawers.
The double bedroom contains a super-king-size bed which can be set up as twin beds on request. This room has two chairs, a clothes rail, an antique chest of drawers and a large antique blanket chest.
The first floor features a separate WC, a bathroom with a bath and WC, and a separate shower room. This is great for lots of people sharing, as queues for the bathroom and WC are significantly reduced!
The large garden is perfect for those wishing to enjoy the fresh air with a lovely stream running through; damming it to create deep pools or floating wooden 'boats' down out create hours of fun for children and adults alike. There is a large picnic table which seats eight for outdoor dining. It is surrounded by traditional dry stone walls and Herdwick sheep are regular visitors to the garden so don't worry if you see them in there - they'll find their way out again! The dry stone walls are there to keep them out but they are very good climbers (and lawnmowers!). There are small trout in the stream and if you sit quietly for long enough outside you might be lucky enough to see the otters, or the local heron which pops by for a snack.
The cottage is powered by an eco-friendly biomass heating system and the owners provide ecological cleaning products for guests' use. They are keen for guests to look after the idyllic valley and visitors are encouraged to be considerate of the beautiful environment around them during their stay.