Quarry House

Quarry House is a handsome detached Victorian villa standing in a half acre of private, terraced gardens. It has magnificent views over Ilfracombe & out to sea. Backing directly onto the South West coastal path, this is a perfect house from which to explore the North Devon area.
 
A private beach is just a 5 min walk away, Damien Hirst’s restaurant in Ilfracombe Harbour a 15 min walk, and the 3 miles of golden sand & highly regarded surf at Woolacombe Bay are a 10 min drive. Full catering is available on request.
 
Inside, the house is bright, stylish & comfortable, the result of a recent 4 year restoration programme. It can sleep up to 13 people in 7 bedrooms. Quarry House is available for week, weekend or midweek lets throughout the year.

Quarry House was built in 1890 as a holiday home for an Admiral & his family. The house still maintains many impressive original features, but has been sympathetically brought up to date by the current owners who worked in London & New York as an interior designer & an event director.
 
With 7 bedrooms, outstanding views, pretty gardens, log fire, AGA, detached vine room, sea view terrace accessed directly off a magnificent 34ft sitting / dining room, loads of privacy, full sky package and WIFI, this is a wonderful place for a holiday. 

Ground Floor: Large attached conservatory / entrance porch entering into Long Hallway hooks for coats at one end. Sitting room / formal dining room & library. A magnificent 34 ft long room with windows and French doors out onto the sea view terrace.  Working log fire at sitting room end. 42" widescreen plasma TV with full sky package, DVD (many DVDs in the library), seating in 3 large sofas. Dining room / library end – huge oak table with chairs to seat 12, library shelves with various books & games. Kitchen / second dining room – Similar size to the sitting room / dining room.  Miele extra size oven & grill, Miele gas hob with extractor, Gas 2 oven AGA (always on), dishwasher, American fridge freezer (dispenses filtered water & ice), toaster, kettle.  French doors to kitchen terrace, Walk in larder with microwave, wine racks. Dining room end – dining table with chairs to seat 6, French doors to side, access to side garden. Laundry room with butlers sink, washing machine & tumble drier.  Hooks for coats. Loads of room for boots & shoes. Downstairs loo.

First Floor - Bedroom 1: Large bay window with views over Ilfracombe & out to sea, 2 wardrobes, king size bed & en-suite bathroom. Bedroom 2: 2 sash windows with views over Ilfracombe & out to sea, 2 single beds, wardrobe, single futon chair we can make up into a bed if needed. Bedroom 3: cosy bedroom with a single bed, views over the hills. Bedroom 4: King size bed. Main bathroom: Huge bathroom with original Victorian claw foot bath, separate shower with 14 inch rose, loo, sink, and shower off.

Second Floor - Bedroom 5: Double bed with views over Ilfracombe & out to sea. Bedroom 6: King size en suite bedroom with views over Ilfracombe & out to sea. Single futon armchair we can make up into a bed for a child if needed. Bedroom 7: Double bed, countryside views up to the hills. Bathroom: lovely bathroom with bath, shower, loo & sink. 'Art' room: Former artists studio room, now a small kitchen with long sink, fridge, kettle, table & 2 chairs and access to the back garden.

Outside: ‘Secret’ garden – half way up the drive, secluded, pretty & level garden surrounded by shrubs & flowers. Ideal for hiding away with a book. The detached vine room is a large Victorian conservatory with grape vines & a nectarine tree (please help yourself!). This is a great place to relax,  French doors onto a terrace with outside table to seat 14. The kitchen terrace has a small fish pond with fish, bench, pots & a huge washing line, large charcoal barbecue. The front terrace, accessed from the sitting / dining room, has amazing views over the town & sea, table & chairs to seat 6 and leads to the side garden with decking, small grassy area & kids playhouse.
 
The back garden is a large sloping / terraced area 'natural' garden with mature trees, with direct access onto the South West Coastal path & down to the secret beaches at the back of the house. There is parking by the house for 3 cars as well as lots of parking on the road at the bottom of the drive.

We welcome children, and think the house is perfect for a family holiday. We have 2 high chairs, 2 travel cots, and 2 single futon beds. The front terrace (off the sitting room) is a perfect place for even tiny children to play – it is large, flat & completely enclosed by fences. There is even a beautiful handmade wooden wendy house at one end.  The rest of the grounds are really for older or supervised children.

*Please note, locations shown on the maps are approximations only

Quarry House is perfectly located to explore the beautiful & unspoilt North Devon area. The house itself backs onto the South West Coastal path, where you can walk along the cliffs to quiet villages with quaint inns, or brave the steeply sloping paths to discover beaches you’ll have all to yourself. At the end of the road, just a 5 min walk, is the spectacular privately owned Tunnels Beach with its original Victorian tidal bathing pool, chic bar & restaurant & quirky tiki shack - perfect for evening cocktails.

The 3 miles of golden sand & clear waters of Woolacombe Bay are a 10 min drive.  A surfers dream, the waves are also great for beginners. Learn to surf with Nick Thorn. Saunton Sands Golf Club has one (if not the) best links course in the country. There is also a good course, with some wonderful sea views, in Ilfracombe. For adventurous guests you can try your hand at Coasterring.

Ilfracombe is a pretty Victorian harbour town. The high street has many independent shops, and offers much locally produced food – a great butcher, local bakers, and greengrocer & health food shop/deli. The shops are a 10 min walk away. The harbour, a 15 min walk, is postcard pretty & boasts Damien Hirst’s restaurant no 11 The Quay, the artist lives locally. Eat delicious fresh local fish whilst surrounded by museum quality art. Sightseeing boats leave the harbour regularly & enable you to explore the coastline from the sea.

If you wish to use public transport to get to Quarry House the nearest train station is Barnstaple (c.20min drive away). This is a branch line from Exeter St Davids.  Alternatively you could get a mainline train to Tiverton Parkway (c.45mins drive) & get a taxi from here. If there are a few of you the price is OK & it’s a bit quicker.

Catering – we can help arrange full catering if needed.  Our wonderful chef is happy offering a 5 course silver service meal, or just preparing hearty casseroles to put in the AGA. Her rates are very reasonable, especially considering the standard of her food.  We will supply her contact number on request.

If you would like a mid week clean we are happy to put you in touch with our housekeeper.  C. £10 per hour. Subject to availability our local babysitter charges £6 per hour.
 

Security deposit:  £1000 to be taken 4 weeks in advance.
Linen & Towels: included in rental.
Energy costs: included in rental.
End of stay cleaning: included in rental.
Arrival time: 4pm.
Departure time: 10.30am.
Pets: strictly by arrangement.
Smoking: Strictly no smoking.
Changeover dates: Weekly bookings run from Friday to Friday. There is flexibility outside of the high season.

What a wicked house, absolutely perfect place for a surprise 40th birthday! Loved the walks... apart from the bus from Lee not turning up! We would love to come back & am sure there's going to be a New Years or Christmas spent here sometime in the future.

Thank you Kirstie for making it all so easy to organise & Ann's catering on Saturday night was fantastic - proper winter home cooked fayre. A really great time has been had by all, many thanks.

Stewart, Nov 2010

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We have had such a great weekend and absolutely loved this house, the furnishings & finishing touches. The scones & clotted cream were fabulous! We walked from Ilfracombe and did a lovely circular walk via Lee - stopping at The Grampus for a welcome pint. Thank you so much.

Mrs Hughes

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Beautiful house, stunning setting - everything perfect. I dare anyone to come here & not go home with plans to entirely re-decorate their own home! We're all very jealous of your interiors taste!

Frankel

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Warm, friendly and very homely. We have had a wonderful family gathering come holiday, come birthday celebrations (60th). Wonderful house, wonderful town, a very beautiful part of the country. We all loved it, thank you.

Landino

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A lovely house for a family reunion & 80th birthday celebrations. We all had a great many laughs - weather stayed fair & some of the family even managed a morning surfing! Dogs loved the coastal walks & beach. Thank you for the delicious scones, cream & jam - very yummy.

Mrs Worlock

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Just got back from Illfracombe, and had to say we loved the house, the history and your history, great space for us all to use as a base, we did a lot of walking and the weather was kind to us....

Our favourite bits:

* The Harbour
* Tunnels Beach
* The Aga - we stayed in and cooked most evenings, not what we planned...
* Lunch on the Terrace in front of the vine room
* The coastal walks from the back garden – although only some of us walked back from the Grampus Inn
* The Body boards and bucket & spades to keep the little ones happy on Woolacombe beach and the “big ones”
* The Scones , Jam & Cream lasted us all week.
* The quality towels & bedding – does make a big difference.
* Even loved the drive, once we got used to it.
* Loved the CD collection – and the take home CD as a quarry souvenir ( making breakfast to cool tunes...)

Will always remember this week and hope to come back some time. Thank you.

Mr & Mrs Turner, August 2010

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We had a really good holiday at Quarry House. The weather was mixed but we made the best of it and enjoyed it all. The house is tremendous and we all felt very comfortable and at home in it. The bedrooms were very nice and the bathrooms and availability of hot water excellent given the large numbers. We also thought it was very well equipped and the luxury of an Aga was great. I could have read almost the whole week, such were the number of books that I wanted to pick up and read.
A week was not long enough to do all the things we would have liked to do but we have all come home very happy with our break and pleased that we chose to come to Quarry House and that area of North Devon.
The fish from the harbour fish shop was excellent and some of the party went for a fish lunch at Morthoe which they said was wonderful. Thank you very much for letting us stay there and providing such a good house for holidaying in.

Mr & Mrs Heywood

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WOW! What a wonderful house. Nice & roomy. Kids loved it, fishing & chilling to music. We loved all the original ideas, scones & flowers. Our wedding at The Tunnels was a dream, we were even honoured to have a spectacular sunset when we let off our chinese lanterns on the beach.

Mr & Mrs Palmer

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Had all the family staying together while we got married- fantastic time had by all! The house exceeded all our expectations, perfect place for very young kids and the older ones could hide away easily! Really impressed by all the details - made all the difference - we felt so welcome here. Tried out loads of the recommended 'Things to do' - beautiful walks, visiting Lee village is a must & our daughters loved the Dinosaur Park. Even the Grandparents enjoyed it! Will definitely try & come stay at the house again. Lots of love x Keep up the good work!

Mrs Wakefield

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The house is a wonderful balance of style and comfort. We were able to relax without worrying. Flowers in the main rooms were a lovely touch and the cream teas were gratefully received (as well as the milk and butter). It's the best appointed house (including crockery and cooking equipment) that I've ever been to. Just lovely.
Friday night we stayed in and had dinner for 15 round the table. Saturday it was fish and chips from Maddy's - yum!
A lovely time was had by all, the team have obvioulsy got the right recipe here. Take one very clean &beautiful house, furnish it well, make sure your guests ahve enough tea, milk, sugar coffee to get them started, throw in some cream buns, et voila!

Becs Trott, November 2011

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