A charming holiday home in St Ives offers a lovely base for exploring this beautiful seaside town and its glorious coastline. The three-bedroom house sleeps five guests and is perfect for a family or group of friends. Stylishly furnished, the property is within 300 metres of golden beaches and the picture-postcard harbour. A bonus is the raised, suntrap courtyard garden with distant sea views. Historic St Ives has four splendid sandy beaches, each with its own distinctive charm. There are independent shops, great restaurants and cafes and wonderful walks along the coast path.
Enter this appealing townhouse via a flight of granite steps with a handrail. The spacious open-plan living/dining room is inviting and cosy, with comfortable sofas in pale colours and touches of coastal blues. A smart contemporary kitchen and a shower room complete the ground floor. Upstairs, there is a cloakroom with a WC and three fresh and pretty bedrooms: a king-size, a twin and a single. Outside, the rear, south-facing courtyard has patio furniture and two sunloungers where you can relax and enjoy views across the sea to Godrevey Point. A lower courtyard provides useful space for wetsuits, plus storage for beach equipment and bikes.
The beauty and light of St Ives has attracted renowned artists such as Barbara Hepworth and Bernard Leach for more than a century, and it retains a vibrant art scene. Galleries and craft shops are tucked away in the cobbled streets, and one of only four Tate Galleries worldwide sits in the heart of the town. It overlooks gorgeous Porthmeor Beach; a magnet for surfers riding the Atlantic rollers, it’s also popular with families, with a huge expanse of sand for building castles and exploring rock pools. Discover a mermaid in the village church at Zennor (4 miles) on the rugged coast.