The House
Push open the big front door and in you go, to a wide flag-stoned hallway. To the left is a snug, the kitchen and the dining room. Hire private chefs (see Extras) to come and cook a celebration feast for you, gather together for happy sociable times.
Right of the hall is the drawing room with plenty of comfy seating, and to one end, a huge inglenook fireplace with a wood-burner, perfect for warming your toes in the winter.
Upstairs off a long landing are Bedrooms 1-5 and a family bathroom. Bedrooms 1-4 overlook the front garden so you can start the day with a cup of tea in bed, watching squirrels scampering on the lawn. Bedroom 5 is a suite with two interlinking rooms and a shower room – ideal for a family.
Back downstairs, next to the kitchen is the adjoining annexe, ideal for elderly parents for anyone who likes their own space. It has a kitchen, living room and Bedroom 6 with an ensuite wet room.
The large gardens are mostly to the front of the house and have a private hot tub where you can soak beneath a summer sky the colour of forget-me-nots or under the stars at night. Kids will love the trampoline and just tearing about on the lawns.
You'll also have use of a games room with a pool table, table football and table tennis*, and access to the wider grounds with riverside walks and woodlands.
What you’ll love about Whispering Thatch is its homeliness, its quirks and character; if this house had arms they'd be wrapped around you, welcoming you: "Come in, come in, have tea and toast, come and sit beside the fire, come and unwind." It's hard not to, you'll feel soon feel so settled you'll probably wish you could stay forever.
*Whilst Whispering Thatch has a large private garden, the games room and 15 acre grounds are shared with Meadows Drift and a smaller cottage on the same site.
Local Area
If you plan to stay put and not drive anywhere else, you’ll be fine here, just doddering around the fields. There are walks from the doorstep, down across the fields to the River Luv, or up to Dumpdon Hill, carpeted with bluebells in springtime.
Honiton is just down the road, with supermarkets, an art gallery and pottery, and a lively market twice a week. There’s plenty for families to do in this part of Devon; take the little ones to see the fairy garden at Heron Farm, have a day out at Wildwood Devon or the Donkey Sanctuary, spend time in Exeter where you can visit the RAM Museum, take a tour of the medieval Underground Passages, and see the Gothic cathedral.
Have fun on the go-karts at Dunkeswell Raceway, watch the banger racing at Smeatharpe Stadium, watch the microlights come and go at Dunkeswell Aerodrome and have a bite to eat at the Aviator Coffee Bar & Restaurant.
The beaches of the Jurassic Coast aren’t far for days by the sea; play on the sand at Sidmouth, or soak up the charm of Branscombe, have crab sandwiches at Ducky’s Beach Café at Beer.
Have beautiful holidays, make wonderful memories.