Penally Abbey

You would need a heart of stone not to be charmed by the creeper-covered facade of this Strawberry Hill Gothic house, with its pretty ogee windows, decorative eaves and hilltop position above gardens tumbling to the sea. Inside doesn’t disappoint, either: interior designer Melanie Boissevain and husband Lucas have created stylish, relaxing spaces where antiques mix with French market finds, and blowsy wallpapers with Persian rugs. There are books on the piano, a fire in the sitting room, a cosy bar and a sunroom – take afternoon tea here or on the terrace before a walk ‘along the fabulous South Beach to Tenby’. The ‘splendid food’ is Modern British cooking with both ‘variety and taste’. It might include pan-fried scallops with onion sauce, and lamb rump with couscous; fish is landed at Tenby, strawberries from the farm down the road. The romantic dining room, with Arcadian-print wallpaper and candlelight, has views over the bay to the Gower Peninsula. ‘Very comfortable’ bedrooms are calming spaces of soft colours and pretty fabrics; some with a window seat, coach house rooms are more Scandi. All have indulgent marble bathrooms. (ML)