Rupert D’Oyly Carte and his wife Lady Dorothy found the site for their house-by-the-sea while sailing their yacht to Dartmouth. Built in the Twenties, Coleton Fishacre’s country house exterior belies the Jazz Age style and Art Deco touches within. It’s the kind of house you want to live in.
They were enthusiastic gardeners, and began taming the acres that sweep steeply down to the sea, planting imaginatively and creating splendid vistas. Trees were planted for shelter – pines, holm oak and sycamore on the ridges; and for colour – Chilean Fire Trees, Spindle Trees, New Zealand Tea Trees, Japanese Maples. Streams rush through giant stands of bamboo, gunnera presides over a pond, banana fronds flap in the breeze; big, blousy hydrangeas and African Lilies echo the colours of the sea, magnolias perfume the air. It is one of the most stunning gardens in Devon.
You can drive to Coleton Fishacre, negotiating the narrow lanes to this National Trust property, but for anyone who loves walking, there’s no better way to arrive than on foot (and there’s an award-winning tea room there to recover in). The walk, from the banks of the Dart at Kingswear, takes you along the coast, with magnificent views.
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