Hideaway villa offers luxury with a view

Martin Hesp visits a ‘perfect’ west Cornwall bolthole

- Martin Hesp

HERE'S an invitation few could resist: "Why don't you and your wife try out a beautiful little hideaway property for two, perched above a famous Cornish fishing village? When you're there we'll cook you a meal so memorable, you'll be talking about it for months!"

OK; I’m in. Who wouldn’t be? - oh... until you see online that one of the more scurrilous national newspapers recently did a hatchet-job on the particular hideaway in question, calling it an eyesore: which is claptrap. I have now stayed at the Fallen Angel, a fabulous, architect-designed, tiny, two-room property at Mousehole, and believe it adds but does not take anything away from this popular, much-changed harbour village.

It’s a modern building and not an old granite cottage; that much is true: but, in my opinion, it fits ideally with its setting and does not impinge in any way when it comes to the overall look of the village.

Moreover, when I say that Mousehole is much-changed I mean it in a demographic sense. No longer home to fishing families, the village is now one of the most holiday home-centric communities in the South West peninsula. More than half of those charming little terraced homes are holiday homes and Airbnbs, which is another reason why I feel supportive of the property in question. An existing dwelling was not taken away from being a potential home for a local family; instead, the owners rescued what was more or ess a derelict shed sitting on a very steep, overgrown parcel of land. I know that to be true because I've seen a photo album filled with pictures focusing on the development of the place.