Accommodates up to 6 adults, with optional extra studio flat for 1 or 2. (NB if you don't take the flat, we won't let it to other holidaymakers.)

Come and stay in a large and comfortable longhouse in a very private, very quiet and unbelievably beautiful place on the Cornish coast. And what's so very special about the house? It's offgrid! Enjoy life to the full while making good use of our local resources – you'll probably be surprised and delighted to find out how easy it is to use our super-sustainable systems.

We’d like to encourage you to explore another way of helping the planet continue to be a good place for our children and grandchildren ... so if you come here by public transport, or on foot, or by bicycle, we’ll offer you a discount.

Features:

• One kingsize bedroom downstairs
• One shower room/wc, one wc downstairs
• One family room upstairs; two double mattresses on a platform under the eaves
• Kitchen/dining room with woodburner range (with hob and oven)
• Large sitting room with full-height windows and woodburner stove
• Optional extra, studio flat with double bed, wc and kitchenette. (We don't let the flat by itself.)
• Large private garden (mostly unfenced)
• You can arrive and leave on any day you choose, and most of the year your stay can be any length you choose.
• Hot tub: optional extra - home built, wood-fired, for 2-3 people.
• View floor plan
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The Old Coach House floor plan

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So, what does off-grid mean? There’s no mains electricity or gas, and no usable wifi. Yet the house has lighting and heating and loads of hot water. The kitchen has a fridge/freezer, a large range cooker with hob and oven, and a gas hob. It’s amazingly easy to live really comfortably!

Why go off-grid? Two main reasons: first, it's really good to know it's easy to live comfortably, yet independently of the big energy companies. And second, this is one of the rare places in the UK that's virtually free of electrosmog (though outside the house is in range of some mobile phone signals), and the wifi signal(if you can detect it at all), is very faint. Many visitors have commented on the wonderful feeling of calm and peace in the house.

How? The electricity is 12v DC, and the lighting comes from solar pv panels and a big battery bank; the lights work just like normal ones. The hot water for sink, washbasins and showers comes from solar tubes and the woodburner range (firewood's included in the price, of course). You may be comforted to learn that most of the firewood we use is supplied by our local tree surgeon from trees whose branches he's had to cut for the health of the tree or the people around it, and some of it from our own trees that have died or need trimming.

To heat most of the house, it’s the woodburner again; its warmth diffuses gently through the fabric of the building. There's another woodburner in the sitting room, for colder weather. There are no thermostats, though, so the temperature indoors will probably fluctuate a lot more than you're used to; there’s no heating in the bedrooms and bathrooms, so in colder weather they rely on some of the warmth spreading from the woodburner in the kitchen. Hot water bottles are provided!

To cook food it’s the woodburner again, and (mainly for summer) an LPG gas hob. The fridge/freezer's powered by the sun. For food prep it’s people-power … ever heard of Spong? We provide pots, pans and utensils, plates, mugs and cutlery. We also provide loo roll, and washing-up liquid, brushes etc and drying-up cloths.

And when you’ve been here a few days, you’ll find how many of our 21st-century energy-guzzling 'essentials’ we don’t really need after all … microwave, central heating, dishwasher, hoover, food processor, toaster, electric kettle, washing machine, tumble drier, iron, TV, DVD player, sound system, landline phone/ broadband ... And leave your mains-powered hairdryer or shaver at home, as they won't work on our 12v system!

For sleeping, we have a really comfortable king-size bed in a room downstairs, plus two double mattresses on a platform upstairs, best for children, but can accommodate up to 4 adults at a squeeze. There's a shower room downstairs, and conventional flushing loos. We provide bedding and towels for everyone.

And as an optional extra, there's a separate studio flat (see photo) with a double bed, wc and kitchenette, with its own entrance. So your group can include one or two people who'd prefer their own private space. NB To shower, they will need to use one in the lean-to at the end of the house or yours in the main part of the house.

For your entertainment, edification and delight indoors, we provide some books, packs of cards, board games (including scrabble), and a few simple musical instruments. We also have a mobile recharging point, and most networks seem to be in range.

Your privacy in and around the house is considerable. There are no other holidaymakers here. There's no other house in sight - except 4 miles across the bay - and even in the garden you're unlikely to hear any other people, except occasional walkers and/or dogs in our fields, or perhaps the dogs in our housekeeper's dwelling in the woodlands nearby.

Our home-built hot tub is small and intimate - for 2 or 3 people - and out in the open air, so you can stargaze while steaming gently in the sea salts that we use as a sanitiser. Because it draws on natural resources - water, salt, firewood - and labour, and not everyone wants to use it, we offer it as an optional extra for a supplement - see the Prices page.

For information about weather, children, dogs, food, camping, groups: scroll down.

For more about Windsworth - our precise location, our history, our animals, the wildlife here, our local area, and things to do - please see under the 'More info' tab.

If this is enough information for the time being, and you want to check when the house is available, see Availability.