Every great story has a summer house. Places where journal entries are penned on the front porch, orange-rind smiles are exchanged at the breakfast table, and a breeze tousles the pages of the protagonist’s well-thumbed book. The summer house stands as a beacon of sprightliness: romantic and playful, carrying the traditions of yesteryear into the twenty-first century. From grand villas with crooning Salzburg appeal to clapperboards that feel more Colorado than Cornwall, our round-up of Britain and Ireland’s best summer houses will take you from Nicholas Sparks’ chapters to the silver screen.
Wildwood Holt
Where: Wildwood Holt in Cornwall.
Why: Step into a scene from The Parent Trap at a summer house fit for the great American wilderness.
The Viewing Gallery
Where: The Viewing Gallery in Cornwall.
Why: Southern-style living overlooking Portreath in a home that looks a lot like a scene from The Notebook.
Monterey
Why: An "on the sands" home with classic Californian appeal, known as Cornwall's secret slice of The OC.
Lost Cottage
Where: Lost Cottage in Ireland.
Why: A lakefront stay in an International Dark Sky Reserve that has a touch of Banshees Of Inisherin energy.
Orpheus
Why: Step into a Gatsby-Von Trapp fusion at this ornate manor where pomp and pool parties collide.
Walden Lakehouse
Where: Walden Lakehouse in Ireland.
Why: A back-to-nature lake house where could-be Transcendentalist writers come to rewild themselves.
The Glasshouse
Where: The Glasshouse in Wales.
Why: A glass-fronted house composed by a duo of classical musicians, offering a front-row seat to the season.
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