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Newsletters and press releases

Peruse the latest updates from Unique Homestays HQ in our Newsletter and Press Release Archive.

 
The Newlywed Times

The Newlywed Times

From the caricatured Cornish cottage made for "Sarah Jessica Parker meets Shakespeare" micro-weddings to the Cotswolds estate with all the free-wheeling pluckiness of a Mad Hatter banquet, these venues might just be the best-kept secrets on the British wedding scene. This year, plan the kind of wedding you wish you were invited to.

New property arrival - Kailani

New property arrival - Kailani

Through helter-skelter lanes, beneath rainbow lanterns strung along the harbour wall, and past granite cottages with tiny fisher-folk doors, Kailani sits against the sea at the outer reaches of Mousehole. Beyond the boundaries, you´ll discover seafood bars, artisanal bakeries, and farm shops stocked with scones and apple cider. But inside, it´s all natural linen and sinking sofas; call it Cornish klys.

The year of AI*

The year of AI*

It´s the year of AI, but not the one you might´ve imagined. Our portfolio is an alphabet soup of tangible marvels: manors designed by king’s architects, true-as-can-be treehouses, and castles where every surface is printed and patterned. Every inch of them is real and human-made. Craft is who we are, trust is what we offer... and from cloister to cantilever, nothing about us is artificial. Artificial Intelligence, meet Architectural Integrity.

Oh, the places you´ll go

Oh, the places you´ll go

As the season for twinkling lights and not-so-silent nights comes to a close, and all about are swirling notions of what 2024 might bring, we become a collective of hopeful look-aheaders. Here´s your annual reminder that these are the good old days. So before life gets in the way, while there’s still tea in the pot and piles of shortbread to fuel the search, we invite you to indulge in the thrill of the finding...

New property arrival - Moku

New property arrival - Moku

With pats of concrete and teak, Moku is a modern twist on a coastal classic — you won’t find an ounce of shiplap or seashells between its copper and fluted oak walls. Think skylit mezzanines, munchkin snugs, and a nucleal living space where all the world is put to rights over pots of béchamel and bottles of Malbec. All this just paces from the sand, in a portion of Cornwall that has become something of a micro-mecca for musicians and movie stars.

New property arrival - Talisman

New property arrival - Talisman

Picture an art gallery: all harmony and geometry. Then, imagine a troop of younglings were made its curators. In studio-meets-street market fashion, this beach house is a riot against essentialism: pickle green beams, Tiffany blue doors, marigold alcoves, and art couriered from Lebanon. This is Talisman, a RIBA award-winning family fortress with an indoor pool in Cornwall´s "Hollywood-on-Sea."

The Journeyman

The Journeyman

Compelled to move, inspired to taste, and destined to travel; the human instinct to be in motion is so ingrained within us, that it´s no wonder the journey so often exceeds the destination. It´s in the pitstops and encounters, starlit suppers by the sea and train station samosas. For these journeys stay within us; they are our blueprint, our purpose. Our need to roam a part of our souls passed down through the generations, an inheritance of adventure, if you will.

Who owns Britain´s best homes?

Who owns Britain´s best homes?

From rockstars to restaurateurs, artists to astronomers, it takes extraordinary people to make Britain and Ireland´s most unique private homes. Here, through words and films, they invite you into their moorland manors, Italianate music halls, and "floating worlds." And now´s your chance to join them. We’re unearthing the nation’s most unique homes (and owners) to join our portfolio.

To the ends of the earth

To the ends of the earth

All explorers have their ideas on the matter. Some call to Ushuaia, the gateway to the land of icy tundras. Others claim the title belongs to Svalbard, Siberia, or even the Pacific Ocean habitue of Easter Island. But the notion that an “end” exists reveals a truth so often missed. Let them say what they will about the Arctic or Alaska, wise are those who find expeditionary extremes close to home.

The ultimate Christmas gifting

The ultimate Christmas gifting

This festive season, give the gift of roaming. From beach idling to playing hide-and-seek in country kingdoms, gift vouchers are an honest offering for Unique Folk, from Unique Folk.

The British Nordic

The British Nordic

We owe much to The Nordics. Givers of Edvard Munch and the Moomins, of LEGO and longships, of saunas and smörgåsbords. Somewhere along the way, we borrowed their yoke sweaters, and they our Fair Isle socks. We ate cinnamon buns and sang Super Trouper and coaxed ourselves into lakes too cold for our own good. This month, we´re shining a northern light on the best of British Nordic: from tables piled with cocoa and honey loaves to seaside cottages that are more Copenhagen than Cornwall.

Where to spend New Year´s

Where to spend New Year´s

There´s fortresses that happen where The Jungle Book meets Pride and Prejudice, manors with lashings of royal flavour, and music halls that are no stranger to Champagne-coupe countdowns. Whether your New Year´s Eve reveries involve banquet tables toppling with pistachio macarons and goat´s cheese crostini, or the quiet creep of midnight with card games and cocoa, we know just the place...

New property arrival - The Studio

New property arrival - The Studio

In the beating heart of one of England’s “doubly-thankful” villages, The Studio is close to the art galleries and old inns of Stow-on-the-Wold, yet far enough from the bustle to hear the nuthatches. From humble cream-and-cheese beginnings to something that wouldn’t be out of place amidst the warehouses of artsy Tribeca, you might expect Basquiat to be reclining in the Eames chair, or perhaps a certain Q.

The season inbetwixt

The season inbetwixt

From valleys inhabited by the Pooka of Dingle to collegial streets where the Nazgûl took literary form, the British Isles contain enough folkloric tales to fill a thousand bedtime books. For our latest journal, we´ve curated our pick of mysteries and mythologies to inspire torchlit travel during these in-between months. Expect to find homes where the devil (and the angel) is in the detail, and places that´ll see you through from Hocus Pocus to Home Alone.

Wedding wanderlust

Wedding wanderlust

This wedding season, it’s all about "the scene". Though there´s much to love about embroidered veils and Swiss meringue, modern lovers know that such sweet details don´t hold a candle to the destination. Recollections of calligraphed menus and wildflower bouquets may pale, but there are two things that live on in eternal vividity: the people and the place. That´s where we come in...

Meet The Whimsies

Meet The Whimsies

Our homes are not just destinations; they are canvases upon which our guests can paint their unique stories. In our newest brand campaign, The Whimsies, we set out to honour the unique people who make unique places. Real people, found folk and friends, with authenticity baked into their bones. Between now and Christmas, they´re taking over the London Underground; but those in the club can meet them first, here...

New property arrival - The Milk Wood

New property arrival - The Milk Wood

Deep in Pembrokeshire´s Nevern Valley, there is an ancient sessile oak wood; and in the wood, there is a clearing; and in the middle of the clearing is a secret. A farmhouse, a barn, a cottage, and a bothy. Four dwellings so covert that only the wildfowl and weasels know their coordinates. In them, there´s curtained cubbyholes, cabinets licked in basil and burgundy, and outdoor rolltops that bring all the ethologists to the yard. There´s never been anything quite like it.

Meet the architect-designed homes

Meet the architect-designed homes

So commanding, yet at the same time so unobtrusive, does a well-architected dwelling appear; some boast sedum roofs sprouting with wildflowers, others seem wedged like glass birds´ nests amongst the old oak trees. Here, we celebrate some of our most intentional architect-designed homes; the ones that stand out, sink in, defy gravity, or might as well be brandishing invisibility cloaks.

Just launched: Retreats

Just launched: Retreats

In partnership with luxury wilderness specialists RVIVAL, we introduce our trio of limited edition retreats in Cornwall and the Cotswolds: Return to the Wilds, A Survival Anthology, and Modern-Day Hunter-Gatherer. Think hands-on fire building, masterclasses on packrafting, and camera-tracking wild deer in the company of like-minded folk. All this in luxe comfort.

Any day stays

Any day stays

Gone are the days of poring over family calendars, swapping swim meets, and cancelling conferences, just to meet the check-in criteria. As far as we’re concerned, your holiday home should flex to suit your schedule, not the other way around. So... arrive any day, leave whenever you like (so long as you bed in for at least two nights), and do away with the rigidity of set arrival and departure days.

The summer house

The summer house

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. Expect to find a Banshees Of Inisherin-esque cottage in a Dark Sky Reserve and a "front row" beach home in the West Country that could´ve been plucked from The OC.

New property arrival - Hiraeth

New property arrival - Hiraeth

Part concrete burrow, part timber birdhouse, Hiraeth happens where adobe architecture meets the Pembrokeshire rubric. Connected by a walkway flanked with old sessile oaks, its cottage and bothy are far enough to afford privacy, close enough that the young´uns may still hang tin can telephones between the windows. Expect a sauna, outdoor bathtub, and perhaps some Tylwyth Teg in the garden.

New property arrival - Huckleberry

New property arrival - Huckleberry

Two households, both alike in dignity; one cottage and one barn, all beamed and bespoke, with separate living spaces and hardly a straight line between them. Inside, there´s microcement walls and softened angles that mimic the cavernous, cave-like interiors of the Cyclades. Outdoors, there´s a river hammock, rockface kitchen, fire pit, and hot tub that evoke feelings of a new life in the Welsh wilds.

Stories from the hils

Stories from the hils

These are the places you catch a glimpse of in the distance; the kind that make you cross your fingers and toes in the hopes that maybe, just maybe, that one’s yours. Think carpets of wild thyme, glacial landforms, and pilgrimages that keep hill-walkers on their toes.

New property arrival - Monterey

New property arrival - Monterey

Sitting on a grassroots surf spot, Monterey is one of a new generation of beach houses in Cornwall: subtle, convivial, and just a few salty paces from the sea. There’s something about it that harks to a dream from the salad days: a beach of one´s own, porpoises for neighbours, and sunsets so pink they turn the whole place to candyfloss.

New property arrival - Four Hundred Summers

New property arrival - Four Hundred Summers

Would you like an adventure now, or would you like to have your tea first? Those glittering words, tumbled from the mouth of Peter Pan, were penned here in the Wolds. And Neverland, they say, was his ode to these milk and honey hillocks. Proof that there are still realms in England that have the floating power of pixie dust, Four Hundred Summers might be the AONB´s most becoming cottage.

New property arrival - Suki

New property arrival - Suki

Named after a concept that teaches the delights of refinement and exquisitely performed tea ceremonies, Suki is a Cornish beach house that could’ve been plucked from beneath a weeping cherry tree in Kyoto. With blushing plaster walls, a crackling woodburner, and furnishings kept to a meditative minimum, even Marie Kondo would approve of this joy-sparking space.

New property arrival - Leopoldina

New property arrival - Leopoldina

Created by the master architect behind Buckingham Palace, you´ll find this former aristocrat´s stables where landscaped gardens meet private beaches on the River Dart. A waterside home so sensitively shaped that it was commended in the Architect of the Year Awards, Leopoldina´s heated pool and yoga terrace bring modern chi to the ever-present flair of 1805.

New property arrival - Botania

New property arrival - Botania

With rooms big enough to dance in and enormous mullion windows that overlook rewilded gardens, Botania is an Arts and Crafts manor with a life of its own. Here, moss carpets the steps, lilac wisteria braids the balustrades, and damselflies play hopscotch on the lily pond. Think Secret Garden meets Great Gatsby, and you´ll be partway there.

New property arrival - Orpheus

New property arrival - Orpheus

Fantasy pokes a portal into the real world at Orpheus, the 17th century estate where off-kilter tradition trumps modernity. With palatial bathtubs, state-of-the-art facilities, frescoed walls depicting the bards of Greek mythology, and a pool that could be lifted from Lake Como, Orpheus was made for the footloose and fancy-free. The secret´s out: this is where off-duty A-listers go to let loose.

New property arrival - Gorsestone

New property arrival - Gorsestone

Passed hand-to-hand from 15th-century herders to modern day professionals seeking refuge from the city, this former longhouse brings biophilic flair to Devon’s wildest chapter. From the glasshouse yoga space with views over butterscotch moorland to the “see it to believe it” cinema room, this is an archetypal celebration home where families come to create a lifetime of spirited stories deep within Sherlock’s storied country.

New property arrival - The Marlings

New property arrival - The Marlings

With storied lintels, velveteen loungers, and lofty halls that could fit the Brady Bunch three times over, The Marlings unfolds across four dwellings, a banquet hall, and a pool house near the Cotswolds.

Spring starts with a splash

Spring starts with a splash

With May comes the grand reopening of our private pools for the season. From the secluded backyards of village manors to the sprawling grounds of country estates, these homes become aquatic wonderlands at this time of year, primed for serene solo swims, Gatsby-esque pool parties, and all that’s in between.

New property arrival - Lowenek

New property arrival - Lowenek

Named after the Cornish word for joy, this coastal pile has all the hallmarks of a luxe beach house, but with cool familial flair. Part easy seaside retreat, part cheerful multi-gen gathering place, Lowenek might appear to be all floating aspects and modernity, but there´s cosy bones to this castle in the air that hovers overs Portreath Beach.

Fancy yourself a Unique Homestays owner?

Fancy yourself a Unique Homestays owner?

Many of our Owners began as guests who went on to create their own portfolio-worthy paradise. So, if you´re seeking a new investment to provide a lucrative return, our Property Finding Service might be of interest to you too. A simpler home-finding experience, we can afford you unfettered access to our architectural expertise, interior know-how, and black book of contacts.

New property arrival - Celestia

New property arrival - Celestia

Here is a farmhouse fit for gathering, with secret sleeping nooks, suspended staircases, and century-old fireplaces that beckon bookworms and red wine drinkers to bask in the glow of open flames. Resting on a clearing beneath the flat-topped peaks of Pen-y-fan with stargazing gardens designed by Chelsea medallists The Rich Brothers, Celestia keeps lost forests, wild swimming spots, and constellations in its backcountry pocket.

New property arrival - Margot´s Townhouse

New property arrival - Margot´s Townhouse

City dwellers get in line. With direct lines from Bristol and Waterloo, and hourly trains from Paddington, you´ll soon slip into holiday mode when you descend on the golden streets of Bradford-on-Avon. At this weaver´s workshop turned luxury townhouse, expect slick slabs of marble, gilt-framed mirrors, and a greenery-infused internal courtyard, all a three-minute walk from award-winning restaurants and pretty cycle paths on the riverside.

Win with Unique Homestays & The White Company

Win with Unique Homestays & The White Company

Milk-white cob walls, artisanal earthenware, and glass bottles of ‘sleep mist’ at the bedside; The Fable is an ode to simple living. This spring sees the page turn on a new chapter as the storybook home features in a collaboration of fairytale proportions - painted head to toe in White Company details. To celebrate this first-of-its-kind partnership, we´re offering the chance to win a stay at The Fable, plus £500 to spend with The White Company.

Lazy Sunday stays

Lazy Sunday stays

Because everybody loves a lie-in, we´re offering generously late check-outs at select homes this season so that you can well and truly slip into Sunday mode. The all-new Lazy Sunday stays collection is designed for those who crave a weekend break, but can’t escape the Monday morning meetings. These two-night Friday to Sunday breaks, with an extended departure time of 6pm, ensure you get to make the most of your weekend away.

Storybook homes

Storybook homes

We built our childhoods in those pages. We climbed the beanstalk, tasted the porridge, and got lost in Hundred-Acre Woods. When we grew up, we never expected to find homes of storybook character nestled in our own backcountry. Yet, here they are. With turrets and follies and islands and eiderdowns, this curated collection invites you to fall down the rabbit hole to a life of fairytale proportions.

Marvellous Maycations

Marvellous Maycations

It´s a truth universally acknowledged: a weekend well spent brings a week of content. With a trio of bank holidays on the calendar this May, there´s plenty of opportunity to satiate your inner nomad with a chic short-haul stay.

New property arrival - Under the Yew Tree

New property arrival - Under the Yew Tree

A softened monastery, infused from doorknocker to chimney with monkish aestheticism and riddled with French-Greek fingerprints, Under the Yew Tree is British history incarnate. These days, its modernised insides are part Provençal, part Aegean; but leaded windows and penny-plain walls are the heart on its stone sleeve that speak to age and provenance.

Spring breaks for good eggs

Spring breaks for good eggs

We root about the garden on cocoa-scouting pilgrimages, herding foraged chocolates into baskets and keeping watch for bunnies darting between the daffodils. We return indoors only to turn boiled eggs into pastel Fabergés, and to make ice cream sandwiches out of hot cross buns. With little ones on a break from phonics and numeracy, there´s days to be filled by the coast and country.

Unique Homestays launches The White Company´s first holiday cottage

Unique Homestays launches The White Company´s first holiday cottage

The White Company partners with Unique Homestays to launch an experiential holiday cottage in an exclusive, first-of-its-kind partnership.

New-wave wellbeing

New-wave wellbeing

There’s an art to practicing wellbeing, a fine balance of the little and the lofty. A eucalyptus-infused steam room here, a private wildflower meadow there. Sometimes a swim in the ocean to wash the day away, others a dip in the plunge pool. There’ll be mornings where the whole caterwauling crew will eat pancakes at the breakfast table, and evenings that call for a solo dinner in the village. More sleep, more tea, more laughter, more time, together.

The great indoors

The great indoors

With gorgeous garden tubs, beds swathed in woollen blankets, and tables toppling under the weight of heavy cream and tarte tatin, our homes are at their most inviting during these chilly months. For coastal retreaters, painting in the window and dunking local shortbread into cups of cocoa are all that’s on the seaside syllabus. And in the glens and hilltops, country-goers will slosh through puddled bridleways and dream of the stew simmering on the Aga.

A toast to new wedding destinations

A toast to new wedding destinations

For you, the star-crossed lovers of the nation, home went from being a place to a person a long time ago. And yet, here are two destination venues sure to hold a place in your heart forever. Two of our favourite properties have evolved to incorporate all-new spaces for wedding celebrations; places for shared vows, swapped rings, and memories made. Will you pick the wisteria-clad façade of the country manor adjoining The Lost Music Hall, or the sleek finish of Anthology Farm’s new wedding barn?

The forecast: what´s trending for 2023

The forecast: what´s trending for 2023

As we look ahead to 2023, we’re seeing out-of-the-box thinking (and travelling) on the horizon. Helipads, moated castles, and goat yoga on waterfront decking: just some of the requests so far. We´re kicking off January with a round-up of our top trends for this year, from the inside-outside snow globe aesthetic to places fit for shinrin-yoku.

These are the good old days

These are the good old days

As the season for twinkling lights and not-so-silent nights comes to a close, and all about are swirling notions of what 2023 might bring, we become a collective of hopeful look-aheaders. Here´s your annual reminder that these are the good old days. So before life gets in the way, while there’s still tea in the pot and piles of shortbread to fuel the search, indulge in the thrill of the finding...

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