Church Barn, Perranuthnoe

It's already a week since we returned home from Cornwall. A week ago at this time we were stuck in the slowly crawling traffic jam, still in Cornwall. The trip was horrendous. And it was bucketing all day long. We have recovered from our ordeal and are already planning a trip for next summer.
We were late last year to book a stay at our favourite cottage in Perranuthnoe, and the choice of where to stay was very limited. Either a villa for almost two thousand per week or a smaller size cottage by the church. We didn't want to change the village (I'm sure there are lots of other splendid places to stay in Cornwall), as we love the location. My older son sleeps with an old battered Holidays in Cornwall brochure, which features Perranuthnoe among other places. Every night as he settles to sleep, I come in his bedroom to tuck him in and whisper in his ear, wishing him sweet dreams of our holiday by the sea.
We've been staying in Perranuthnoe for one week in summer for the last five years
As it happens, the Church Barn is the third cottage in the village where we chose to stay.

We knew it would be smaller in size compared to the cottage where we stayed for three years in a row, but as my Mum didn't travel with us this time, this cottage was just right for the four of us. There are two bedrooms on the ground floor, and a big dining/sitting room with an open plan kitchen and a big open veranda.
As it's a converted church barn, the cottage is literally bordering the church cemetery with rows upon rows of old graves. They surely make quiet neighbours, but I did find it a bit disquieting, especially that one day they were digging a new grave in the new part of the cemetery, and the next day the funeral took place as we were sitting on the veranda, having cream tea.

Church Barn, Perranuthnoe, view from outside the shed and from the cemetery by the church

This is a view of the graveyard, the church and the sea. Quite something. We particularly enjoyed watching how the sea changed its colour through the day, from lazure blue to grey slate, depending on the weather and the time of the day.

Every cottage we stayed in the village offers a welcome foodie gift, usually a plate of scones, with the clotted cream and jam in the fridge, a bottle of milk as well as teabags. After a long journey by car I was looking forward to having a cream tea.
Imagine my surprise and delight, when we were greeted by a welcome hamper in the cottage which included tea, a jar of jam, a bottle of Prosecco and homemade scones (the clotted cream and milk were safely in the fridge). There was also a greetings card with our names, such a lovely touch.

The sitting-dining room with an open plan kitchen is a big airy room with a high vaulted ceiling and sky windows. There is a wood burning stove, which we haven't used, but I guess it would make the house warm and cozy in damp and cold weather. The owners clearly enjoyed decorating the room, with the work of the local artists and photographers. There is a beautiful watercolour of Perranuthnoe village, and some modern art too.

I wasn't sure about the painting of a woman sitting in the loo with a glass of wine which is displayed in the toilet at the entrance. Eddie was left in stitches though, he thought it was very funny.

During that week we surely made good use of the veranda, where you can find a big round table with a glass top and four chairs. The breeze from the sea is lovely, and so are the views of the garden around the cottage.

We had numerous cups of tea and coffee, both indoors and outdoors. I brought my favourite Russian Caravan tea with me, and also bought a pack of Cornish tea to try. We had some excellent jam and of course incomparable Rodda's clotted cream on scones.

Drinking tea from splendid Cornishware mugs made it even more pleasurable. I love Cornishware, and have a few mugs in my collection. Whenever I look at them, I think of Cornwall. It's very strange, that we, as a mixed nationality family, have such an affinity with Cornwall, but we are in love with it. If ever I won a lottery, I'd buy a house there (fat chance, I know, especially that I don't even play lottery these days).

We spent hours on the beach, then had leisurely lunches and dinners on the veranda, weather permitting (we did have a couple of rainy days, when we had to have meals indoors).

We had naps on the sofa in the sitting room, and reclined on the sun loungers in the garden (not more than a few minutes though, as there was too much to explore around).

The views were beautiful in the day time...

Panorama view of the garden from veranda

and atmospheric in the approaching evening hours...

We admired the beautiful terraced garden, with its rows of agapanthus and most glorious rosemary bushes.

There were white strawberries and some interesting flowers (don't ask me what they are called, my knowledge of botany is quite basic).

Bedrooms on the ground floor were small and in need of airing daily, but the beds were comfortable enough. I just wish there was some spare bedding in the closets, like it happens to be in the other cottages. It so happened that both of my boys caught a stomach bug, and were poorly in the night. We had to do all the washing and drying through the night, and the washing machine takes ages to go through even a so called cycle. I am comparing it to our eco-friendly washing machine at home which offers shorter cycles.
Rather than that, I cannot find any faults.
Church Barn suits perfectly a small family of three or four, perhaps five at a stretch if one of the kids won't mind sleeping in the sitting room (the sofa is not big enough for an adult).
Aspects Holidays also sells it as a place suitable for two couples, but mind you, the walls are very thin there, and you can hear everything. I could hear the fridge in the room above very well in the night, so I presume if you are in the amorous mood, you'll have to be very quiet so as not to disturb your friends or kids.
Overall, the cottage proved to be much better than I expected. Visit the link above if you want to see the images of the bedrooms, prices etc. But if you want to book it, don't delay, the properties in this village get snapped pretty much in advance, as we found out.