A fabulous setting for a truly inviting family house. The farm is approached up a winding track and idyllic walks start from the door
It'll do you a world of good to stay on this small family farm, surrounded by soft hills and pastures. Your hosts are Charles and his Dutch wife Truus, who farm 60 organic acres. Now they have converted the big handsome oast house and it's perfect for a family of four (though six can squeeze in). On arrival you're welcomed warmly with bread, eggs and homemade cake, and maybe a bottle of farm cider; in season you can buy beef, lamb and vegetables. Downstairs opens to the dining room, kitchen, bedroom and family bathroom, while the sitting room and second bedroom are a hop up the open-tread stairs. Each bedroom is super-cosy, and circular, being in the roundel, and the decor is country traditional, with quarry tiles and wooden floors, period tapestries and open-stone walls, and the old hop press upstairs. As for the area, it'll keep you busy. You can visit Sissinghurst, Battle and Bodiam Castle, then walk to Rudyard Kipling's house along the banks of the Dudwell, or pop off to the Wheel Inn for a pint and a pie. Back home? A wood-burner, books, DVDs, satellite TV.