A Different Kind of Countryside Retreat
Farm stays in Britain have traditionally felt like polite window-dressing, places where the agricultural side exists mostly as backdrop. Fowlescombe Farm, which opened in May 2025 on the edge of Dartmoor National Park in south Devon, takes a different approach. Guests here are invited to collect the eggs that will appear at breakfast, join compost workshops, and walk through the same vegetable gardens that supply the kitchen.
The property sits on 180 hectares of regenerative farmland owned by Caitlin Owens and Paul Glade. Ten suites occupy converted barns, each with private terraces and views over wildflower meadows. Glade, who designed the interiors, worked with Swiss firm Studio Gugger on a look that feels deliberately understated: honey-colored stone, fleece armchairs, enormous windows. The design quirks come from the bones of the old buildings, like the chapel-high ceilings in one barn or the custom oak door fitted to accommodate uneven walls in another.
The rooms come with filtered water taps, lanterns for evening walks, and raincoats designed in collaboration with Glade's mother. It's the kind of place where you notice the details, then realize they're all pointing in the same direction: toward a stay that connects you to the working landscape outside.
Food That Comes From Feet Away
Executive chef Elly Wentworth creates four-course menus that change daily, built around what the farm produces. Tamworth pigs forage for acorns in the woodland before becoming charcuterie. The on-site greenhouse grows kefir lime leaves and pineapple sage. Breakfast might include oak-smoked mackerel from a fishmonger in nearby Kingsbridge, served on toast from a local bakery that mills heritage grains, or yogurt made from the estate's own milk.
When ingredients come from elsewhere, there's usually a story attached. The scallops served with thin apple slices are free-dived in a single breath by the only professional diver working the local waters. Wentworth spent a decade in Michelin-starred kitchens and favors classical French techniques, but the food feels contemporary and precise rather than fussy. A bone broth made entirely from vegetable tops delivers surprising depth. A choux bun arrives with spherified rhubarb jelly and burnt honey custard.
Lunch is flexible, served wherever guests want it: on a private terrace, in a flower meadow, or in the Refectory where dinners take place. The kitchen staff ask children about their preferences each day, though the overall vibe skews toward adults seeking quiet and space.
Working Land, Not a Set Piece
The farm has been managed regeneratively for roughly two decades, predating Owens and Glade's 2018 purchase. The results show in the biodiversity: pollinators, wildflowers, and healthy hedgerows throughout. The estate raises rare native breeds including Manx Loaghtan sheep and practices rotational grazing to improve soil health.
Head gardener Shelley Hutcheon works closely with Wentworth to plan what gets planted and when. The kitchen runs an ambitious pickling and preserving program to minimize waste. Guests can join farm tours or try their hand at dry-stone walling with local craftsman Mark Thomas, learning a heritage skill that also creates habitats for small wildlife.
The property itself is built from stone quarried on-site. In-room amenities lean toward thoughtful sourcing: crisps in home-compostable packaging, toiletries from a Kent brand that uses surplus grapeseed oil from local vineyards, mattresses hand-stuffed in nearby Topsham with wool from the farm's own sheep. Electric vehicle charging is available for a fee, and guests arriving by train are collected from Totnes station in electric vehicles.
What Surrounds It
Fowlescombe sits in a hollow among the rolling hills of south Devon, nearly an hour's walk from the nearest village. The isolation is part of the appeal. Marked trails on the property wind through woodland to the ruins of a 1537 mansion, one of several local sites rumored to have inspired Baskerville Hall in Arthur Conan Doyle's Hound of the Baskervilles.
Dartmoor National Park, a short drive away, covers more than 1,000 square kilometers of moorland, valleys, and patches of temperate rainforest. The park is marking its 75th anniversary in 2026 with events and festivals. The Fowlescombe team can arrange birdwatching or guided walks. About 20 minutes by car, the Flete Estate offers beaches, a tidal estuary, and access to the South West Coast Path.
Practical Details
Rooms start at 600 pounds per night, a rate that includes breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and a daily program of activities. Tea and fresh baked goods are set out each afternoon in the Old Farmhouse for guests to help themselves. The Owens family also owns The Millbrook Inn, a 15th-century pub on a tidal estuary about 30 minutes away.
No rooms are specifically adapted for wheelchair users, and the terrain is hilly. One ground-floor suite in Tall Barn offers level access to the bedroom, living area, and bathroom. Farm tours can be arranged via buggy for guests with reduced mobility.
The crowd tends toward frazzled Londoners, solo travelers drawn by the communal atmosphere, and local food enthusiasts who return for the Refectory's cooking. A wild swimming lake and sauna are set to open later this summer, adding another layer to a stay that already asks more of its guests than most, in the best possible way.
