Bumblebee Cottage-Uk39918

Bumblebee Cottage is one of two conversions on the Ballakinnag grounds in the north of the island, a low white building in its own fenced enclosure with grazing land and hills rising behind it.

You come down a gravel drive with a charging point for an electric car, and the entrance is a gable faced in dark local stone, a lantern above the door and a timber-lined passage running through.

Beams, green cabinets and a long table

Almost everything happens in one open room. Heavy timber beams cross the ceiling, the floor is pale wood, and the kitchen is fitted in deep sage-green Shaker units with a white ceramic sink and a brass tap, an oven and hob, microwave and dishwasher. An oak table long enough for the whole party stands between the kitchen and the seating, with two pale sofas facing a low table.

Two doubles under the roof

Both bedrooms take an extra-large double, dressed in gold quilting against buttoned headboards and leaf-patterned paper, brass pendants hung either side. One opens through glazed doors onto the grass. The bathroom is tiled floor to ceiling around a glass walk-in shower, and there is a washing machine for a longer stay.

The flagged terrace and the hot tub

The terrace is the reason to pick this one. Pale flagstones wrap the back of the cottage, holding a rattan corner sofa, a table and a hot tub that catches the last of the sun. Timber screens give it shelter, and lawn and mature trees start where the paving ends.

Fields, and the road to Ramsey

Ballakinnag is farmland rather than a village, all hedged fields, oaks and bluebells in the verges. The nearest town is Ramsey, over on the north-east coast, where the harbour and the shops are.

Best for

Two couples, or one couple who like room to spread out. The hot tub, the single-level layout and the quiet make it somewhere to stay put rather than a base to dash from.