About Us

St Ives Holidays is the largest part of an established family owned business in St Ives called Lanhams. Located in the centre of the High Street in the heart of St Ives, the business has been trading for over 130 years, with the last 80 years in same family.

Lanhams now comprises an agency for the Halifax PLC (the bank), and a Property Management service for residential letting, building management for blocks of flats, and the largest part of the business, St Ives Holidays. We now have a staff that totals 20 people, run by Derek, Barry, Margaret and Sarah Hall.

Mr. James Lanham formed the business in 1869, trading under his own name as a General Merchants Store. He was born in London in 1849, and later lived in St Ives. He was well travelled, visiting all the major art galleries in Europe and became an important part of the artists community in St Ives, having regular tea afternoons with the leading artists at his home on Saturday afternoons. He lived at The Retreat, a Georgian house which stood where the Guildhall now stands in Street-an-Pol, directly behind our office. He died in 1931 at the age of 82.