Self catering Isle of Wight Holiday Cottages

Farringford is delighted to welcome you to experience and enjoy it's immense charm, providing the freedom and flexibility of self catering in a uniquely historic and peaceful setting.

Nestled within the grounds of this spectacular estate, former home of Poet Laureate, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, are the Alfred and Emily cottages; Alfred Cottages, designed by the famous architect and visionary, Clough William Ellis, are full of character with vaulted ceilings and stone fireplaces with log burning stoves. All have been redesigned and completely refurbished to a very high standard for 2011. The Emily Cottages provide a good standard of accommodation and the Emily Superior Cottages enjoy a heightened level of contemporary décor and furnishing.

The Farringford Estate

Set in 33 acres of mature parkland and adjoining National Trust down land, with breathtakingly beautiful coastline close-by, Farringford offers the perfect relaxing retreat for holidays and breaks throughout the year. Within the grounds there is a Par 3 nine-hole golf course, outdoor solar-heated swimming pool & children’s pool, a hard tennis court, children’s play area and, newly refurbished for 2011, the Garden Restaurant, with a fantastic modern British menu and fine wines and champagne that can be enjoyed both within the restaurant or on the large terrace.

Farringford promotes a dog friendly policy and there are many walks around the estate and surrounding area of outstanding natural beauty. There is a purpose built dog wash station with warm water and dog shampoo.

Isle of Wight

Nearby there is horse riding, cycling, walking and much more. Footpaths lead from the grounds, and the famous Tennyson trail is a spectacular walk through tranquil woods and along coastal paths heading east across to Freshwater Bay enjoying stunning views, and west to the Needles. The beach is within easy reach along the coastal path.

Adjacent to the grounds of Farringford in Freshwater Bay is a local village store and a post office. The small and pretty harbour town of Yarmouth is close-by where the Wightlink car and passenger ferry crosses from Lymington. The Island’s best known landmark, The Needles, with its adjoining pleasure park, offers many visitor attractions and is a short drive. Children will love the chairlift ride down the cliffs to Alum Bay with its famous multicoloured sands. Freshwater Bay Golf Club is also close, with 18 holes spanning Afton Down with breathtaking views of dramatic, unspoilt coastline and across the sea to the horizon.

History of the House

Farringford is a Grade 1 Listed Building and was the main domicile residence of Alfred Lord Tennyson, Poet Laureate, from 1856 until his death in 1892. It continued in the possession of the Tennyson family until 1945, when it was sold to British Holiday Estates Ltd, who converted the house into a hotel. It continued as a hotel until 2010.

Occupying a level position overlooking land to the north and east towards Afton Down, Farringford is a local landmark, that lies west of Freshwater Bay and south east of Middleton, with Tennyson Down on its south side Map of Tennyson Down 1769 . Indeed Farringford is tucked under the north side of this steep chalk down, where the sloping land flattens out as it extends northwards. The down is 147 metres at its highest point at Tennyson Monument and ranges down to 75 metres south of Farringford, while the house is only 35 metres above sea level. The area was developed at the very beginning of the 19th century from an area of small pasture enclosures, belonging to a holding called Walls or Farringford, but now called Home Farm.

The original house itself is essentially a large country villa, based on a Georgian plan and Georgian structural principles, but with superficial, cosmetic Gothic features, such as castellated parapets, Gothic arched windows, flattened arch veranda,

Gothic porch and internal Gothic ornamentation to doors and cornices. Stone Foundatioms The house is constructed in buff-coloured brick in Flemish bond with a slate roof, and rests on a mixed stone foundation.

Farringford is unique on the Island in its style of architecture and its exterior form. Few other Gothic buildings have the same style of windows or porch and there is no other building that has the same lay-out in the form of an extended U. Most Gothic buildings of the 19th century are characterised by a neo-Elizabethan features such as square-headed windows with a drip-moulds above and gables. In a way, Farringford represents a hybrid house, combining the idea of proportion and symmetry of Georgian architecture with the idea of Gothic ornamentation.

Change has taken the form of extensions, rather than any rebuilding. The original house of Farringford has remained relatively intact and is little changed from its initial plan, the only structural change being the repositioning of the entrance from the east to the north side. Over the years there have been a number of extensions such that the original house has become somewhat swallowed up in new additions and the first neat Georgian frontage has been lost. Internally, where change has occurred, it has been in the function rather than the form of the rooms.