The living area is upstairs with high ceilings, large windows with great views of the sea and marshland: the windows look out at extraordinary views across fields and water meadows towards the coast (the dawn is especially vivid in this place, as the sun rises over the sea in the winter and produces incredible light across the horizon). The lovely bedrooms are downstairs. There is a third study room or hobby room with a piano and a futon for extra guests which leads out towards a private patio and garden with a lawn. This too has lovely views over fields. The barn, (architecturally designed by a leading architect) is heated throughout with underfloor heating; it is a particularly desirable space in which to enjoy views of coastal Suffolk. A wood burner stands in the middle of the upstairs living area. The stairs (lit from the ground) come up in the middle of the living area to a window which opens onto lovely views. Sightings of deer and rare birds are frequent. There are many owls audible at night and in the vicinity and nearby forest (100 metres from the front door), where one can roam freely (for the most part). (There are also occasional sightings of osprey, kites and kites as well as buzzards!) The barn is 2 miles from Orford (on the river Ore) with lovely walks along the river wall, and 4 miles from Snape Maltings where there is an international music festival in June and music performed throughout the year. There are lovely walks along the "sailors' path and over the famously beautiful Iken peninsula which neighbours Sudbourne and Snape. There are also shops and bookshops and delicatessen and farm shops galore in Aldeburgh and Snape and beyond. It is a riveting landscape to explore.
There are blackout curtains and great comfort in all rooms and a lovely living space adjoining the kitchen dining room. People love coming here: in Orford there are 3 pubs and a famous restaurant, The Butley Oysterage, as well as a smart hotel, The Crown and Castle. Just across the river, there is the Orford Ness which is a fascinating site for World War 2 historians and devotees: it is where radar was first discovered and bomb testing went on in the course of the war. Many relics remain and it is possible to explore all this by taking a ferry across to the "Ness" from Orford quay. Above all the food is of an exceptionally high standard. And it is quiet and remote and people come away feeling very rested and inspired.
