Today I wanted to tell you more about the revamp of the sunken courtyard. The aim was both to add a little Gallic charm and bring my lovely little “Drying yard” up to a five star entrance for our pretty Apricot Bedroom!
I wanted the revamped courtyard to have French style – quite apt with Cornwall’s traditional links with Brittany.
In the light of Covid-19, we’ve reduce our boutique B&B offering from three bedrooms to two these days. We felt that by creating a separate entrances for each couple staying, it would be the safest way for our guest to enjoy Ednovean Farm
Creating the “look” The search for je ne sais quoi
My starting point was the overall atmosphere I wanted to achieve, along with more than a dash of je ne sais in this heady ambition!
The atmosphere or ambience is so important creating space and this really comes to the fore when making an entrance! I touched upon the idea in my June garden blog.
The courtyard design – a sense of place.
Ednovean is a building that has withstood the test of the centuries, tucked into the hillside and sheltered from the prevailing wind from the sea. A sensible safety precaution when the Barbary pirates were still snatching people from Penzance as late as the seventeenth century!
We excavated this sunken courtyard from the hillside when we renovated the old building back in the 1990’s. Originally the earth came up to the back sills.
Inspired by an early guest who swore he saw a Roman Soldier in his room.I painted the looping archways soon after we started our Bed and Breakfast. It seemed only polite to make the Roman feel at home with a little paintwork! (Don’t worry the Yellow room is now our office)
Accessories for our courtyards
With the atmosphere of the courtyard in mind I chose the accessories with care.
I wanted a French villa like feel for this courtyard and chose some smart faux lead window boxes to contrast with the more rustic feel of the stone.
This is an original window and more that harks back to its old Chapel origins.
Finally the old honeyed gravel was freshly raked out and the window boxes filled with dramatic red Geraniums. Complimented by sweetly scented lavender and little groups of topiary arranged to break up the length of the building.
Outdoor Lighting to complement the final look
And again I wanted to hit the right note with my choices. I finally settled on a smart continental style light to set off a new door crafted by local carpenter. The door was painted in French Grey of course!
Fisherman’s Lights
For the secondary lighting, the gorgeous hot dipped galvanised St Ives Fishermen’s lights caught my eye.
These are mounted at the top of our steps and outside of the French Doors for the Apricot bedroom.
Our working plan to revamp the courtyard
We already had a raised border that runs the length of the building filled with some mature planting. This raised bed has been broken up with three little alcoves set at intervals. Each alcove holds a statue or an urn.
The tree canopy was a problem though. It had formed unnoticed over the years, until barely ray of sunshine could penetrate the gloom. But with judicious pruning, we managed to thin the growth whilst still keeping the romantically arching Buddleia fronds over the lower doorway.
The tree canopy was a problem though. It had formed unnoticed over the years, until barely ray of sunshine could penetrate the gloom. But with judicious pruning, we managed to thin the growth whilst still keeping the romantically arching Buddleia fronds over the lower doorway.
Sub tropical plants 
Bamboo in a vintage pot 
Traditional ring 
The path passes under the barn steps 
Simple Galvanised fisherman’s lights 
Locally made plaques 
Aligned arches 
I can never resist a Greek pot!
A note about the history of Ednovean
You can really feel the age of our historic old home in the rear elevation. There has been occupation on this site since a Chapel was recorded in 1290: – “Eccl de Udnowparva”. Since then Tithe maps have referred to our home as Cot House Town place. (This is a term probably lingering from the West Saxon language) and the Mowhay. Follow the evolution of the name Ednovean here for more info!
Why have we changed the entrances for our guests?
Why? Well we have two bedrooms flanking a sitting room and so it made sense to safely repurpose these to each have a private entrance. Now each couple will be able to safely come and go to Ednovean Farm in perfect, self distancing harmony and never the twain shall meet. Well that’s the plan
As an added precaution one entrance remains via our lush parterre courtyard and the second new one passes through a previously private courtyard to enter the bedroom via the existing French doors. So with a whole house in between I think we’ve got any distance rule effectively cracked – well maybe?!
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