A winter weekend in Suffolk
A few weeks ago we headed back to Five Acre Barn in Suffolk. We rarely revisit the same place year after year, but this was our third trip there so you get the idea – we like it!
Our previous stays have been during the summer months, but we love visiting the coast during the depths of winter when it’s wild and windswept and there are fewer crowds, and there is something about the winter light that is just magical.
The garden at Five Acre Barn is really starting to mature now and David and Bruce have done lots of work on it since we last visted. Although it is of course at its best during the summer months, the skeletal beauty of the trees and grasses during the winter is, to my eye, equally appealing. I love the desaturated tones of the landscape at this time of year and I took a lot of pictures so I thought I would share some of them here.
Inside the barn there’s so much to discover – interesting art and ceramics, carefully chosen mid century furniture, great books and lots of colourful textiles. David and Bruce have a great eye!
We love the coast around Aldeburgh – from Walberswick and Dunwich through to Sizewell and Thorpeness and then on to Orford further south. It’s perfect for a dog friendly break, especially out of season when dogs are allowed on more of the beaches.
The walk along Sizewell beach is one of our favourites. We’ve booked a trip to Dungeness later in the year. Is it weird that we seem to be making a habit of staying near nuclear power stations?
You can walk to Thorpeness from Five Acre Barn. The path – via a nature reserve – takes easily under an hour. Originally built as a utopian holiday destination in the 1920s it’s a quirky destination full of architectural eccentricities and follies including The House in the Clouds which you can stay in.
More recently, The Dune House, designed by Jarmund/Vignæs, was built here for Living Architecture…
…and there are interesting beach houses all along the sea front, some of them modern and shiny, but we like the more simple and slightly weathered dwellings.
We wholeheartedly recommend Five Acre Barn as a base for exploring this stretch of the Suffolk coast.
Read the view of our previous stay here.
