Rushay – Luxury 9 Bedroom Holiday House Dorset | Jurassic Coast | Sleeps 20
A large Edwardian country house and cottage on the Jurassic Coast
Luxury 9-Bedroom Holiday House on the Jurassic Coast
THE HOUSE
Rushay is a large luxury country house built in 1906, with a converted stable cottage across the courtyard. Together they sleep up to 20 guests in 9 bedrooms: two king-size rooms, six doubles, one en suite ground floor bedroom for easy access and an attic dormitory with four singles.
The principal rooms face south and west, with bay windows that fill with light and views across unspoilt countryside. High ceilings, waxed wooden floors, and a palette of whites amplify the sense of air and space. Everything—from beds and furniture to rugs and pictures—has been chosen with care. Kate’s interiors have appeared in World of Interiors and Ben Pentreath’s English Decoration; Jason writes for Country Life magazine.
The house was completely renovated in 2020/21 using local, recycled materials wherever possible, staying true to its Arts & Crafts origins while ensuring modern comfort.
INSIDE
Drop your wellies, beach bags and coats in the boot room (tennis racquets and balls provided). Cross through the study—piano, bookshelves, comfortable chairs—into a handsome hall where double doors open onto the west-facing terrace.
Off the hall lies a drawing room with log fire and deep sofas, and the dining room with a great table for family feasts and reunions. The kitchen, opened from the dining room in the 1960s, offers plenty of prep space on mahogany counters and island. You’ll find a two-oven Aga, electric hob and oven, and everything from big pots to colanders.
Doors lead to the laundry and pantry with its American-style fridge-freezer.
Up the oak stairs, five bedrooms open off the landing—each markedly individual, all beautifully serene with white floors and walls. The back stairs wind up to the attic dorm with its own shower room. All beds are made with fresh white linen; towels are provided (bring your own for the beach).
Across the courtyard, the newly renovated cottage mirrors the main house aesthetic: one ground-floor en-suite bedroom, two upstairs bedrooms, another bathroom, full kitchen, and sitting room with open fire. Perfect for multi-generational gatherings (and grumpy people at breakfast).
Two kitchens, four reception rooms, open fires, fast WiFi throughout. We can recommend a private chef if you’d like an evening off, or to celebrate.
OUTSIDE
The garden stretches to lawn and trees—beech, oak, ash, cherry, walnut, hazel—with an apple orchard and paddocks beyond. In spring, the sunken croquet lawn becomes a riot of wild orchids. The west-facing stone terrace holds a long outdoor table and professional Argentinian asado BBQ, perfect for warm Dorset evenings.
You have a full-sized hard tennis court, table football inside, board games aplenty, and a twenty-minute walk through open countryside straight to the sea.
THE SETTING
Rushay stands just a mile from Charmouth’s beaches—one perfect for families, the other the most celebrated fossil beach on the Jurassic Coast. This is England’s only natural World Heritage Site, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty where you can walk from garden to sea in twenty minutes. Drink in the views from Golden Cap, the highest point on the south coast.
Historic Lyme Regis lies three miles away, with its famous Cobb and dinosaur museums. Bridport‘s lively market town is ten minutes in the other direction. Axminster station (ten minutes into Devon) connects to London Waterloo in under three hours.
West Dorset is home to exceptional chefs and wonderful farm shops for local produce, meat and seafood. Or you can leave it all behind by walking up into the surrounding hills—at least two crowned with Iron Age earthworks—for views across the Marshwood Vale to the sea and into two counties.
Small fields, ancient woodland, timeless.
OUR GUESTS
Over the past five years, Rushay has welcomed family gatherings, friends’ reunions, writing groups, decorous hen parties, cold swimmers, pilgrim bands, and lots and lots of dogs. We’re proud of our unbroken string of enthusiastic reviews.
Whether it’s fossil hunting or hill walking, cooking feasts or curling up by the fire, swimming in the sea or simply being together, people tell us that Rushay makes the perfect base.
We look forward to welcoming you.
Find out what makes this area so special, and plan your adventures with our homemade guide.
In the July 2023 issue of Travel+Leisure magazine, Rushay was described as ‘the perfect place’ for walking holidays.
