Exquisite views, perfect privacy and a setting among camellias, rhododendrons and azaleas at this Arts-and-Crafts property in Cornwall
Perran Cove, near Mawnan Smith, six miles from Falmouth, is perched high above the Helford River, taking in views of the waters and ancient woodland.


Arts-and-Crafts Perran Cove, near Mawnan Smith, six miles from Falmouth, in Cornwall, enjoys a south-west-facing ‘grandstand’ position offering jaw-dropping views over the Helford River, with its world-renowned sailing waters, and unspoilt ancient woodland.
For sale through Lillicrap Chilcott at an asking price of £2.85 million, this tranquil property is at the end of a private road on the Budock Vean estate, within walking distance of a golf course and wrapped in 1⅓ acres of landscaped park peppered with camellias, rhododendrons, azaleas and macrocarpas.
Barrelled ceilings, granite fireplaces, balconies and sun terraces brightened by wisteria offer plenty of character.
The 3,778sq ft interiors include five bedrooms, as well as a studio above the garage. The reception areas are vast, with a panoramic drawing room overlooking the gardens, woodland and river, a separate dining room and an open-plan kitchen and family room.
The gardens are glorious and a private right of way leads down to a little-known cove and there’s also a boat store.
Perran Cover is for sale at £2.85 million via Lillicrap Chilcott — see more pictures or enquire with the agent for further details.
Mawnan Smith: What you need to know
- Location: Mawnan Smith is 14 minutes' drive from Falmouth
- Atmosphere: The village has an early 18th-century inn (The Red Lion), a post office and shop, a surgery, a coffee shop, a restaurant and ahairdresser's, plus a vibrant community life with plenty of clubs and societies.
- Things to do: Sailing on the Helford River is the obvious option, but other activities include surfing, waterskiing, walking (this is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and much of the coastline belongs to the National Trust), visiting the gardens of Glen Durgan and Trebah and playing golf (there are five 18-hole golf courses within about 15 miles)
- Schools: The nearby Mawnan CofE VA Primary School is rated Good by Ofsted.
Find more properties in the area.
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Annunciata grew up in the wilds of Lancashire and now lives in Hampshire with a husband, two daughters and an awful pug called Parsley. She’s been floating round the Country Life office for more than a decade, her work winning the Property Magazine of the Year Award in 2022 (Property Press Awards). Before that, she had a two-year stint writing ‘all kinds of fiction’ for The Sunday Times Travel Magazine, worked in internal comms for Country Life’s publisher (which has had many names in recent years but was then called IPC Media), and spent another year researching for a historical biographer, whose then primary focus was Graham Greene and John Henry Newman and whose filing system was a collection of wardrobes and chests of drawers filled with torn scraps of paper. During this time, she regularly gave tours of 17th-century Milton Manor, Oxfordshire, which may or may not have been designed by Inigo Jones, and co-founded a literary, art and music festival, at which Johnny Flynn headlined. When not writing and editing for Country Life, Annunciata is also a director of TIN MAN ART, a contemporary art gallery founded in 2021 by her husband, James Elwes.
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