Two-bed, luxury eco-home with stunning views

Mareda is at the heart of an old Sussex village yet right on the edge of open countryside. It faces west, enjoying expansive views and capturing stunning sunsets throughout the year. Mareda sleeps up to four in air-conditioned luxury, with a double bedroom and a double sleeping mezzanine, which has a skylight for star-gazing on clear nights. It is also just a five-minute walk from the local 16th-century village pub.

The space

Mareda is one of a pair of architect-designed luxury eco-cabins conceived to maximize the connection with the surrounding Sussex countryside, while minimising their environmental impact.

There is a high-ceilinged living and dining area, which incorporates an open-plan kitchen.

Air conditioning and heat-recovery ventilation serve every room in the property. In winter, the air conditioning is inverted to provide air-source heating. The property is purpose-built and insulated to a very high standard. A bank of solar panels on our neighbouring barn provide a significant amount of power to the units.

A luxury bathroom provides under-floor heating, a heated towel rail, a large shower, and an illuminated vanity mirror by the basin.

There are two bedrooms, one on the ground floor, with direct access to the deck at the front of the property, and one on a mezzanine.

The mezzanine bedroom is a unique space, with a king-sized bed, accessed via a beautifully designed staircase. A skylight runs across the entire width of the king-sized bed, offering views of the stars on clear nights. When it’s time to sleep, the skylight blind can be closed at the touch of a button.

While the mezzanine bedroom feels very private, it is open to the living area and may not suit all guests.

The lower bedroom has two single beds which can be joined to make a king sized bed. The beds have gas-lift storage beneath, and here is a small hanging rail for clothes in the main living area.

The kitchen includes a fridge with an integrated freezer, a dishwasher, a two-ring hob, and a microwave convection oven. There is no washing machine in the property.

Guest access

There is a dedicated parking area directly behind the holiday let. In front, there is a large wooden deck. Beyond that, there’s a small gravel with a gate onto a fenced-off meadow, which is for the exclusive use of guests. The meadow is shared between the two holiday lets, while the decks and gravel areas are private.

As you can see from some of the pictures, this site has two holiday lets, collectively known as Orchard Barns. Screens and fences ensure sufficient privacy and separation for each unit.

Access from the road is via a separate entrance from our main house, which is over 200ft (70m) away from the holiday lets. This ensures that guests have a completely separate and dedicated area.

Other things to note

The holiday lets are in the heart of the small village of Cowbeech in the East Sussex countryside. Cowbeech has a pub, The Merrie Harriers, which is usually open from Wednesdays to Sundays and serves food and local ales. Please check The Merrie Harriers' website for the latest opening and food serving times.

The Merrie Harriers has sixteenth-century origins. Don’t be fooled by the plaque over the door that says ‘1624’; that’s a later addition! It’s a traditional country pub with roaring fires in the winter and a spacious garden for summer drinking and dining.

Cowbeech is a perfect spot to explore everything East Sussex has to offer. You can reach the nearest beach by car in just over 15 minutes. And you’re right in the middle of East Sussex wine country. It’s only an 8-minute drive to the nearest vineyard of Henners in Herstmonceux. There are many other vineyards nearby, too, including Rathfinny, which boasts two restaurants and a walking trail.

The town of Battle, with its famous abbey, is less than 25 minutes away by car. Lewes is driveable in around half an hour, and Brighton can be reached in less than an hour (though it may be easier to hop on a train at Polegate, which gets you to Brighton in around 32 minutes).

You can explore famous natural landmarks like the Seven Sisters, Beachy Head, and the South Downs and enjoy cultural highlights like the Towner Gallery, Glyndebourne, Charleston, and the Hastings Contemporary. And that’s just the start of the list!

Of course, you can also relax in your holiday home and enjoy the views of the surrounding countryside. You might see owls or kites hunting over the nearby fields or one of the Spitfires that flies over regularly on south-coast leisure flights.