Rosemary Cottage, our historic holiday cottage in Dittisham, stands on a slight elevation above Manor Street, affording views of the River Dart from within the house (the master bedroom and the reading/entertainment room off the living room) and from many parts of the gardens. The gardens afford immense privacy but offer beautiful views.

The gardens are large and are given to a mixture of lawn, beds of flowers and shrubs, terraces and grassy orchard-like hillside with apple and Dittisham plum trees.

At the front of the house there is a high and thick hedge between Manor Street and the garden, which is composed here of lawns and beds of lavender and hydrangeas. A stepping-stone path leads across the front lawn to a side terrace, private and sheltered for dining, with easy access from the kitchen door. A border of flowers and shrubs including azalea, cotinus, choisya and peony divide this terrace from a raised lawn. On the corner is a prunus tree. A couple of steps brings you to the level of the raised lawn and a terrace which is accessed from the French windows of the study.

To the rear of the house are two terraces which have wide views of the river valley and across to Greenway. A border of Rosemary and Euonymus paloma blanca is at the base of the terrace, whilst in a stone trough outside the French windows is a row of Heuchera 'Pinot Noir'. A path skirts the side of a grassy slope and leads to the vegetable and fruit plot. (Pick your own as you go – vegetables vary with the season but usually include runner beans, French beans, broccoli and aubergines, plus raspberries, in the summer months). On the grassy slope there is an ancient apple tree and Dittisham plum trees. The plums are usually ready for picking in the second week of August. In the springtime the slope bursts with daffodils, primroses and bluebells. There is colour from the flowers and shrubs throughout the year.

Outside furniture consists of a round teak dining table with six teak chairs, a parasol over the table, two teak steamer sunbeds with cushions, two deckchairs, two teak Adirondack chairs at the top of the garden and a teak bistro table. There is also another small terrace to the front of the house just outside the kitchen door, equipped with a bistro table and chairs. From here you also have river views and it's a convenient spot to take a breather in between cooking.

(The Ham field with children’s playground is on the river front and a walk of about 5 minutes from the cottage. The jetty which provides endless hours of entertainment for children with their crabbing lines is at the bottom of Manor Street, a couple of minutes' walk from Rosemary Cottage).

"We had such a lovely week at Rosemary Cottage. The views were wonderful and the house was beautiful and well equipped. We made bread almost every day so thank you for the flour and yeast" from a guest in 2021

"We very much enjoyed spending time in the garden too; in fact, we were able to dine outside most evenings. I must have taken about a dozen photos of the views from the top of the garden too!” from a guest in July 2022