Samphire Barn

Listed in The Times Top 20 of the UK's most rejuvenating breaks, Samphire Barn’s interiors wouldn’t look out of place in Bali or Barbados. Behind its classic stone interior, this barn conversion has a bright and breezy style inspired by the owner’s globe-trotting travels.

The beach house aesthetic includes cheery splashes of corals, blues or greens alongside driftwood and luxury fixtures. Accompanying this is a nautical theme – from the dolphin door knocker to a fun lighthouse lamp – and crisp white walls emphasising this recently-refurbished home’s ample space.

On the ground floor, its tiled kitchen – whose many appliances range from an American-style fridge-freezer to a Ninja juicing machine – affords a large dining table seating everyone. There’s also a fully accessible bathroom, headlined by its double-ended soaking tub, and the full-height sitting room sprawled below painted, preserved beams. Families can contentedly relax together here thanks to the log-burning stove, velvet sofas, a Smart TV and basket of board games.

Through the sitting room, one bedroom occupies the ground-floor: a king-sized chamber and a fun, mezzanine twin-bedded den accessed via the sitting room, suitable for both adults and children. There’s reduced headroom in here thanks to the property’s eaves, but – in league with theatre-style curtains across a stunning glass wall overlooking the sitting room – that creates a cosy, hideaway feel which kids in particular, will adore. Up on the first floor is another king-sized sleeping quarter, this time en-suite.

Outside, you have options: a lawn with a wooden bench and planted flower borders at the front (a sun-trap and nice for reading or enjoying a morning coffee), and then a larger courtyard garden beyond the kitchen. Enclosed by trellis fencing and planters, the deck here contains a corner sofa and a table – lit by pendant lighting, perfect for al-fresco socialising, lazing or dining.

The surrounding fields and countryside are perfect for evening strolls, in air slightly salty from the sea just over a mile away. During daytime, it’s only a ten-minute drive from Tughall Steads’ hamlet to the long, golden-sand beaches of crescent-shaped Beadnell (great for wreck divers, windsurfers or water-skiers) and Embleton Bay, between which are the villages of Low and High Newton-by-the-Sea – the former mostly National Trust-owned.

As well as bucket-and-spade days, it’s easy to visit the little fishing village of Craster and Dunstanburgh Castle (15 minutes’ drive) or Alnwick (20 minutes) Castle, the Holy Island of Lindisfarne (35 minutes) or Preston Tower (10 minutes) for a fascinating recreation of 14th-century life. Plenty of country pubs and restaurants are in proximity too, while the nearest grocery shop is just over five minutes away by car.