Sunwick Cottage

Sunwick Cottage strikes the balance between being smartly contemporary and yet snugly, warmly comfortable. Take its main, open-plan living space: the inky-blue kitchen, pale wood dining table, rattan sofa and charcoal French window doors all catch one’s eye, yet also work seamlessly together.

Virtually every wall in this immaculate home is a bright white hue creating a permanent sense of space and airiness. This is further enhanced by the open- plan living and sitting room where large French doors lead directly out to the south-facing garden.

There are three bedrooms too, all with crisp high-quality linens, and a bathroom on each floor. One bedroom is downstairs, suiting anyone of limited mobility, or night owls watching some late TV. The second bedroom on the first floor contains a charming window-side dressing table, looking out to green-yellow farm fields and hedgerows beyond, while the last has fixed twin beds, a charming rocking horse for toddlers, and a full-size cot for babies.

There’s also a safely enclosed, grassy rear garden complete with more countryside views and comfortable outdoor furniture where you can settle down with a book to enjoy the mid-afternoon sunshine or sip an aperitif before dinner.

Sunwick Cottage is very well placed. Despite its rural peace, you’re less than 15 minutes’ drive from Berwick-upon-Tweed’s castle ruins, art galleries, independent shops and the Maltings Theatre. Even closer is Paxton House, a grand Palladian mansion where visitors can admire paintings from Scotland’s national collection or take a leisurely boat ride past the impressive Union Bridge — crossing the River Tweed into England.

Either side of Berwick you’ll delight at the fantastic sandy beaches, and it’s not far at all to mystical Holy Island, where you might easily spend a heavenly day or two.