Having toured the world as hotshot designer duo ‘Griffin’, fashionistas Jeff and Karina decided to trade in the glamorous world of haute couture for the simple pleasures of rural Devon. And what a pace they found. It wasn’t long before they trained their eye on the six-acre pastoral paradise of Loveland Farm. Around the 19th-century farmhouse, they turned ancient out buildings into a new design studio, kitted out an airy barn with an indoor swimming pool and pimpled the meadows with some of the finest glamping accommodation you’ve ever seen. When fashion, innovation and the great outdoors combine, Loveland Farm is what you get.
In total Loveland Farm plays host to six uniquely designed geo-domes and a trio of furnished tipis, all shot through with some serious designer flair. While the tipis each sleep four people, the geo-domes range in size, from the couples’ ‘Popla Pod’ to the enormous eight-person ‘Stargazer Pod’, which also has an adjoining cabin to maximise space. The domes all have the same level of detail and stylish design – think wooden floors, Edison bulbs and well-place ceiling panels so that you can stargaze from your bed – and most, like the ‘Loveland Pod’, have far reaching views all the way to the Devon coast. Inside, clever features break up the space, like a giant tipi within the ‘Eden’ and ‘Heartland’ domes that act like enclosed master bedrooms, while a couple have projectors for full-blown movie nights.
The tipis are the more budget-friendly option on site, plotted atop wooden decking and furnished with rugs, double beds and wood-burners. Tipi tenants have access to all the little extras that really make a stay at Loveland hassle-free, including a communal kitchen (with wood-fired pizza oven), designated shower rooms for each group and award-winning compost loos: plus the newest addition to the farm: an indoor swimming pool.
Loveland Farm isn't purely about the sartorial though – there's substance behind the style. Jeff and Karina are passionate about sustainability. In keeping with tradition, the Griffins have a veritable menagerie of animals onsite including pigs, sheep and even a pair of Asian Water buffaloes (Bella and Shaggy) who spend their days beautifying in the stream at the bottom of the field. The entire complex is run off solar panels, the pool is heated by a biomass boiler and they grow their own veg, rear their own pork and lamb, smoke their own bacon, make their own sausages and hope to even get milk and make mozzarella from the aforementioned water buffaloes. Self-sufficiency indeed.
If you can drag yourself away from the farm, the local area is brimming with great day trips. The Hartland Peninsula is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty with a stunning array of unique flora, fauna and marine life. The historic fishing village of Clovelly is also worth a venture. Traipse its charming cobbled streets, drop in at the Charles Kingsley museum and visit the famous working Clovelly donkeys.