Oakwood Barn

About this property

Oakwood Barn boasts the most amazing interior design imaginable. This phenomenal property is a masterpiece and it is easy to understand why word has spread and the barn is seriously popular as both a holiday home and an event space for team meetings and away days or breaks. Offering incredible luxury, a scenic backdrop of rolling hills and big skies, an endless list of treats, a fabulous location close to Lewes, Brighton, Glyndebourne and Charleston and only an hour from London and a high impressive list of contacts and entertainment options, Oakwood Barn is a very exciting proposition. You can escape to the heart of the South Downs, let your senses run wild, you can dine in style with private chefs boasting amazing accolades, you can unleash your creativity or simply nest in a house that offers the most sensational attention to detail.

Oakwood Barn boasts two exceptional living spaces, three gorgeous bedrooms and wonderful outside spaces. It is ideal for weekend breaks, family or friends holidays, celebrations, events and work related trips. The barn is an established creative shoot location and unsurprisingly its philosophy is stylish, functional, inspirational. One of its many treats is a quality outdoor hot tub where you can relax in style under the stars.

The South Downs National Park is perfect for those that love the outdoors, the cosmopolitan town of Brighton is super cool and super charged, Glyndebourne is as sophisticated as its comes and Lewes is steeped in history, offering charming eateries, fabulous galleries and a wonderful array of quirky shops. Oakwood Barn is tucked away in the tiny hamlet of St Ann’s, between Lewes and Falmer, surrounded by glorious countryside. The barn is surrounded by family-owned boutique vineyards, meandering river trails, ancient woodland, a dramatic coastline including the chalky cliffs of the Seven Sisters, Beachy Head and Cuckmere Haven, the busy River Ouse, Plumpton and Brighton racecourses and enchanting gardens including Sissinghurst Castle Garden and Bateman’s. Guests can busy themselves all day long and return to be cocooned in comfort, style and luxury.

Oakwood Barn is drowned in natural light through its south facing windows and doors and enjoys original architectural features and high ceilings. It has been beautifully converted to offer all the modern luxuries and attention to detail you might expect from a top-notch holiday home. Your ground floor living space offers a sumptuous Maker and Son corner sofa and love seat, an outstanding, sociable fully-fitted kitchen that makes cooking joyful and a fabulous dining area with gorgeous countryside views and handcrafted Outerspace Living oak furniture. The kitchen includes a coffee maker, dishwasher and an Everhot stove for eco-conscious cooking. Everywhere, underfloor heating keeps your toes lovely and toasty in cooler months. The handy boot-room doubles as a laundry room. The mezzanine level is equally fantastic with giant fluffy chairs that you want to curl up in and sofas where you can lose yourself in your holiday read. You can step out to the large terrace with its fabulous corner sofa and uninterrupted views of the South Downs National Park.

The barn’s three bedrooms enjoy super comfortable Indigo beds complete with Hypnos quality mattresses, top-notch duvets, pillows and luxurious, crispy organic cotton sheets from Dip & Doze with Piglet bedding used during the Summer months. One bedroom offers a kingsize bed and a very smart wet room, the second is another double room that enjoys a south-facing aspect and has access to an adjacent bathroom. The gorgeous twin room also has access to another adjacent bathroom. All of the bedrooms enjoy calming hues. The two doubles are located on the ground floor, one with wheelchair access and the twin is on the mezzanine level. The contemporary bathrooms are immaculate wonders, one a wet room, one a shower room and, on the mezzanine level, the final bathroom offers a freestanding bath and a walk-in shower.  For those in larger groups of eight, a further two guests can make use of the adjacent studio space, which comprises of an additional bedroom, bathroom and kitchenette.

As well as the upper, beautifully furnished terrace, Oakwood Barn enjoys a wonderful private garden and courtyard with a fabulous alfresco lounge area and dining area and a barbecue. The hot tub is a popular spot. You just need to remember to take a bottle of fizz and glasses! There is on-site parking for up to five cars with two electric charging points.

Oakwood Barn is the perfect place to relax, reconnect and re-energise. It is perfect for holidays and also for business purposes having been created by Leadership Consultant and Executive Coach, Anni Townend. Guests can enjoy a ‘Fine Dining’ experience brought by Richard Falk of The Diary in Clapham and Michelin-starred The Ledbury fame or a touch of pampering in the comfort of your room from a highly skilled therapist.

Oakwood Barn is located in the sleepy hamlet of St Ann’s, between Lewes and Falmer, surrounded by glorious countryside. It is a fantastic location where guests can enjoy the great outdoors and some fabulous towns and villages. Lewes is perfect for quirky shops, charming galleries and wonderful eateries. It is a lively country town with a very attractive, historic high street. It is famous for its 1000 year old Norman castle and its bonfire celebrations. It is brimming with cobbled streets and Grade II listed houses and boasts the Anne of Cleves House Museum which formed part of Queen Anne’s annulment settlement from Henry viii. You will enjoy boutique shopping, the town’s 15th century bookshop, browsing the antique shops and stopping for refreshments at some wonderful cafes. The Lewes Garland Day goes back to Victorian days and takes place on the first May bank holiday with local Morris dancers and lots of floral garlands.

Other events in the area are the Glyndebourne Festival which starts in May with world class opera, a quintessentially English summer experience and a July extravaganza, Love Supreme. This is a top jazz festival in the stunning surroundings of Glynde Place. September sees Artwave, an annual festival of artists with displays of jewellery, textiles, metalwork, ceramics, glass, crafts, furniture, paintings and printmaking. The bonfire celebrations take place in Lewes on 5 November, a thrilling spectacle.

The South Downs National Park is a walker’s paradise with epic views, meandering rivers and ancient forests. Walkers encounter native wildlife as well as welcoming village pubs. The South Downs Way is a 100 mile footpath stretching from Winchester in Hampshire to Eastbourne in Sussex. The path can be used by cyclists and horse riders too. Guests can hire e-bikes from Mr Cycles and arrange delivery to Oakwood Barn. Lewes also boasts Cycle Shack where you can hire bikes. Those that prefer watersports can hire canoes or paddleboards at Cuckmere Haven or can kayak or sail at Ardingly Reservoir. Paddle boats can be hired at Barcombe, near Lewes to glide along the River Ouse.   

There are a number of National Trust properties to visit including the home of poet and writer Vita Sackville-West, Sissinghurst Castle Garden and the cherished Jacobean home of writer Rudyard Kipling, Bateman’s. You may need to book in advance as they are very popular.

Brighton is brimming with cultural delights as well as hundreds of independent boutiques and big name shops. There are many award winning restaurants serving the regular seaside fish and chips as well as creative vegetarian menus. Brighton and Hove offer plenty of entertainment for all ages, some large scale wonders and some quirky and offbeat. One of the classic attractions is Brighton’s Royal Pavilion. The Royal Pavilion is an exotic palace with iconic domes and minarets as well as  a fascinating history. Built as a seaside pleasure palace for King George IV, this historic house mixes Regency grandeur with the visual style of India and China. There are fantastic collections to explore which have previously come from Buckingham Palace. A trip to Brighton’s Beach is not complete without a stroll along the iconic Brighton Palace Pier. On the beach, children love Brighton Zip, a thrilling ride on the seafront. Visitors can escape to the skies to see Brighton in another light on British Airways i360 attraction. You will glide up gently to 138 metres in the futuristic glass viewing pod, designed by Marks Barfield Architects, creators of the London Eye, and admire 360-degree views across Brighton, the South Downs and, on the clearest days, all the way to the Isle of Wight. Visitors can also enjoy the Nyetimber Sky Bar, an exhibition on how BA i360 was built and its beachside shop for gifts. Those that enjoy shopping can head to The Lanes for an eclectic mix of shops and restaurants. For some evening entertainment, Brighton Dome is Brighton’s premier venue for music, theatre and family events. Other popular attractions are Sea Life Brighton, Brighton Museum and Art Gallery, Booth Museum of Natural History, Preston Manor, Brighton’s Walk of Fame and the Brighton Music Tunnel.

The medieval town of Rye is today home to a myriad of art, curiosities and cosy pubs and restaurants. Built on timeless tales and smuggled secrets, Rye offers charm and intrigue with nooks and crannies to explore and beautiful distant views across Romney Marsh. You will discover ancient, characterful buildings, cobbled streets and secret passages which attract film crews in search of historical settings for period productions. The Rye Castle Museum was originally a bottling factory and now boasts a unique 18th century fire engine as well as relics from the town’s shipbuilding past. The Rye Harbour Nature Reserve has a wonderful network of criss crossing footpaths on the saltmarsh and shingle ridges with fabulous views across to Camber Sands and the cliffs of Hastings Country Park. It is a twitcher’s paradise with five hides where you can watch the wildlife. You can take boat trips or lessons in windsurfing, dinghy sailing or paddleboarding from Rye Watersports. Camber Sands is a fabulous beach in the village of Camber. It is the only sand dune system in East Sussex, east of the estuary of the River Rother at Rye Bay, and stretches 3 miles to just beyond the Kent border.

Accommodation

Main House
Ground Floor
- Open-plan living & dining area with corner sofa and oak dining table
- Fully-equipped kitchen with Everhot stove, dishwasher and coffee machine
- Bedroom with double bed and en-suite wet room (wheelchair accessible)
- Bedroom with double bed
- Family bathroom
Mezzanine Level
- Snug with balcony access and South Down views
- Bedroom with twin beds
- Family shower room
The Studio (directly adjacent to the main house)
- Kitchenette
- Bedroom with king-size bed
- Family shower room
Exterior Grounds
- Wooden hot tub
- Terrace
- Barbecue
Additional Facilities
- Wi-Fi
- Smart TV
- Washing machine
- Travel cot & highchair available on request
- Parking for 5 cars
- 2 x electric car charging points
* As part of the homes energy conservation policy the Hot Tub will be ‘winterised’ in low season months (between November & end of February) and unavailable to guests.
* Please note that you will need to select 8 guests at the time of booking, should you wish to make use of the accommodation in the studio.