Unique schoolhouse in the peaceful Western Lakes

The Lake District National Park only includes 10Km of coastline and the Old Hycemoor School is in it! Miles of deserted sandy beaches, stunning coastal walks, myriad hiking trails and Scafell Pike are all at your fingertips. Phenomenal mountain biking trails are a mile from the house and untrafficked road bike routes abound. Come home and warm up in front of the fire in the huge farmhouse style kitchen and watch the sun set over the Irish Sea! The space What we love so much about where we live is that we are in the Lake District National Park with its amazing scenery and natural beauty but even at the height of the tourist season it's incredibly peaceful and uncrowded. OLD HYCEMOOR SCHOOL Our home is an old schoolhouse that was built in the 1850s and was operating as a primary school until the 1990s - indeed a number of our neighbours went to the school themselves. The large original schoolrooms make wonderful living spaces (the kitchen and the main living room) and the rest of the house has been creatively converted into a very comfortable home. OUR LOCATION On fine days, you are a 15 minute walk from the England Coastal path and our local beach, a mile from Bootle Fell with its many hiking and biking trails and its own waterfall and swimming holes, 6 miles from Haverigg's sand dunes and kilometers of golden sand, a 30 minute train ride from St Bee's heads and stunning sea cliff walks, a 25 minute drive to the heart of Eskdale with its myriad fell paths and a 40 minute drive from Wasdale Head and direct access to Skafell Pike. We are about an hour from Ambleside and an hour and 15 minutes from Keswick (both by road) so you really have all the Lakes at your fingertips, should you wish to wander. If you are into road biking, there are also some fabulous rides from our house - from 40 minute loops to 4 hour tours. On rainy days (and, to be fair, we have the odd one or two), our home offers tons of space to spread out and hang out- between the huge farmhouse style kitchen, the bright and sunny conservatory, the cosy living room and the secluded TV room, there is somewhere for everyone. We have hundreds of books to suit most styles, puzzles, games and cards as well as a 55 inch TV... We just love it here and are excited to be able to share the wonders of Western Cumbria with our guests! THE HOUSE KITCHEN We live in this house ourselves much of the time and I love to cook, so you will find herbs, spices, oils and vinegars as well as plenty of pots, pans, bakeware and baking equipment. Please use it as you would your own kitchen. You are welcome to use the food that you find there as well if you wish. There is a huge farmhouse table for group meals and a breakfast bar for social chatting/on the go snacks. The Aga looks great but we've had to make the sad decision not to use it as it is oil-fuelled and we are very conscious of our environmental footprint. There is a large and very efficient wood-burner stove and we will leave you wood with which to stoke it. The cooker runs off propane bottles and there is also a microwave/convection oven. CONSERVATORY Through French doors from the kitchen, you will reach the conservatory. A bright room, it warms up beautifully on a sunny day, even if it's cold outside. It's a lovely quiet place to sit and read a book or watch the birds that gather on the telegraph wires and in our hedgerow (binoculars included!). LIVING ROOM There are three sofas in the living room (1 four-seater, 1 three-seater and 1 two-seater) as well as three armchairs in our little reading corner. ENTRANCE HALL There is plenty of space for coats and boots in our entrance hall. If you come at the right time, you may be lucky enough to see the baby swifts that poke their heads out of the nest over our front door. UTILITY ROOM There is a washing machine as well as lots of ways to dry clothes: a ceiling hanging rack, several clothes horses (including a heated one) and an outside clothes airer for those somewhat infrequent perfect drying days! In a cupboard there are doggy poo bags and plenty of dog towels that you are welcome to use. There is also a Dyson vacuum cleaner and lots of cleaning products if you need them. TV ROOM/DEN Well separated from the rest of the house is the den where our boys like to hang out - a huge and very comfortable L-shaped sofa as well as extra bean bags provide a great place from which to enjoy our 55 inch high resolution TV (David Attenborough programs are amazing on it!). MASTER BEDROOM A queen size bed, easy chair and large chest of drawers furnish our oak-beamed main bedroom. A roomy window seat is a peaceful place to sit and contemplate the sunset over the Isle of Man of an evening. TOM'S ROOM (Bedroom 2) This bedroom has a queen size bed and a chest of drawers with hanging space (half height). With a big window seat, it's a lovely place in the evening sun. DANIEL'S ROOM (Bedroom 3) This is a cosy room with two twin beds, a chest of drawers, a lovely stone lintel over the window and stunning views of the fells. BUNK ROOM (Bedroom 4) Contains a full length bunk bed and a desk and chair, should you wish to get on with any work while you are here (you will have views down to the Irish Sea while you do!). FAMILY BATHROOM We have just redone this bathroom and it is now equipped with a large mains pressure shower (which we love) and a heated towel rail (Lake District essential). There are plenty of surfaces to put your things on and lovely views of the fell as you sit on the loo! (too much information??). ENSUITE BATHROOM This bathroom is equipped with a bath (may be just what you need after a long wet walk...), an electric shower, and a bidet. You can use the bath to wash your dog if you wish - there are plenty of dog towels - just please clean it afterwards! THE GARDEN The outside spaces are entirely fenced off and completely safe for dogs and small children (though the traffic along the lane outside the house is very infrequent outside of harvest time). There are a couple of lawns to play on and a community playground just across the road. Guest access There are a couple of rooms and spaces we've closed off - partly because they are not nice enough to be guest-facing and partly as we haven't cleared our things out of them! There is a walk-in cupboard in the main room where we are going to leave supplies for the cleaners that will be shut off and none of the outside buildings (greenhouse, workshop and bike shed) will be open (unless you rent bikes from us).