Travel + Leisure Southeast Asia — May 2017

but jokingly speculates that the product, like

Cornwall’s people, would be robust “and maybe

a little salty.”

One reason he’s been able to dream:

European Union subsidies. Each year, the

Hellyars get a lump-sum payment that helps

cushion them from agriculture’s shifts, part of

the US$1 billion-plus in EU funds that Cornwall

has received over the past decade, mostly for

farming and infrastructure. By holding the

lease on at least four hectares, one can be

classified as a farmer, eligible for yearly

subsidies of at least US$40 per hectare. Thanks

to last year’s Brexit vote, in which a strong

majority of Cornish voters backed leaving the

EU, “that’s all in doubt now,” Hellyar said. “I

guess it’s a part of the old Cornish desire to be a

bit independent and rebellious.”

Farming’s decline has also meant

opportunity for enterprising businesspeople

like Adams and Bloomfield. Coombeshead

Farm is the architectural manifestation of their

philosophy: welcoming, understated,

unpretentious—from the restored slate floors

to the cozy, handsome library. The five

bedrooms are simple but comfortable, all fluffy

duvets and plaid woolen throws, with the

hospitable touches of crafty hosts. House

manager Lottie Mew, Adams’s girlfriend,

makes the soap with homegrown lavender. The

point of it all, noted Bloomfield, is rest.

“Everything today is so transient, so fast,” she

said. “Let’s slow down a minute.”

They haven’t sought to smooth all the rough

edges. Nor do they hide the fact that this is a

working farm with a working kitchen. Guests

are welcome to watch as Adams and his team

cook. One afternoon, he sent me to the garden

to harvest chards and lettuces for that

evening’s salads; the next morning, I went to

the henhouse to collect eggs for breakfast.

“There’s a charm in something unrefined,” he

said. “We want to create a place that not only

fills the stomach but also lowers blood pressure

FROM LEFT:
Smoked-haddock
brandade and
sourdough toast at
Outlaw’s Fish
Kitchen, in Port
Isaac; tomatoes
growing on the vine
at Marky Souter’s
farm, which
supplies the inn’s
kitchen.