Kiwi Cottage sits quietly in the Okement Valley near Beckamoor Brook and on the Tarka Trail, in the grounds of Terris Upcott - itself a handsome Victorian house built in 1900. Both are surrounded by 3.5 acres of well kept gardens and pasture for you to roam and enjoy.
Views from the Cottage are peaceful and serene. The grounds extend to Beckamoor Brook - straddled by Terris Bridge which leads to the house and cottage. The far field has been planted with English woodland trees - partly to improve the land and also as a legacy for future generations. To the south is the stark outline of Dartmoor with its changing colour entirely dependent on clouds, seasons and sunshine - and there really is sunshine here in Devon!
At night one can hear the croaking of the deer from the nearby Deer Farm and the chattering of the brook at the bottom of the garden. Being free from light pollution the night sky offers spectacular views of the Milky Way and every star in the galaxy.
Kiwi Cottage was so named because of the kiwi vines planted in the seventies by Major Derek Goodfellow, who had lived for many years in Africa. Two were planted - and the delicious fruit can be picked and eaten in September! The cottage was formerly a stable and byre built at the same time as the main house, in 1900. The upper part was made into a playroom for Major Goodfellow's two sons, while the lower part still housed animals. The whole building was occupied in the late eighties by a family of four.
In the summer of 2000 it was sympathetically "dragged" into the 21st century and modernised by an Okehampton building company. Using their craft and incorporating their expertise and skills, they implemented suggestions and recommendations from the architect, also an Okehampton resident, to restore the strength and dignity of the building. Ivy was torn down, windows fitted and light let in - and the Kiwi fruit controlled in the gentlest of ways, with advice from Rosemoor Gardens.