The Western Lakes Retreat That Gives You More Than You Expected - And Fewer Bank Holiday Jams. Holly Cottage has two wood beamed reception rooms, a wood-burning stove and breathtaking views - in Ennerdale's quiet valley, just twenty minutes from one of the most peaceful lakes.

The Western Lakes has a way of surprising people. They arrive expecting something similar to the more popular parts of the National Park and find instead a valley that feels like it's been quietly getting on with things for generations.

No gift shops. No traffic queues from Friday afternoon until Sunday evening. Just the fells, the lakes and the kind of quiet that reminds you what you came for in the first place.

Holly Cottage sits in that valley, and it gives you more space to enjoy it than most traditional cottages.

Two wood-beamed reception rooms is the detail that tends to stop people. Most two-bed cottages give you one living space and expect you to make do. Holly has a lounge with a wood-burning stove in the original fireplace and a second reception room that works equally well as a dining room, a snug or a third bedroom if you need it.

The kitchen/diner has flagstone floors, pine units and a space for a large dining table - proper holiday cottage proportions, not a narrow galley where you have to take turns to get to the kettle.

Upstairs, both bedrooms have original shutters on the windows, one with the original decorative fireplace (just decorative at the moment), with fell views that remind you exactly where you are.

The bathroom is modern with a shower over the bath and a heated towel rail. 

Outside, there's a private enclosed yard with a picnic bench. There's also an option to purchase a summerhouse and additional garden.

Ennerdale Bridge is a fifteen-minute walk away, with The Gather café, a village shop and two pubs. Ennerdale Water is only twenty minutes walking in the other direction - one of the quietest and most beautiful lakes in the whole National Park, and a world away from the Windermere and Ambleside crowds.

Holly Cottage is for people who want the real Lake District - the version without the queues, with enough room to breathe and a warming fire to come back to.