Stylist Magazine
INDULGE IN MIAMI-STYLE BEACH LIFE NEAR ST IVES
The beach huts of all beach huts have arrived on the West Cornish coast. Slylist’s Susan Riley wants to change into a dry Robe and move in forever!
Contentment is hard to find in building form but I have found Three Mile Beach. Otherwise known as beach-hut heaven and a place keep making happy, satisfied sighs all day long.
Three Mile Beach is a hamlet of 15 colour–pop dwellings tucked behind the entrance to Gwithian Beach on the West Cornwall coast – and as holiday houses go, they are stand out in every single way. This starts with their appearance because each house is painted brightly in contrasting hues and named after a corresponding pop song. Ours, an intense plum, is Purple Rain. Strawberry Fields with its deep pink and the calming cream of Champagne Supernova are just down the way.
Three Mile only opened in June but it’s already put Gwithian on the map; a beach that has long been a favourite with the local surfing and kite surfing communities. It’s a place where people in hoodies pull up at sunset, light up a barbecue and share drinks. Where kids and dogs roam free over the sand dunes and long grasses. It’s wild and gloriously untamed. And it‘s right on Three Mile Beach’s doorstep.
-
It’s a place where people in hoodies pull up at sunset, light up a barbecue and share drinks. Where kids and dogs roam free over the sand dunes and long grasses. It’s wild and gloriously untamed.
-
The beauty of this place is also that you can pack as light as you like because the owners -a couple who live locally, one of whom started Audley Travel – have thought of everything.
-
Three Mile Beach has its own tapas truck and drinks tuk-tuk with everything from halloumi chips and pomegranate molasses to crispy spiced squid and peach salsa and grilled Cornish sardines.
Just a five–minute walk from the beach itself (OK, call it 10 when you’re lugging a paddle board and supplies in your ‘beach barrow’), the beach house has super–slick interiors. Miami-style whitewashed clapperboard walls, Moroccan-inspired textured throws, big bright social entertaining spaces… Outside, a wooden deck wraps around the house; sunken cedar hot tub at one end, barrel sauna at the other, with long dining tables and giant Fatboy hammocks peppered in between. It’s a going–away–with-a–group nirvana that would suit any season.
The beauty of this place is also that you can pack as light as you like because the owners –a couple who live locally, one of whom started Audley Travel – have thought of everything. A welcome hamper of local produce; a beach bag with buckets and kite; every board game imaginable. And there‘s a ridiculously comprehensive guide to the area – sent pre-arrival – that lists what to do nearby, from beach yoga and surfing lessons on Gwithian to visiting Truro’s farmers‘ market.
And if you don‘t have something, you can hire it. Wetsuits, bodyboards, paddleboards, acoustic guitars, char–broil smokers... They even offer a pizza oven and dough kit delivery service.
Until high tide hits, Gwithian beach is wide and striking. We hired eBikes (Global Boarders) for a morning scoot across the sand – highly recommended for lots of windswept laughter – and pootled along the coastline for a few walks. Turn right over the dunes to Godfrey Point and its lighthouse, stopping at the pint–sized Jam Pot cafe for toasties. Turn left for the local town of Hayle if fish and chips is more your bag.
At just four miles away, a St Ives visit is a no brainer. Save parking angst and get the train from St Erth via Carbis Bay to stroll around the shops and galleries. Book ahead for the teeny tiny Barbara Hepworth museum in peak season and guard your Cornish pasty with your life because the seagulls are aggressive.
For self–catering supples, Trevaskis Farm Shop is a short drive away. Rest assured, however, that good food is all around you. The Hungry Horsebox mobile cafe sits beachside for a hot lunch on the sand, and Three Mile Beach has its own tapas truck and drinks tuk–tuk with everything from halloumi chips and pomegranate molasses to crispy spiced squid and peach salsa and grilled Cornish sardines.
If you want even more of a foodie treat, order in a private chef (£75 each for the Feast menu). We had former rugby pro Rupert Cooper – owner of cookery school Philleigh Way – rock up and serve dish (fresh Thai fish cakes and kimchi) after delicious dish (miso aubergine) as well as possibly the best dessert on Earth (caramelised plums, whipped cream and yoghurt with meringue) as we chatted under the stars. Next day’s leftovers did not disappoint either and I can report it was hard to get out of the Fatboys.
The other things you will not be starved of at Three Mile Beach are rest, replenishment and a chance to reconnect with nature. So go if you can and throw another log on the wood burner for me.
This article was originally published in the Stylist Magazine, November 2021.
Details
Three-bedroom beach houses start from £2,400 per week in low season; threemilebeach.co.uk
The best flavour finds in St Ives Bay