Tempting Trelowarren (From This is The West Country)

Tempting Trelowarren

2:30pm Friday 24th February 2006 in Beauty Spots By Emma Goodfellow

Sir Ferrers Vyvyan is looking to the future. "We don't rely on our historic nature. It's all about looking forward. It's living history rather than corporate history," he insists.

It may sound an odd statement coming from the owner of the beautiful Trelowarren estate, which is seeped in colourful history, but Sir Ferrers has a plan.

"We're rebuilding the estate in a new format. We're building a village here and we're currently in the second phase of a £10 million project developing this village," he explains.

The 1,000-acre estate has been in the Vyvyan family since 1427 and has welcomed a number of dignitaries. Indeed, the house still includes a room called the King Charles Room, as it is believed the then Prince Charles may have stayed there in 1646. Attached to the house is a chapel.

The area was a Royalist stronghold during the Civil War and many artefacts have been found in the area from that time. Fogous (Neolithic chambers) have been found on the land and have always thought to have once been used by Royalists as hiding places.

But to Sir Ferrers the history is just a bonus. "We're dealing with people's holidays of the future. We're actually saying there's a wonderful future here at Trelowarren and that's the message to our potential customers. They find out about the history and the beautiful landscape and buildings as an extra."

"We’re dealing with people’s holidays of the future."

Sir Ferrers Vyvyan

He now lives in a section of the main house with his wife Victoria a teacher of English at Truro School and their five boys, all between the ages of six and 19.

"Being able to afford to bring the family up in the far west is a luxury. The children love being down here. They surf and play rugby. It's brilliant," he says.

The estate took a decline in the 1970s, when it was falling into decay, but Sir Ferrers has since built the estate up to become a thriving business.

Now boasting a restaurant with two AA rosettes and a courtyard dedicated to arts and crafts it is home to the Cornwall Craft Association the estate attracts 20,000 people a year.

Until now the facilities have also included a campsite, but as of this year the site has been demolished and Sir Ferrers and his staff are now in the second phase of a £10 million building project that is estimated to take up to seven years to complete.

His aim is to build a series of time-shares that will then be leased on a 30-year, seasonal basis with varying costs depending on which time of the year the properties are leased.

"The price will vary according to the time of year. We've been four years in the planning and come up with a very, very attractive plan. There are fixed weeks for a three-year period, but there are internal exchanges so people can swap them around," he explained.

Time-shares can also be sold on between five and 15 years into their contract for the price people originally paid for them.

What makes this project so different is that it will become a flagship example for sustainable development, housing one of the first C02 bio-mass boilers that will provide all the energy for the properties using wood-chip in plentiful supply due to the estate's 300-acre woodland. It is also sustainable as trees are merely copped, rather than cut down completely which is just as well, as a ton of wood-chip is needed to provide just one day's energy.

"Our oil supplies are at risk so we have to find alternative means of achieving carbon natural energy and we're looking at the way forward for people. The environment on the Lizard is why people come here. We're providing heating at 50 per cent of the current costs and we're now seeing over 90 per cent of the wood chip coming out in energy."

The most important element is the insulation and so windows for the cottages are being shipped over from Scandinavia. There is also a plan to restore the estate's botanic gardens, which were the first of their time in Cornwall but were then ploughed up during World War I to grow fruit and vegetables. Sir Ferrers believes the estate is in a prime position for tourists.

"The key to all of that is our location. People wouldn't come if you weren't in a brilliant place for a holiday. We're very, very unspoilt on the Lizard. All of these environmental elements people are increasingly looking for on their holidays."

He is clearly relishing the project, adding: "I really, really like getting to grips with a project. It's very, very satisfying. We've got to do big, bold steps with these estates. It's the environment our customers want to enjoy, so we must protect it. It's at the front of everybody's list at the moment."

With his impeccable decisions so far, who could argue?