The National Trust are celebrating 100 years of style at Coleton Fishacre, an Arts and Crafts house filled with Art Deco interiors, near Brixham.
Sitting within a sub-tropical coastal garden, it makes the most of the breathtaking sea views from the South Devon coast, and it’s not hard to see why it was chosen by Rupert D’Oyly Carte as the perfect location for an idyllic country retreat.
Son of Richard D’Oyly Carte, the impresario behind Gilbert and Sullivan and the Savoy Hotel, Rupert succeeded his father as Chairman of the Savoy Hotel Company in 1903, and 10 years later took over the management of the Opera Company from his stepmother. He modernised both companies and patronised artists and designers who brought a fresh and colourful approach.
In 1924, whilst sailing the South Devon coastline, Rupert and his wife Lady Dorothy glimpsed a secluded valley that led down to a private cove, and fell in love. It was the perfect place to get away from the hustle and bustle of London life, and in 1925 construction on their country retreat began. The rest, as they say, is history.
With its understated and timeless elegance, Coleton Fishacre evokes romanticism for a golden bygone era of glamour and style. As Country Life wrote in 1930, “the place that belongs to the sea... here is a retreat from land-sickness, a spot where hurries and worries and work do not come.”
Creating Coleton Fishacre
Rupert and Lady Dorothy commissioned renowned architect Oswald Milne to design Coleton Fishacre, a house that would sit in harmony with its surroundings. Nestled in the coastal valley, they wanted their holiday home to make the most of the sea views and natural light. The house was built into a difficult landscape, but Oswald Milne turned this to his advantage in rooms like the Saloon, where he cleverly added elegant steps along the curve of the hillside to create a showstopping, stage-like room set at an angle to maximise the views of the garden.
The house and garden were designed in the Arts and Crafts style, with the interiors reflecting the Art Deco ‘jazz age’. The result of considerable wealth, it was built to the highest standards of craftsmanship and quality, using stone quarried from within the garden. The quarried stone was transported up the valley on railway tracks, which can now be seen in the kitchen where they support shelves. The quarry itself, sitting below a picturesque gazebo with views out to sea, is undergoing an exciting redesign to compliment the history of Coleton Fishacre and its creators, to become a creative and artistic feature of the garden.
A year of celebrations
100 years on, the National Trust property continues to enchant over 100,000 visitors a year. To celebrate the milestone, the team at Coleton Fishacre have been looking through the archives. A rich source of information, it includes photographs that document the building of the house and landscaping of the garden, from start to finish. Almost all of these images have never been on display to the public before, so to celebrate the anniversary, the team are holding an exhibition of the archive images, allowing visitors a glimpse from the past to present, on display until 2 November 2025.
There’s lots more things to see and do throughout the year. From walks and talks looking at the creation of Coleton Fishacre, to evening gardens opening on the first Friday of the month. Families can get active at the Summer of Play games throughout the school holidays, there’s free community weekends in November and we’re finishing the year off with a bang with a Roaring Twenties Christmas.
To discover more and plan your day out, visit www.nationaltrust.org.uk/coleton-fishacre Coleton Fishacre is open daily from 10.30am-5pm until 2 November 2025, and 11am-4pm on weekends from November-January 2026.