Moorland View Cottage is owned and run by Suzy Bennett, a travel writer with a long-standing professional connection to Devon.

Suzy is The Telegraph’s Devon travel expert and has written multiple guides to the county, drawing on decades of first-hand experience exploring its landscapes, villages and lesser-known corners.

She is also the author of Artisans of Dartmoor, a celebration of the region’s most skilled makers and traditional craftspeople.

Suzy bought Moorland View in 2007, when it was a neglected former farm labourer’s cottage in urgent need of care. Dating from around 1705, the Grade II-listed building had a failing thatched roof, extensive woodworm and long-standing damp issues. Determined to restore it properly, she commissioned a small team of local traditional artisans — including thatchers, blacksmiths and specialist craftspeople — to sensitively return the cottage to health, respecting its history while quietly elevating it for modern living. Moorland View reopened in 2009 as a luxury holiday cottage designed specifically for couples seeking peace, privacy and authenticity.

During the restoration, Suzy became increasingly aware that some of the UK’s most talented artisans were working quietly on her doorstep. Intrigued, she spent a year photographing them in their workshops and studios. The resulting portraits were shown in two solo summer exhibitions in Devon and later inspired the Dartmoor Artisan Trail — an art, craft and food route linking the National Park’s finest makers and producers. This work eventually culminated in Artisans of Dartmoor, a book that documents the skill, creativity and stories of the people who shape the region’s craft heritage.

Today, Moorland View is a subtle showcase of that artisanal world. Throughout the cottage, guests will find hand-whittled wooden spoons, decorative ironwork forged by the village blacksmith, woven baskets, rugs, pottery, chopping boards and textiles — all chosen for their beauty, usefulness and sense of place. Alongside these are more characterful pieces sourced from local farming friends: a pair of sheep-shearer’s moccasins, a beekeeper’s smoker, a milking stool and a fruit-picker’s ladder repurposed as a towel rail.

Adding further layers of history are original postcards once written from North Bovey, along with intriguing objects uncovered during the restoration — found beneath floorboards and hidden within the walls. Together, these details give Moorland View its quietly distinctive character: a place shaped by craft, care and a deep connection to Dartmoor.