The house
A coaching inn since 1847. A lantern in the window since the first night.
The Lantern took its name from the lamp kept lit for the Keswick coach. The coach stopped in 1901. The lamp did not.
The building
Slate, oak and a very old floor.
Three storeys of Lakeland slate around a courtyard where the horses once stood. We restored it over two winters: the beams stayed, the plumbing did not. Nine rooms, a sitting room with a wood burner, a bar with one long table, and a restaurant of twenty-four covers.
There is a drying room, a boot store, a bike lock-up and a cupboard of maps that guests keep adding to.
The hosts
Eleanor and Sam.
Eleanor cooked in Edinburgh for twelve years and came home to the valley. Sam grew up two farms along and knows which paths flood. Between them they run the house with a team of nine, most of whom walk to work.
They live in the cottage across the courtyard, which means somebody is always in.
The valley
Between two lakes and under three fells.
Grasmere village is a ten-minute walk one way, Rydal Water the other. Ambleside is fifteen minutes by the 555 bus, which stops at the end of the lane. Ullswater, Keswick and Coniston are all within forty minutes when you do want the car.
Come and see it.
Rooms from £145 with breakfast. Dogs from nothing at all.