The Lookout Tower

Why you'll love staying here

The Lookout Tower is a unique farm stay, perched on the cliffs at Beer Head and offering families or friends a wonderful base from which to explore the beautiful Jurassic Coast. Originally built in the late 1700s as one of several early warning signal stations scanning the horizon for enemy ships during the Napoleonic Wars, the tower was later used by HM Customs to combat smuggling in the 19th century and as a coastguard lookout in the 20th century. Today, it has been beautifully restored to provide exceptional holiday accommodation while retaining its rich history.

Set within a 200-acre beef and sheep farm, the building’s original structure has been preserved almost in its entirety, recognising its importance to East Devon’s maritime heritage. Sustainability was a key consideration throughout the renovation, with heating provided by an air source heat pump, electricity partly offset by solar panels, and water drawn from the farm’s borehole, requiring only UV filtration. Local materials have been used wherever possible, and wildlife has been encouraged through the installation of bee bricks and swallow cups.

The tower is arranged over three floors in an ‘upside-down’ layout, allowing guests to make the most of the spectacular sea views from the living spaces. Each floor is accessed via a pneumatic vacuum-operated lift which, while not wide enough for a wheelchair, includes a seat to ensure ease of access throughout the building.

Nautical touches can be found throughout the house, subtly nodding to its heritage, including a porthole in the front door which opens into a spacious hallway. Both bedrooms are located on the ground floor and have ample storage and comfortable beds with Egyptian cotton bedding to ensure a restful night’s sleep. They share a fully accessible wet room with a rainfall shower, wooden accessories, and copper accents, creating a spa-like ambience.

An impressive floating staircase leads to the first floor and the open-plan dining kitchen. Ocean-blue cabinetry paired with sleek white worktops echoes the expansive sea views beyond. The kitchen is fully equipped with modern appliances, including a Quooker tap providing boiling, chilled and sparkling water, as well as a Smeg bean-to-cup coffee machine. A generous breakfast island is the perfect spot for the whole group to gather and enjoy home-cooked meals. On this floor, you can also see what were once the tower’s external steps, now restored as an interesting architectural feature.

Patio doors lead from the kitchen onto a spacious terrace furnished with picnic benches and sun loungers, ideal for al fresco dining or lazy afternoons soaking up the views. A high-tech Celestron telescope is provided, allowing guests to make the most of the area’s minimal light pollution and enjoy stargazing once the sun has set, with the option to project the images on to the bedrooms' TVs as you drift off to sleep.

The top floor is home to the sitting room, designed to evoke the feel of a lighthouse with its calming grey and blue interior and panoramic views. Wraparound seating offers plenty of space for the whole group to relax with a film or a board game, while a cosy Hobbit-style wood-burning stove provides warmth on cooler days. There is also a drinks fridge to save trips back down to the kitchen. This floor is the best spot to admire the often spectacular sunrises and sunsets.

Back on the ground floor, a further outdoor space includes a furnished patio and a barbecue. Guests can also make use of the wooden sauna cabin, the perfect way to ease tired muscles and unwind after a long day of walking or cycling.

The coastal village of Beer is framed by white chalk cliffs and a shingle beach dotted with fishing boats that still land daily catches. Mackerel fishing trips are available, offering visitors a chance to experience this traditional way of life first-hand. Spend a few leisurely hours wandering the village’s streets, lined with flint-studded buildings, and browsing its eclectic mix of independent shops, galleries, and excellent places to eat.

Just over a mile from the village lie the Beer Quarry Caves, a vast underground complex created by more than 2,000 years of quarrying Beer stone, a material favoured in the construction of many cathedrals and churches. Guided tours reveal the techniques used to extract and transport the enormous stone blocks, while bringing to life the harsh working conditions, daily dangers and hardships endured by the quarrymen, who laboured by the flickering light of tallow candles.

Beer is also perfectly placed for some of the most stunning coastal walks in the country. Walk east towards the town of Seaton, where you can enjoy a range of watersports including kayaking and paddleboarding, or hop aboard the Seaton Tramway, which runs through three miles of unspoilt countryside and the Seaton Wetlands, a patchwork of marshland and reedbeds along the River Axe. The nature reserve is a haven for birdlife, with oystercatchers, dunlin, black-tailed godwits, and lapwings regularly recorded.

A short drive west of Beer brings you to the beautiful Bicton Park Botanical Gardens. Spanning more than 60 acres, the gardens showcase nearly 300 years of horticultural history and are home to many rare and endangered plants from around the world, including one of the finest tree collections in Britain. Highlights include the Italian Garden, laid out in 1735 to designs attributed to André Le Nôtre, famed for his work on the Gardens of Versailles, and the Palm House, built in 1825 to provide ideal conditions for a wide variety of palms and other tender tropical plants.

A little further afield lies the ancient city of Exeter, the county town of Devon. Its magnificent cathedral is one of the finest examples of decorated Gothic architecture and boasts the longest continuous span of medieval vaulting in the world. Exeter also hosts a vibrant programme of world-class events, performances, and exhibitions throughout the year, while the historic quayside, just a 15-minute walk from the city centre, has a fantastic selection of waterside pubs, restaurants and cafés.