A six-room farmhouse on the quiet shore of Ullswater

Bootsbythestove,breakfastateight,nothingelsescheduled.

Hallin Fell House is a 1780 farmhouse at Howtown, on the side of the lake the main road does not reach. Six rooms, one kitchen, a drying room that actually works, and the steamer stopping at the pier below the garden four times a day.

Check datesSee the rooms
A stone farmhouse on a lake shore below a fell, early morning mist on the water
  • Howtown, Ullswater
  • Six rooms, no televisions
  • Walks from the door

A day here

Fourpartsofaday,andnoneofthemneedacar.

  1. 01
    A scrubbed farmhouse table laid for breakfast, morning light through a deep window

    Breakfast

    Eight until half past nine. Porridge or the full thing, eggs from Bank House farm down the lane, bread from the oven in the back kitchen. A packed lunch is made if you ask the night before.

  2. 02
    Two walkers on a grassy fell top looking down the length of a lake

    Out

    Hallin Fell is forty minutes from the door and the best view on the lake for the least effort. Place Fell is a day. Or take the steamer to Glenridding and walk the seven miles back along the shore path.

  3. 03
    Walking boots and wool socks drying on a rack beside a wood-burning stove

    Back

    The drying room runs from four. Tea and a cake are on the kitchen table, the fire is lit in the sitting room, and nobody minds wet socks on the flagstones.

  4. 04
    A long table lit by candles with a dozen guests eating in a low-beamed dining room

    Evening

    Supper at half past seven, Thursday to Sunday, one sitting and one menu. On other nights the Howtown Hotel is a ten-minute walk along the lane, and there is a torch by the door.

The rooms

Thickwalls,lowdoors,andawindowseatineveryroom.

The farmhouse is nearly two and a half centuries old and we have tried not to fight it. Rooms are quiet rather than large, the beds are new, and the hot water is reliable, which matters more than anything else we could tell you.

Ask about a room
The Fell room: a white bed under beams, two small windows, the fell in one of them
A deep stone window seat with a cushion and a folded blanket, the lake beyond
A bathroom with a roll-top bath under a skylight and a stack of towels
The Garden room's stable door open onto the orchard, boots on the step
Address
Hallin Fell House, Howtown, Ullswater, Penrith CA10 2ND
Getting here
By steamer from Pooley Bridge or Glenridding, or the single-track lane from Pooley Bridge. We collect from Penrith station by arrangement.
Access
The Garden room is step-free with a level shower. The other five are up a stone stair with a good rail.
A stone gate at the end of a garden opening onto a lakeside footpath

Walks

Thelakepathrunspastthegate.Thefellstartsbehindthebarn.

We keep a shelf of maps, a box of spare gloves, and a route book written by guests over thirty years. Ask about the weather and someone will look out of the window before answering.

0
Walks from the door, written up in the route book
0m
To the top of Place Fell, a day out and back
0
Steamer sailings a day from the pier below the garden
Read the route book
Portrait of a guest

Guests

Wecameforonenightonthewaynorthandstayedthree.Thedryingroomaloneisworththedetour.

Marika Hackman

The Fell room, January

More from the guest book
The farmhouse kitchen door propped open, a kettle on the range inside

Visit

Askaboutdates,orjustcomeforteaandhavealook.

We answer email in the mornings and the phone whenever we are not up a ladder. If you are walking past, the kitchen door is usually open and the kettle is usually on.

Where

Hallin Fell House, HowtownUllswater, Penrith CA10 2ND

Steamer to Howtown pier, then two minutes up the lane. By car, the single-track road from Pooley Bridge: four miles, with passing places and a few sheep.

When

Check in
From three
Check out
By eleven, or later if the room is free
Kitchen
Breakfast eight to half past nine, supper Thursday to Sunday
Ask about datesOr call 017684 00000
The lake in winter, snow on the fell tops, low sun and a lit window in the farmhouse

Off season

NovembertoFebruary,thelakeisoursandtheratesarelower.

Fires lit by four, the steamer on its winter timetable, and the fell in the kind of light that never happens in August. Rooms are a third off, and the drying room works just as hard.

Winter datesWinter walks