Steps Barn, Cerne Abbas — Graham Custance Photography

I was really excited when Nora & James invited us to stay at Steps Barn, a converted barn set on a working farm in beautiful woodland, deep in the Dorset countryside, near to the village of Cerne Abbas, famous for the “Giant”, a 180ft figure carved into the hillside. This was the perfect opportunity to combine photographing this unique hideaway, full of arts, crafts and furniture with iconic locations that made me fall in love with the county many years ago.

You arrive down a private tree lined track, where the barn is located on a working farm, although this does not detract from your privacy (we never saw anyone else during our stay). Reconnect with nature here, listen to the birdsong, open the door in the evening and gaze up at the stars that engulf the sky due to the lack of any light pollution.

I spent over an hour and a half when we arrived, photographing both the exterior and interior, which are full of those quaint little details that as a photographer, you know will create a beautiful image.

I loved this entrance porch area, which was beautifully framed by the flowering shrub.

The kitchen is full of pots and pans and every cooking utensil you could wish for. A large aga cooker is the centre piece, you could imagine coming back to the barn in the winter after a walk across the nearby fields, to freshly baked bread and home made soup.

Nora’s Nordic styling is evident throughout the property and the soft pastel tones created a calming effect. Leading off of the dining area is one of the bedrooms, with two single beds.

Climb the narrow staircase and young children will love the space at the top of the landing where they can hide in the tepee tent or draw at the little desk accompanied with pink chair. There is a locked stair gate at the top of the stairs.

From the landing area, the doorway takes you into an enormous bedroom/living room, beautifully decorated, with the highlights being the oversized light shades that created soft patterns on the ceiling and the huge four-poster bed, with memory foam mattress and soft pillows that gave you most the comfortable of sleeps.

There is a large seating area that surrounds a patterned rug opposite a wood burning stove for those cold nights. We only needed the electric radiators on for a short while and found that the property retained the heat really well, so much that we didn’t require them on our second night.

Riley found Steps Barn very “dog friendly”. There is no television here, which adds to the appeal of reconnecting with nature, although a very fast Wi-Fi is available if required.

The third bedroom can be found at the far end of the living area, a cosy little den with a sloped ceiling that children will adore.

Steps Barn is conveniently located to explore so much of the Dorset countryside and coast. Whilst we were staying here we managed to get to Corfe Castle, Swanage, Durdle Door, Weymouth, Chesil Beach and Shaftesbury. Driving along the country roads you will encounter so many pretty little villages too, with an abundance of thatched cottages.