Luxury in Somerset tends to sit outside the back door rather than in the brochure photographs. The houses below are comfortable, graded and well finished, but what sets each apart for a dog owner is the ground it opens onto: a gate at the end of a Dunster lawn that leads straight into the deer park, a set of private steps from a Brean garden down to seven miles of sand, and a cottage near Langford Budville whose boundary runs along a 200 acre nature reserve. That is the kind of extra a dog notices before anyone else does.
Half of the six are graded five stars and the rest four. Three sit on the Exmoor and Quantock coast at Dunster, Withycombe and West Quantoxhead, one looks over the Bristol Channel at Brean, one faces Crook Peak on the Mendip edge near Biddisham, and one is inland in the vale of Taunton Deane. Every house has an enclosed garden. Dog allowances range between one and four, and three of these houses take a single dog only, so settle that number before anything else.
High House, Dunster
High House was once a convent school, and it now sleeps ten across five bedrooms in the middle of medieval Dunster, with three dogs welcome. Its gardens are the reason to book. There is a walled lawn, a patio under a grapevine with a table for twelve, a hot tub tucked into a private corner and a second walled garden facing west towards Conygar Tower. Where the lawn ends, a gate lets you out into Dunster Deer Park and the castle grounds, which means the morning walk begins without a single road to cross. Inside, fires are laid in the library and the dining room, and there is an Aga in the kitchen.
The house has a dog shower and a drying room, and a Mud Daddy with towels waits in the boot room, but the numbers are worth weighing: ten guests and three dogs make this a house for a large group, and a couple would rattle around in it. The nearest mapped walk, the Horner Wood Circular, is 5.7 miles away, though with the deer park and the Coleridge Way leaving by the same gate you may never need the car. Dunster Beach is 0.3 miles off, and the Yarn Market, the Butter Cross and Gallox Bridge are all a short stroll.
- Sleeps: 10 across 5 bedrooms
- Dogs welcome: 3
- Standout: A garden gate straight into Dunster Deer Park and the castle grounds
- Enclosed garden: Yes, a walled lawn plus a second walled garden
- Best for: Big family gatherings that want the village, the castle and the deer park on foot
Applejack Cottage, Withycombe
Applejack Cottage is a bright three bedroom house in a pretty village inside Exmoor National Park, sleeping five and graded four stars. The kitchen carries most of the luxury: an induction hob, a DeLonghi coffee machine, a wine cooler and a large table for slow breakfasts, with French doors that let the dog wander out to the courtyard while the coffee is made. A wide hall leads to a light lounge with a Smart TV. All three bedrooms are upstairs, and the king size room has its own en suite. Around Christmas the owners dress the whole cottage for the season.
Only one dog can come, and the enclosed garden is a courtyard with outdoor furniture rather than a lawn, so this suits a dog that does its running on the hills and the shore. Applejack has no hot tub, and its listing names no fire. Blue Anchor Bay is 1.3 miles away, with a stop on the West Somerset Railway, and Dunster, Minehead, Watchet and Porlock are all within reach. The closest walk on our map, the Horner Wood Circular, is 7.6 miles by road.
- Sleeps: 5 across 3 bedrooms
- Dogs welcome: 1
- Standout: A well stocked kitchen with French doors onto the courtyard
- Enclosed garden: Yes, a courtyard with seating
- Best for: A small family with one dog who will drive out to Exmoor and the coast each day
Gulls Landing, West Quantoxhead
From Gulls Landing the view runs along the coast and over the water to Wales, and it changes with every turn of the weather. The lodge sleeps four in two doubles set at opposite ends, each with an en suite and a sea view, and the open plan room between them has a Smart TV, a wine cooler and a coffee machine. Decking wraps around three sides: a love seat on the front deck, a walkway down one side and a large back deck with a wooden table, benches and a rattan set. Steps lead from there into the enclosed garden.
This is a lodge on a family run holiday park rather than a house on its own, and it takes one dog. The park's indoor heated pool can be booked free for a private half hour each day. The beach and the coast path are both under a mile away, good for fossil hunting, and East Quantoxhead Beach is 2.0 miles off. The Quantock Hills rise behind the park, although our closest mapped route, the Wills Neck ridge, means a 7.4 mile drive. Watchet and its marina are 3 miles along the coast.
- Sleeps: 4 across 2 bedrooms
- Dogs welcome: 1
- Standout: Sea views from decking on three sides
- Enclosed garden: Yes, enclosed decking with steps down to a garden
- Best for: Two couples with one dog who want the sea in view from breakfast to bedtime
Wagtails, Langford Budville
Wagtails was designed with dogs in mind, and it takes four of them. There are throws on the sofas, a freezer kept for raw food, a hot shower outside for muddy legs and a utility room holding towels, treats, toys and poo bags for the dogs. The cottage stands just outside Langford Budville between woodland and open country, looking across to the Blackdown Hills, and it backs onto a nature reserve of 200 acres, so walks begin at the door. Inside, the owners leave a local walking guide and a dog friendly pub list. The grading is five stars.
The house is small for its dog allowance: five guests share two bedrooms, one with zip and link beds and a day bed, and the king size room is up a steep staircase, although a stairgate is supplied. The large garden is lawned and well fenced but split by three steps, and the play park nearby is shared. The coast is a proper drive, with Kilve Beach 13.1 miles away, while the mapped hill route over Culmstock Beacon is 6.0 miles off. The hot tub has its own seating.
- Sleeps: 5 across 2 bedrooms
- Dogs welcome: 4
- Standout: Adjoins a 200 acre nature reserve, with a hot dog shower outside
- Enclosed garden: Yes, large, lawned and well fenced
- Best for: Multi dog households who would trade a sea view for a reserve on the doorstep
The Barn - Elms Farm, Biddisham
The Barn at Elms Farm is a detached conversion at Biddisham, graded five stars, that sleeps eight with three dogs welcome. It is laid out upside down. The four bedrooms share the lower floor, three have en suites, and the master opens to the garden through French doors, with robes and slippers provided. The kitchen, dining table and lounge share the upper floor, where the windows look out to Crook Peak and doors lead onto a balcony with seating. Downstairs too are a games room for pool and a snug whose French doors open onto the lawn.
That layout does mean the dogs either climb the stairs to spend the evening with you or settle in the snug below. Outside, the large and secluded garden holds lawn, patio, table tennis, a charcoal barbecue and an undercover hot tub. Crook Peak itself is 1.7 miles away, the Strawberry Line cycle route 3 miles, and Burnham-on-Sea Beach 5.7 miles. Anyone booking for the first fortnight of November will find the carnivals at Bridgwater, Burnham-on-Sea and Weston-super-Mare within a short drive.
- Sleeps: 8 across 4 bedrooms
- Dogs welcome: 3
- Standout: An undercover hot tub and a games room, with Crook Peak in view
- Enclosed garden: Yes, large and secluded, with a lawn and patio
- Best for: Two families with dogs who want the Mendips for walking and a games room for the evenings
Seaholm, Brean
Seaholm's enclosed back garden ends in its own external steps, and they go down onto the seven mile stretch of sand at Brean. The semi detached house sleeps six across three bedrooms. Coats and sandy shoes stay in the entrance hall, the lounge gathers its seating round a wood burner with French doors to a raised front patio, and the kitchen and dining room both open to the outside. Upstairs, the master king has a Juliet balcony looking straight across the Bristol Channel, and the family bathroom has a sea view and a free standing bath.
Seaholm takes a single dog, and it carries four stars, not five. The beach access is by steps, which matters for an older dog, and the house is semi detached, so there are neighbours on one side. Check the Brean Beach page for any seasonal dog rules before you plan a summer week around it. For a change from the sand, Brean Down and the Victorian Fort is 0.9 miles away, and the amusements, shops and eateries of Brean village are a short stroll.
- Sleeps: 6 across 3 bedrooms
- Dogs welcome: 1
- Standout: Private steps from the garden onto a seven mile beach
- Enclosed garden: Yes, a rear garden with a patio and gas barbecue
- Best for: A family with one beach loving dog who wants the sand before breakfast
Practical Advice for Booking a Luxury Dog Friendly Cottage in Somerset
The six differ more in the small print than in the photographs. A few things to settle first:
- Count the dogs. Seaholm, Gulls Landing and Applejack Cottage each take one. High House and The Barn at Elms Farm take three, and Wagtails takes four.
- Look at the stairs. The Barn at Elms Farm puts its living space upstairs, the king size room at Wagtails is up a steep flight, every bedroom at Applejack is on the first floor, and Seaholm reaches the beach by steps.
- Decide whether you want a hot tub. High House, Wagtails and The Barn at Elms Farm have one. The other three do not.
- Ask about the fire. High House, Elms Farm and Seaholm list an open fire or log burner, so check which you are getting and whether a guard is provided.
- Think about the drive. The three west coast houses are well placed for Exmoor and the Quantocks, but Wagtails is 13 miles from the nearest dog friendly beach on our map.
Map of Luxury Dog Friendly Cottages in Somerset
On the Wildpack map these six spread across the county in a broad arc: Dunster, Withycombe and West Quantoxhead on the Exmoor coast, Brean and Biddisham to the north east near the Mendips, and Wagtails alone in the south, looking across to the Blackdowns. Each pin sits among the beaches and walks named above, so you can judge how far the dogs will travel each morning.
6 stays on this pageMap these stays, and thousands more
The Wildpack Map plots every dog friendly walk, beach, stay and attraction we have listed across the UK. Open it to see what else is within reach in Somerset, filter by what your dog needs, and get directions to the car park.
What's Nearby?
Other guides for planning a Somerset stay with the dogs:
- Dog friendly hot tub cottages in Somerset: Wagtails and Elms Farm appear there as well, alongside more houses with a tub in the garden.
- Dog friendly beaches in Somerset: Brean, Burnham and the Exmoor coast, with the dog rules for each beach.
- Dog friendly walks in Somerset: Routes on the Quantocks, the Mendips and the Levels for the days between.
- Dog friendly walks in Exmoor National Park: Moor and combe routes within easy reach of Dunster and Withycombe.
- Luxury dog friendly cottages in Devon: The same brief across the border, if the trip runs on west.
Every listing in the county, graded or not, is at Somerset dog friendly stays.
Final Thoughts
Somerset suits the owner whose idea of a treat involves the dog as much as the house. The best of this group give the dogs something special as well as the people: a deer park through the garden gate at High House, a reserve on the boundary at Wagtails, a beach at the bottom of the steps at Seaholm.
The choice mostly comes down to how many dogs are coming. With three or four, the shortlist is High House for a big group, Elms Farm for two families and Wagtails for a small household with a pack. With a single dog the coast opens up, and Seaholm, Gulls Landing and Applejack trade the hot tub for the sea on the doorstep or very close to it.
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