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Few landmarks define Fowey quite like Place. Perched above the town, its towers have watched centuries unfold ... tides shifting, writers arriving, the community evolving. Yet until now, its gates have remained largely closed, its stories whispered from afar. This spring marks a turning point: the moment Place opens not just its doors, but its heart, inviting Fowey’s residents and visitors into a new chapter of shared history.
There is a house in Fowey that most people have never entered. You can see it from the harbour, from the church path, from the far bank of the estuary on a clear morning; ivy-wrapped towers rising above the rooftops, ancient and self-contained. For generations, Place has been part of the town's skyline without quite being part of its life. A magnificent presence, glimpsed and wondered at, but rarely touched.
That is changing this spring.
Under new custodianship, Place is emerging from its veil of privacy with something unexpected: joy. Rather than opening with the solemnity of a heritage attraction, the new team behind the estate has chosen celebration: storytelling, silent discos in the gardens, theatre performances, and welcoming a public audience. Their instinct is to welcome people in, not as visitors, but as guests. Not to preserve Place behind velvet ropes, but to fold it back into the living fabric of the town.
Built as the ancestral home of the Treffry family, Place has been woven into Fowey's story since the 13th century. Its terraces have looked out over the harbour through wars, tides, and trade; through the town's heyday as a working port and its reinvention as a haven for artists and writers. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, it stood as an emblem of a certain Cornish grandeur, stately and a little apart. Then, gradually, its gates closed. For the last generation, openings have been rare, a private occasion here, a fleeting community event there, and what lay beyond those walls had long intrigued locals and visitors alike. Now the mystery begins to lift.
The custodians now breathing new life into Place are the next generation of Treffrys, siblings Simon and Giles, together with their partners Jo and Hayley, who have taken on the estate following the passing of the previous generation. Their motivation is personal: to protect what they love while sharing it, keeping Place, at heart, what it has always been - a family home.
Their approach reflects that balance. Events, tours, and weddings will help sustain the house and grounds, but the ambition runs deeper than revenue. This is a family that understands, perhaps better than most, how much it matters to protect what endures.
The first events this season offer a taste of what Place intends to become. A children's storytelling session will open Place as a space for culture and conversation, performers moving through gardens that have long been silent. Then come the silent discos, two on the same evening, one at 5pm and another at 8pm for those who prefer dancing under the stars. With disco lighting illuminating the gardens and the house itself lit up against the night sky, wireless headphones and the sound of laughter drifting through a garden that has waited decades to feel this alive, it promises to be quite a spectacle.
This year's Fowey Festival Secret Gardens trail will also include Place, with the Porphyry Garden opening to visitors. A beautiful self-contained walled garden with banks rising towards the old glasshouses, it sits before the grand Porphyry Hall and tower. It is a hidden pocket of Place that rewards the curious at every turn.
And over the summer, the family will host Plays at Place, an outdoor theatre season with performances in the gardens. Theatregoers are invited to bring a picnic chair and settle in beneath the sky, with Cornwall as their backdrop. It will be the kind of evening that would be very hard to create anywhere else.
What makes all of this feel significant isn't just the access, it's the attitude. Place could have reopened with caution, offering guided tours and carefully managed viewings. Instead, it is reopening with a party. The ambition is to make the house a genuine part of Fowey's creative and social rhythm again: somewhere things happen, somewhere people gather, a landmark that earns its place in the town's life rather than simply occupying it.
Tickets for the storytelling and silent discos are available now at placefowey.com, alongside details of future events, garden openings, and the full Plays at Place summer season. After so many years behind closed gates, Place is ready, and Fowey is invited in.
Look out for a full story in my Inside Small Business series next month, taking a peek behind the scenes in this fascinating house and gardens.
Good look to all involved, very exciting times ahead, really hope the local community help support this incredible part of our town
How brilliant, I’m really looking forward to see this progressing. Great idea to have Place as a venue rather than have historical tours. Good luck 🤞🏼 Just keep it affordable and you’ll do well.