Rosetta Cottage

Rosetta Cottage is not a place to tour but a National Trust holiday cottage, one of two lets in a converted Victorian house right on the seafront at Cowes, and it can be seen inside only by booking a stay. Its claim on history lies in the garden, where Winston Churchill's parents became engaged in 1873. The American financier Leonard Jerome had rented the house for Cowes Week, and within days of meeting Lord Randolph Churchill his daughter Jennie accepted his proposal here; a plaque in the pavement opposite commemorates the engagement and the birth of their son. The house sleeps 10 in 5 bedrooms, with a wood-burning stove, a sunroom and French doors to a shared, enclosed garden with a large lawn, and from the front windows guests watch large ships and private yachts pass. Those who have stayed describe it as spacious, and reviewers agree on the sea views. The Trust advises booking ferries early, and the gravelled parking area takes two cars.