History

The Foxes were Quakers who owned many different properties in and around Falmouth, including nearby Glendurgan and Trebah. Their passion for the living splendour of exotic gardens led them to create a valley paradise here. Howard Fox – a Falmouth shipping agent – joined together with the wealthy banker and MP, Edmund Backhouse, to transport plants from far-flung reaches of the globe.

Although the house you see today largely dates back to this time, Meudon also incorporates two 17th-century coastguard cottages (complete with escape tunnel – coastguards were not averse to a little smuggling). The hotel takes its name from a nearby farmhouse, which was built by Napoleonic prisoners of war and named after their home village near Paris. The original moniker, Mowi do Non, became shortened to Meudon; and the hotel has been known by this name ever since.