Left: Cairness House boasts luxurious accommodation
(below). Right: Uplands House. Below right: The Parsonage. Bottom left:
Meet Charlie and Lillie at Letham House. Below left: Inside Shakespeare
House. Far Left: Dorset’s
Launceston Farm
guarded the world famous boundary. “There have been
one or two rescue missions since we came to live here eight years ago, when walkers have underestimated distances and we have driven to pick them up,” Elaine smiles. Tea and cake soon revive spirits. “I’m a sociable person and I like looking after people,” Elaine says. She makes sure boots and clothes are dry
in time for the following day’s adventures and sets visitors up with a hearty breakfast, including smoked haddock fishcakes with poached eggs and hollandaise sauce, tomatoes, mushrooms and more – hopefully they can still bend down to put on their boots! North of the border in Scotland, Julio
Soriano-Ruiz and Khalil Hafiz Khairallah invite guests to indulge in the luxury of 18th-century Cairness House (TBC) at Lonmay, Aberdeenshire. What a feeling of grandeur as you stroll up to their home – a supreme example of neoclassical architecture by James Playfair – and into rooms themed as temples: the Dining Room, aptly enough, as the Temple of Bacchus. Magnificent 17th-century Letham House
(5-star) at Haddington, a short drive from Edinburgh, tempts as another elegant break. Chris and Barbara Sharman even provide you with a guest kitchen in case you fancy midnight snacks, and you’ll soon make friends with their adorable Haflinger horses and donkeys when you explore the grounds.
Or maybe you fancy stepping into the age of
Shakespeare, at Shakespeare House (5-star gold), Grendon Underwood, Buckinghamshire. The Bard reputedly stayed here several times when travelling between Stratford and London. “It was known as the Ship Inn at the time
and had 21 letting rooms,” explains host Nick Hunter. He brims with enthusiasm as he tells you further local tales about the Bard possibly gaining inspiration here for
A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Last summer
they staged Romeo and Juliet in the garden and plan another production this year. As regards hospitality, poor Shakespeare’s
basic bed-and-board fell far short of the treat on offer since Nick and partner Roy Elsbury oversaw their home’s restoration. Property developers and interior designers by trade, they have married old and new in their signature classic contemporary style. The Jacobean staircase in treacle-dark oak, original beams and inglenook fireplaces nod across the ages at imaginative modern trappings – The Shakespeare Suite has a walk-in shower room with body jets. Nick and Roy thoroughly enjoy cooking up feasts for visitors and sharing their home.
“The biggest buzz is meeting different people. In just 16 months we have welcomed guests from 25 different nations.” Meanwhile, where better to stay for
relaxation and scrumptious food than a farm? Launceston Farm (5-star) is peacefully set in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty near Blandford in Dorset. “We are ideally placed for nano-breaks, two
hours out of London,” Sarah Worrall says. “We give guests a piece of English countryside and, for couples, a romantic escape.” Sarah prides herself on serving cordon
bleu dinners, with the family’s 800-acre organic farm providing delicious ingredients like Aberdeen Angus beef and kid meat from a flock of goats. Apples from the orchard feature in tasty crumbles and tarts. “We opened six en suite bedrooms to guests
as a way to help keep the house and farm flourishing,” Sarah says. “Lots of people are interested in the farm and my son Jimi enjoys giving them tours.” Like all Wolsey Lodges, it offers a truly individual experience.
8 To plan your own stay with Wolsey Lodges,
tel: (01473) 822058;
www.wolseylodges.com.
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