Gardens and grounds
Plenty outside space here for kids to de-steam and dogs to snuffle in the large private garden and woodland area. There’s even more on the full-size cricket field that’s ripe for ball games and kite-flying. Pop out there for rounders, table tennis and volleyball.
Like a bit of quirk? You’ve got your own hand-built shepherds’ hut in which to recharge. When your social battery’s topped up, fire up the Weber barbecue and get around the large outdoor dining table for steak and salad in the sunshine.
Living spaces
You could lose hours exploring this Grade II listed manor. Each room offers exquisite artworks and antique treasures. There’s space for ten here to kick back among the antique furniture, wall panels and herringbone floors, all in a house named after a famed 18th-century painter.
Catch a movie in the main living room or escape to the study to recharge and reply to emails. Keep Instagram enthralled over the Gigaclear fibre-optic broadband. Chill out in the shepherds’ hut. Get competitive in the games room in the main house over darts, snooker and pool.
Cooking and dining
Feel at home on the range cooker and induction hob. Fill the fridge-freezer with yummy stuff from Ocado, Waitrose and Trendall’s butchers. Get your wine from Amp’s. Prefer a woodland walk to basting, blending and boiling? Private Chef Marcel or Beetroot Catering are on hand for a one-off celebration or fully catered break.
Up for a takeaway? Consider Curry Passion Oundle for top-rated Indian (and pizza), or Barnwell Pizza and Grill for pizza, burgers and rotisserie chicken. Eat in the panelled dining room or al-fresco around the ten-seat table. Break out the Weber barbecue in the summer sunshine.
Head out and tuck in to traditional pub fare at the King’s Arms in Polebrook or try The Talbot in Oundle for pan-fried lamb’s liver or blade of beef. Salerno’s in Oundle serves traditional and modern Italian cuisine daily with ingredients both local and from Italy. Or try Dexter’s for seafood paella or seared tuna steak.
Get your fill of biryani and rogan josh at Onkar Indian. Enjoy waterside dining at the Tap and Kitchen on Mediterranean seabass, ravioli of goat’s curd or salt-baked swede. Tuck into poached salmon, scallop mousseline or roasted celeriac at The Falcon Inn. Or get sophisticated on the signature dishes at Hambleton Hall.
Bedrooms
This is the quintessential English country escape and it comes with all the undisturbed sleep you’d expect. Morland House sleeps ten in five beautiful bedrooms complete with crisp white linen.
Bedroom one is a ground-floor double, while bedroom two provides two single beds and fits a cot. En-suite bedroom three is a kingsize that will also take a cot and bedroom four is another kingsize. Bedroom five is a twin that also has room for a cot.
What people say
Cocktails, karaoke and Spitfires
Sing karaoke or be sung to on site, get your golf fix at Oundle, fish at Rutland Water or see Spitfires take to the skies at The Imperial War Museum. Get wet and wild at Aqua Park Rutland, get lost in history at Holdenby House Garden or Rockingham Castle, and get a round of cocktails in at Bijou in Peterborough.
