Special Places to Stay - More than a bed for the night

The house is quintessentially English, in a barbours-in-the-hall, logs-in-the-basket, Blyton-by-the-bed sort of way – and the more people who fill it the happier it feels. It's big, rambling and early Edwardian, and a walk across playing fields brings you to Winchester. Almost all rooms have original cast-iron fireplaces, others have restored ones. In the lovely sitting room on the first floor are sofas and armchairs, a big bay overlooking a smallish front garden, a dresser spilling books, games, magazines and toys; a TV, PlayStation and heaps of DVDs. In the kitchen are cream tiles and rose-sprigged walls, a big farmhouse table, curly wrought-iron chairs, a long church pew, a fridge with the essentials – a nice touch that is typical of the Fifields, who live on the ground floor. Bedrooms on the first floor are less spacious but wonderfully cosy and those in the attic have great views; all brim with proper quilts and reading lamps, tartan blankets and contemporary chintz. New bathrooms are elegantly in sympathy with the house; one loo is original with a huge wooden seat. If you stay, you'll soon return. Warm and comforting.