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

The arrival is dramatic, a gentle rise, with – in spring – a sea of daffodils to either side; you slip between two stone pillars that appear to lean slightly outwards to allow you in. Emerge onto pea gravel in front of this truly beautiful house in which life ticks by peacefully.  Find Edwardian beds with proper bedspreads, Sixties-style bathrooms, shepherdess wallpapers, log fires and a panelled drawing room. Bring your woolly jumper! The first impression of the garden is – bizarrely given its age – one of modernity; the crisp green wall of neatly sculpted golden yew and tall pines strike a contemporary note. Hedges and lawn live at the rear, rubbing shoulders with huge old stone walls. Long borders romp with aromatic shrubs, interspersed with pelargoniums, lilies and anemones. In spring, beds are bright with tulips; there are some interesting trees including a black mulberry and a paperbark maple. Well-behaved vegetables sit in their rows, hundreds of cuttings are reared annually in the greenhouses, there are lovely places to sit with a good book, and – for real gardeners – Audrey will be a treat to talk to.