Authenticity and originality combine at this family chateau with its panelled rooms, theatrical flourishes and charming candlelit dinners

Wend your way down steep paths to Durgan beach, explore the magic of Charles’s wonderful garden and feast on Caroline’s super breakfasts

An Edwardian villa with stunning views, polished floors, cosy fires and child-friendly garden a short walk from lovely Portmeirion

This grand house on the river Derwent oozes old-fashioned comfort – find traditional bedrooms, delicious food and an open fire

A luxurious springboard for the wineries, villages and treasures of south Tuscany in the magical Orcia valley - if you can bear to leave it!

Elegant Italian style in a sensitively-restored villa with sweeping views over rolling hills and forests

A Victorian farm steading cleverly repurposed as an open-plan holiday home with bright, colourful interiors, deep in the Perthshire hills

A big, comfortable house with heated outdoor pool in 17 acres of gardens. Mountains, river swimming, hiking nearby; coast within the hour

An artist's house imbued with an understated elegance. Stay for dinner; be charmed by the garden where fruit trees throng, hens loiter

Off the beaten track and into the hills – this remote, unknown bird-filled region is faultless for outdoorsy people

Bask in the warmth of the owners at this chic 'maison de maître' in off-track Provence - 12km from lovely hilltop Gordes

Simple country cottage living on a working organic farm. Bring your hiking boots or bikes, stride out from the door

Simple rooms on a spotless farm, delightful hosts, delicious fruit tarts at breakfast on Sundays. The perfect stopover en route to Calais

Step through a door in an old wooden gate to discover a courtyard garden on the edge of town close to golden sands

A lovely old farmhouse, slate hung and elegant, in the heart of this gorgeous group of buildings hiding in lush countryside

Books, meadow flowers, a rocking chair by a cosy fire at this treasure-trove cottage of beautiful things - down tiny lanes in west Cork

Perthshire country house with contemporary touches. Deer, red squirrels, tawny owls... and the river Tay glints way below through the trees

A fine designer house and pool above the coastal hurly-burly and one of the loveliest coves in Spain, backing onto a nature park. Happy hols