This famous old country house might not come cheap, but where else can you splash out in such decadent style for life’s big celebrations?

Designed with style and comfort, peaceful, sophisticated and serene with countryside views. And you have your own lovely pool

Painting courses on request, gardens full of roses, a parasol’d terrace, a seductive pool… we love this welcoming, traditional hotel

A grand dining hall and super kitchen, perfect for big gatherings. Spot spoonbills on the salt marsh, sea swim or walk to delis and pubs

A gorgeous big old house on a farm in a very quiet part of Wiltshire - the undiscovered North Wessex Downs, filled with wildlife and an AONB

A light-filled, modern house with wonderful sea views through vast picture windows stretching all the way to St Kilda on clear days

Beautifully restored house with a literary history, no neighbours and private access to a sandy bay beyond the pines

Step back in time at this wonderfully authentic château, loved deeply by its owners - 25km from Beaune and the Route des Grands Crus

Three gîtes in the Dordogne with panoramic countryside views and a swimming pool – book individually or together for a group holiday

Up, up and away to this stunning cottage perched 1400 feet high in the National Park with big skies, grand walks and much comfort indoors

In the heart of the East Sussex countryside, a fun community inn, with rustic-historic bedrooms, scrumptious food, and a great welcome for dogs

Gaze over sublime vistas, refresh in the plunge pool, cook up a barbecue treat. A Provençal studio, simply furnished and deeply relaxing

A Grade II listed 1669 ex-Almshouse in a row of three in walking distance of the historic town centre of Ashbourne and the Tissington Trail

A sweet bolthole around a courtyard on a smallholding, extremely comfortable, bright and spacious inside and with a communal garden

Refurbished police HQ in the centre of Bristol, minutes from the bus station, shops and pretty harbourside - a Sawday’s Community Champion

Come for wide open countryside criss-crossed by a myriad of footpaths and this very comfortable, stylish and roomy retreat

An unbeatable position on Rutland Water, a Michelin star in the restaurant, a roaring fire in the bar and a swimming pool in the garden

Independence at one end of the house with your own sitting room opening onto a courtyard garden. Good pub for food a few minutes' walk away