Black Swan Farmhouse sits in 60 acres of rolling meadowland. Dotting the landscape are three ponds for messing about in boats, picnicking and wild-swimming off the jetties with the resident black swans and geese.
Cook in the cool country air on the gas barbecue, eat out on the terrace, birdwatch, meditate, make dens, run, rove, make daisy chains. The choice is yours. Wrap up your day shooting the breeze with marshmallows around the firepits.
This is a place where you yomp the hills or wild-swim in the lakes with the black swans, then come home to roaring fires, throws and homely comforts. Warm your toes in the kitchen snug with logs burning in the inglenook and Apple TV on the flatscreen telly over the superfast fibre broadband.
Escape to the playroom for a second TV, children’s games, a book from the groaning shelves, board games or just me-time with music. Head out to the old stable to work out with weights, a punchbag and cross-trainers, or get sweaty in the sauna. Fill an evening with table football, table tennis or a piano-side singalong.
In the deep-red, gothic-style dining room with its abundance of candelabras, the drama’s laid on as thick as the stews you’ll concoct in the classic farmhouse kitchen. Or eat outdoors in the shade of the climbing plants, warmed by the firepits. Alternatively, put your feet up in front of the woodburner and call up our pro chefs.
Shop at Morrison’s or Lidl or head to The Old Pharmacy deli for grocery items, Roundhill coffee, organic wines and local Somerset scrumpy. Tackle takeaways from McDonald’s, KFC, Bootmaker’s pizza, or fish and chips from The Montague Inn. Pop into The Cheeky Bean for brunch.
Head out to The Dolphin in Wincanton for Wednesday-night steak night. Tuck in to pub classics at The Nog Inn such as steak and chips, beer-battered fish and five-bean chilli. Or try The Hunter’s Lodge for fish, pasta, burgers, steakhouse grills, vegan and veggie options, and a lively daytime seniors menu.
Get a taste of the Mediterranean at Castello in Frome. Enjoy everything from fish and chips to partridge breast at The Montague Inn. Sample Dorset pork belly, chicken Dianne or spinach and ricotta tortellini at The Walnut Tree. Or choose from an extensive European menu in front of roaring fires at The Old Bath Arms.
Bedrooms here come with windows itching to be inched open to the song of the skylarks and the cool trickle of country air. Black Swan Farmhouse sleeps 16 in eight cosy, comfortable country-style bedrooms.
Bedroom one is the master and it comes with kingsize bed, en-suite walk-in shower and double-ended bath with a stunning view that means you’ll get very wrinkly. Help yourself to the exercise bike, rowing machine, kettlebells, weights, fitballs and yoga mats. En-suite bedroom two has a kingsize bed and double-ended bath.
Bedroom three offers a queensize, painted wooden bed that once belonged to sculptress Elisabeth Frink, while bedroom four comes with a kingsize or twins with lovely views. And bedroom five provides a queensize bed with charming Toile de Jouy fabrics.
Bedroom six offers a single bed and a sloping roof, bedroom seven a kingsize or twin, and bedroom eight a kingsize or twin with a small double futon.
