Pack your surfboard, rent a camper for the road trip, and soak up that cool Cally vibe in the Hollywood Hills. Okay, the Surrey Hills. California Dreamin’ is a muscular, spectacular, architectural hunk of West-Coast chic uprooted from the US and dropped dreamily into 14 acres of the English Home Counties.
California Dreamin’ wraps a dozen adults, a couple of offspring and a pampered pooch or two in impossible glamour, with floor-to-ceiling windows throughout showcasing the landscaped fun, huge pond and modern firepit with seating zone. But the main draw might be the 12-metre outdoor pool, heated to 28 degrees and so, so SoCal.
If things here aren’t fabulous, they’re grand. If they’re not grand, they’re glamorous and gorgeous. California Dreamin’ is everything, everywhere, all at once. Play table football and table tennis in the games room, work up a sweat in the steam room, drop into the hot tub at day’s end and plan another day in your very own land of milk and honey.
Fourteen acres of landscaped luxury carved from the Surrey Hills play host to your next family croquet competition. You’ll also want to soak up that LA vibe in the 12-metre outdoor pool, heated to 28 degrees, hang out in the pool house, picnic by the pond and try out the trampoline.
The indoors becomes the outdoors here in a heartbeat, so you’ll glide effortlessly from the indoor gym or office out to the pool and the modern firepit with its sunken entertainment area. Finish the day in the eight-seat cedar hot tub staring at the stars and dreaming of West-Coast living.
There’s that indoor-outdoor flow here that you’d expect in a house inspired by Bel-Air. Catch up on emails in the office, work up a sweat on the Peloton bike and treadmill in the gym, then it’s straight out to pose around the pool and the firepit in the Californian sunshine. Well, Chiddingfold. But you don’t have to squint too hard to imagine Pacific living.
Grand, glamorous and drop-dead gorgeous just about describes the floor-to-ceiling windows installed throughout, shedding floods of light on an altogether different life. One where you’re surrounded by mid-century West Coast décor and where the drinks flow from the bijou bar area.
Get everyone together in the snug for a full Sky package, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, streamed over the BT Wi-Fi. Play table football or table tennis in the games room. Break out the board games. Light the firepit in the pool house. Have fun. Feel fabulous. Let life flow in an overload of laid-back cool.
If you really want to cook, the two Miele eco ovens, induction hob and two fridges in the sociable open-plan kitchen should help. But if not, a quick call secures professional help from the experts at Caper and Berry or Little Fish. Book our pro chefs for a stylish, one-off celebration, barbecue or fully catered break.
Eat in the dining room beneath the chandelier, in the kitchen, in the pool house in front of the firepit, out by the pond or around the pool. Stock up on carnivorous treats for the gas barbecue from Secretts Farm Shop or Whipley Manor or treat yourself to a takeaway from Little Fish (Japanese) or Farmhouse Pizza.
Choose from a seasonal menu with market-fresh fish and seasonal specials washed down with expertly selected wine at The Crown in Chiddingfold. Dine a la carte at The Mulberry Inn on lamb kofta or seared scallops, or tuck into pan-fried hake, venison burger or vegan and gluten-free options at The Three Horseshoes in Lickfold.
Head out to The Acorn restaurant in Godalming for great seafood with a Spanish-fusion theme, including glazed octopus and hot seafood platter. Tuck into the tasting menu at The Half Moon in Kirdford or maybe try the pomegranate-glazed monkfish? Or grab some gastro coupled with foraged fare at The Horseguards Inn.
Out in the Surrey Hills, with 14 acres of garden surrounding you, there’s precious little to get in the way of delicious dreamy sleep. Premium mattresses with toppers and 400 thread-count linen will help put you out for the count. Choose from six beautiful bedrooms all with en-suite bathrooms.
The master bedroom sleeps two in a superking on the top floor, with 180-degree views over fields and oaks. Enjoy air-conditioned luxury and two walk-in wardrobes. Bedroom two is a kingsize on the top floor overlooking the fire pit, while air-conditioned bedroom three provides a kingsize bed on the top floor overlooking the pool and croquet lawn.
Bedroom four on the ground floor comes with a kingsize bed and opens out to the croquet lawn and pool, as does bedroom five, providing twin beds. Bedroom six sits upstairs in a private wing with TV, air-con and a view over the pool.