Let’s address the elephant in the garden first: the heated 10-metre by 4.5-metre outdoor pool sits splash-happy and is yours from mid-May to the start of September.
Dive in, bring your inflatables, towel off and play a little croquet among the half-acre of English greenery while you turn your steaks from Sumbler’s butchers on the coal barbecue. Say hi to the cows and horses. Cap the perfect day marmalising marshmallows around the firepit.
Six-and-a-half-thousand square feet of living space enough for 12 of you? You’ve got spaces to congregate and chew the fat and spaces in which to retire and recharge the social battery. Bum a book from the full bookcase or blast some sounds over the Bluetooth. Turn the dining room into a boardroom, with flipcharts, screen and projector.
What’s next? Maybe board games, table tennis and darts in the games room. Bury your differences over a Netflix or Amazon Prime Video movie streamed over the 150Mbps Wi-Fi. End the day with a cheeky chat and a dram in the log-lit drawing room or just a coffee from the Nespresso.
Looking for a true foodie destination? Your host is among the best, with a published recipe book that proudly boasts of natural ingredients that people from 100 years ago would recognise. Book Nancy for a one-off celebration or a fully catered break. Top up with takeaways from Peking House, Great Western Fryer and Doon Valley Indian.
Eat in the dining room that doubles as a boardroom, or out on the terrace or by the pool with sausages searing in the country air on the coal barbecue. Shop at Tesco, Ten Green Bottles and The Three Trees Farmshop, with fine cuts from Sumbler’s in Marlborough, and fine wine from Majestic or Moke.
Indulge in local produce from the estate such as well-aged steaks served with hand-cut chips, comforting home-cooked pies and indulgent desserts at The Bell at Ramsbury. Or head to the dog-friendly, 15th-century Marlborough Inn for miso-glazed baked aubergine or roast fillet of beef.
Enjoy great seafood and fantastic wine at Rick Stein’s place in Marlborough. Head to Broad Hinton for five-star Italian dining at La Strada, or competitor, family-friendly Pino’s. Try tapas and wine at the buzzing La Bobina. Or maybe it’ll be slow-roasted belly pork or grilled halloumi cheese at Dan’s at The Crown in Marlborough.
This is a quiet land of rolling fields and dark, starry skies. Sleep in traditionally English bedrooms and drift off to the mating calls of the barn owls. Country Garden Manor sleeps 12 adults and two children in six bedrooms named after the horses that have called this place home.
Bedroom one, Barbury Down, offers a four-poster with TV and en-suite shower, while bedroom two (Windmill) provides a superking or twin plus a TV and en-suite with large shower. Bedroom three (Parsloe) is another en-suite superking or twin with TV and camp bed or cot options.
Bedroom four, Dawson, in the attic is a kingsize with en-suite bath and shower and TV, while bedroom five, Rookery, offers an en-suite superking or twin with TV and camp bed or cot options. Bedroom six, Hackpen, is a twin in the attic (best if you’re under six-feet tall) with separate large private bathroom.
