Durham Dale House - kate & tom's Large Holiday Durham Dale House - kate & tom's Large Holiday Durham Dale House - kate & tom's Large Holiday Durham Dale House - kate & tom's Large Holiday Durham Dale House - kate & tom's Large Holiday

The good life under festoon lights

The Durham Dales are just as lovely as the Yorkshire Dales next door, with none of the crowds. Walk the hills and come home to five-star, ten-bedroom opulence at Durham Dale House, complete with cinema room, games room, tennis court and hot tub. Eat out under the covered terrace beneath the festoon lights and admit that life is pretty good.

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Beauty without beastly crowds

Umbria is just as lovely as Tuscany. Devon loses nothing to Cornwall. And so it is with the Durham Dales. Shouldering the Yorkshire Dales, Teesdale and Weardale come with all the beauty of the Dales and none of the crowds. Walk Weardale’s tree-lined hills and come home to the five-star, ten bedroom opulence of Durham Dale House.

Sleeping up to 24 in ten bedrooms, Durham Dale House is as lavish and luxurious on the inside as it is wild and wonderful on the outside. Skirting boards are deep, tables chunky, and toys generous. You even get heated kennels for your pups (or ground-floor living). Cheers to that: crack open another beer over Sky Sports in the cinema room.

The space is all yours, so make yourself at home. Roam, drink, eat, dance, relax, and play table tennis, air hockey and table football in the games room. Break out the board games; get competitive on the games console. Work on your topspin forehand on the tennis court. Take it easy in the eight-seat hot tub.

Cook on the Rangemaster oven or be cooked for by the pros at Sheer Elegance or Chef Brian. Eat in the baronial dining room, al-fresco beneath the covered terrace under the festoon lights, or on the decking with burgers sizzling on the barbecue. Wrap the day up with love and laughter around the firepit.

Durham Dale House - kate & tom's Large Holiday

Hot tub, gardens & grounds

It’s not a bad life, is it, out here in the wilds of Weardale in the eight-seat hot tub with fizz frothing in your glass and a view of the moors beyond? That’s after dinner under the covered terrace, Mediterranean-style, on the 16-seat table with the festoon lights twinkling above.

Durham Dale House sits seemingly embedded in one-and-a-half acres of landscaped seclusion and mature trees. Chill in the feature courtyard with pergola and water feature. Knock a ball around the tennis court. Wind up the day with fun and fizz around the firepit.

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Durham Dale House - kate & tom's Large Holiday
Living spacesLiving spacesLiving spacesLiving spaces

Living spaces

Fun things first: head out to the annex for the games room. Spice things up with games of table tennis, air hockey and table football. Or just get busy with the board games and games console. Out there you’ll also find a dog hotel (optional), with two heated kennels, a dog run, food and water dishes, dog beds and dog sofas.

Humans get their own luxuries: a cinema room with the world’s largest sofa and projector screen showing Sky Sports and Netflix over the Sky 60Mbits Wi-Fi. Viewing clash? Pick from three other smart TVs. Still need entertaining? Bluetooth, Blu-ray disks and a full bookcase should help.

Durham Dale House - kate & tom's Large Holiday

Cooking & dining

Love cooking? You’ll love the Rangemaster kitchen. Not so sure? Call up the pros from Sheer Elegance or Chef Brian for a barbecue, hog roast, one-off celebration or even a fully catered break. Eat in the elegant dining room or out under the covered terrace with meat searing on the coal barbecue.

Shop at the Co-op or at all major supermarkets in Bishop Auckland. Take home takeaways from Freddie’s Fish and Chips, Roots of India and Pizza Barn. Break off your dog walk to pop in to The Black Bull in Frosterley, a traditional pub serving local beers and hearty fresh food.

Get down to Wolsingham for Buon Appetito’s arabiatta, toscana or vegetable risotto. Plump for something posher in the Lord Crewe Arms. Enjoy cheese-filled chicken or a hot roast sandwich with chunky chips at The Fox and Hounds in Cotherstone. Or try Sunday roast followed by sticky toffee pudding at The Crown in Mickleton.

Busy day ahead? Consider a full English from the Derwent Arms in Edmundbuyers or come later for slow-braised featherblade of beef or buttermilk chicken burger. Go authentic French at The Forrester’s in Middleton-in-Teesdale or head to Barnard Castle for Indian at Babul’s or to Romaldkirk for fresh, local produce at The Rose and Crown.

Durham Dale House - kate & tom's Large HolidayDurham Dale House - kate & tom's Large HolidayDurham Dale House - kate & tom's Large HolidayDurham Dale House - kate & tom's Large Holiday
Durham Dale House - kate & tom's Large Holiday

Bedrooms

In the wilds of Weardale, where the only sounds are the call of the peewit and the hoot of the owl, rest and recuperation won’t be a problem. Durham Dale House sleeps up to 24 in ten luxury bedrooms. Most rooms will take a cot.

Bollihope is a first-floor double with en-suite, while Ladley is a superking en-suite that converts to twins. It’s a similar story in Tunstall, which comes with its own full private bathroom, and in en-suite Stanhope and Waskerley. Rookhope also provides a superking or twin and has access to a private shower room across the landing.

Killhope is a twin that shares a bathroom with the other attic room, Attic, and a shared space that features a TV. Also in the attic is Burnhope, a twin. In the annex, Curlew and Grouse are superkings or twins that offer fridges, kettles, basins and a full private bathroom.

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What people say

What people say

Durham Dales House is a luxurious holiday home for large groups that looks and feels like a boutique hotel. Guests get the exclusive use of the house, grounds, games room, tennis court, hot tub and beautifully landscaped and secluded gardens. Go one way and you'll get to the town of Stanhope; go the other and you’ll find yourself in the North Pennines AONB - Helen
Durham Dale House - kate & tom's Large Holiday

What's a Prince Bishop?

Book paddleboarding, rock climbing and more with Weardale Adventures, walk the hills with Teesdale Alpacas, and get a beehive haircut at Beamish Museum. Pet and feed cuties at Little Cow Farm, walk The Tees to impressive High Force, or scan the skies at Grassholme Observatory. Find out what a Prince Bishop was at Durham Cathedral.

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