You’ll never get tired of staring at the 20 acres from the sunny south-facing terrace. If you do, go explore it. Find the tumbling, picnic-perfect waterfall, admire the David Austen Rose Garden, kick a ball into the footie nets and smack a croquet ball through the hoops.
Bring your rackets for all-weather tennis, all year round, and bring your cossies and inflatables to mess about in the shared outdoor heated pool from May to September, or relax in the eight-seater hot tub. Sear your steaks on the barbie and guzzle them under the gazebo. Exercise your dogs – they stay for free! Feed the ducks. Ponder what’s next down by the pond.
Once an ancestral home, then a prep school, and latterly the location for the shooting of BBC drama Gentleman Jack, Howard Hall has seen plenty of life and living. Now you can turn the next page and add your own chapter amid the dripping chandeliers, the high ceilings, the period wallpaper and the exquisite coving.
Today, entertainment options abound in the indoor living spaces at Howard Hall. Not least Netflix, Prime and Now TV on the living-room telly, BT broadband and log fires to light. And when you’ve finished with all that, you can talk about it all over a gin or Prosecco in the residents’ bar which you can fill with your own alcohol, with the horse-saddle stools and complimentary soft drinks.
Elsewhere, there’s plenty to stoke the fires of inter-generational competitiveness. How many manor house come with a full-size basketball court? This one does. Or badminton, for smaller numbers. Silver medal? Go for gold on the full-size snooker table. Bring late-night harmony to your group with a singalong on the baby grands.
How many does the dining room seat? All of you. Gather round, pass the Prosecco, butter the bread and thank the cook who took charge of the fan oven, electric oven and wood-fired stove. Or hang your apron up and ask us about external caterers for a one-off celebration or fully catered break.
Fridges? Pick from three. Or fill them all with meats from Nesfield and Piercy and deliveries from Morrisons. Call up takeaway treats from Speedy Peppers, India, or Thai from Tuis of Malton. When you’re done, there’s a dishwasher to deal with the dirties. Outside, you’ve a gas barbie sitting on the sunny south-facing terrace.
Malton’s a leading UK foodie destination with a bustling artisan scene, tours, cookery school, markets and festival. Be sure to explore the gelato makers, gin distillery, breweries, coffee roastery and macaron maker. The Talbot sits at the heart of this, with imaginative local menus that include thyme-rubbed flat-iron steak.
Elsewhere, pop out to the Blacksmith’s Arms in Westow for roast sirloin of Yorkshire beef or pan-fried rack of lamb. Try miso-glazed cod loin, salt-and-pepper squid ball salad, or toasted pecan, artichoke and chilli ravioli at The New Malton. Or head for The Stone Trough in Kirkham to pork out on crispy confit duck leg or 9oz sirloin.
You’ll sleep well here in the Wolds, on the edge of the North York Moors, where the smooth hush is rippled only by the flap of a partridge, the ducks landing on the lake or the bending of the boughs. Howard Hall sleeps 26 in 12 bedrooms, with two extra sofa-beds for younger children.
Bedrooms here are delicious and bathrooms come with freestanding baths for you to drape a bubbly leg over. All rooms sleep two in kingsize beds apart from bedroom four, sleeping three kids in singles, and bedroom seven, a girls’ triple room. Bedroom 12 offers a bunk. Bedrooms one (Grey), two (Pink), four (Kids’), eight (Savannah), ten (Triangle) and 11 (Hessian) offer luxury en-suites. All other rooms share de-luxe bathrooms.
British holidays add a traditional note of cosy comfort to childhoods. Accompanied by endless acres of garden to explore and room upon room of hiding places and dens, there’s a treasure trove of memories here for your tribe. They’ll wear you out all day then keep you up all night with cards and charades. Lucky you.
Out in the 20-acre garden, you’ll want to pack a picnic and head out to your very own waterfall or sit by the pond and watch the ducks land on the water. Bring your rackets so you can chase that furry ball around the tennis court. Or perhaps the air will clack to the cultured sound of croquet?
Around the grounds, you can make friends with chickens, guinea fowl and peacocks, then refresh under the gazebo when mum and dad have burned your burgers on the barbie. But the elephant in the garden has to be the 18-metre heated pool – come between May and September, bring your floaties, dive in, let a few hours wash away.
Indoors, you’ve got badminton or basketball in the sports hall and the tech’s all set up so you won’t miss a single beat. Stream on the BT broadband, catch your favourite shows on Netflix, Amazon Prime and Now TV. Let the grown-ups keep an eye on you from the residents’ bar behind the lounge.
