There are bugs to hunt, trees to hug, hedgerows for foraging, and an towering willow to picnic under Or escape to the private fields for stargazing or day gazing toward the empty horizons across the rolling patchwork fields. Or grab wellies and stomp and yomp up Merbach Hill and Little Mountain, or get together in the landscaped seating area for firepit, hot tub or barbecue fun.
Watch the ever-evolving starlight night sky from the wood-fired hot tub. Head to the red-brick barn for table tennis or just to bat a bit of chatter back and forth over a game of darts or foozeball. Get some garden games going or create an obstacle course. The fresh air and frolics are balm for the soul.
Want to get together in gregarious groups? Want to be apart? With nine living areas, you can party, party, party, or just be apart. The main lounge is just the start. Live it large on squishy sofas and inviting armchairs, with games of cards of charades. Or escape to your own piece of paradise.
Pick from the airy, library-style reception area with Ercol lounge and leather armchairs, a leather lounge for pre-dinner cocktails or movies on the Smart TV, or take a book to the upper-landing reading area, to zone out among the Ercol armchairs and cosy sheepskins.
Five smaller, independent lounges in the guest suites offer ultimate privacy. Every interior space comes laden with Kari Morgan’s deft touches. They preserve historical integrity in a world of bespoke statement lights, ambient lamps, Welsh-sheepskin rugs, wool throws, branded cushions and eclectic, original and local wall art.
Give your relaxation a rustic edge out in the red-brick barn, perched on hay bales with beer or wine, or armed with table-tennis bats. Take time out in spaces decorated with accolades from The Sunday Times and Visit Herefordshire, in a spot so rural that the only noises you’ll hear are murmurs of delight.
Make yourself at home in the forty-foot kitchen with four electric ovens, eight electric hobs, combination microwave and full-size double fridge/freezer. Raid the two bar fridges for drinks and perch yourselves at the five-stool kitchen island. Dump everything in the dishwasher when you’re done.
Prefer to be spoilt? Might we introduce Billy Trigg, Field 2 Fork or Arabella’s Private Dining, all local Herefordshire chefs happy to cater to house parties on either a heat-and-eat basis or full-blown table service. Whether it’s a one-off celebration or a fully catered stay, put your feet up with a Prosecco, knowing that things are simmering nicely in the kitchen.
Eating out as a group? Off Grid Gourmet or Under the Nut Tree, both a shortish (in a rural sense) drive away, offer unusual and home grown fodder in outdoor sheltered settings. Other options include the Chapters in Hay, Tomatitos tapas and Felin Fach Griffin in Brecon or The Stagg in Titley, home of Hereford snails with parsley and chestnuts.
Smaller parties can get light lunch options at Thursday Market or Hay Deli or Gibbons Butchers and Grocer, fresh local fare with a side order of cinema at Richard Booth’s Café and Cinema roaring fires, mulled wine and honest pub grub at the Bridge in Michaelchurch or Tram Inn Eardisley, or cakes and coffee at Shepherds Parlour and Cafe. For posher nosh, you’ll want the upmarket dining of Felin Fach Griffin or The Drawing Room or the Hardwick at Abergavenny.
Sleep log-like in the weighty silence of the border hills. Nine large king-size bedrooms offer quirky, designer charm arranged as four bedrooms in the main farmhouse and five split-level en-suite guest suites in the annex. Annex bedrooms come with their own private lounge areas. No unseemly squabbling, now.
Bedrooms come with crisp white hotel-standard linen and warm wool throws, and can accommodate 21 adults, 5 children and an infant.
Bedroom one is a single-level, double-height en-suite room with four-poster bed, armchair seating area and hospitality table. Bedroom two to six offer split-level guest suites with downstairs lounge area, upstairs king-size mezzanine bedroom and downstairs big bathroom, three of which also offer a large single sofa bed for extra guests. Take life easy in the claw-foot rolltop bath.
Bedroom seven, in the main farmhouse, is an elegant king-size overlooking the front garden and shares a bathroom with bedrooms eight and nine. Eight is a contemporary room overlooking the rear garden, while room nine overlooks the mini-orchard and fields.
Watch the red kites circle and dive for their dinner at Gigrin Farm. Meet birds and owls from everywhere at the Small Breeds Farm and Animal Centre. And see the oldest medieval map in the world at Hereford Cathedral. Come for the book festival and stay for the mountain walks or the arts on offer at The Globe at Hay.
