Looking for somewhere to celebrate a family
anniversary, a landmark birthday, a reunion of old friends? Travel editor David
Wickers offers a grand selection of big houses to rent, at home and abroad
Beside the sea
Pickleridge
View in Dale, Pembrokeshire
Sleeping up to 10, with outstanding views
across the lagoon to the sea, Pickleridge View is a large semi-detached house
with a very fresh, crisp style of its own, as well as a well-equipped kitchen
that’s great for cooking for crowds, there are two comfortable sitting rooms,
so one can be designated as a TV, games or teenagers’ area while the other is
set aside for quieter pursuits, such as reading or taking an afternoon nap
after a busy day out on the water.
The ragged, naturally sculpted coastline of
Pemrokeshire offers not only scenic beauty, but glorious flowers and hordes of
sea birds – including puffins, cormorants, shags, oyster catchers, choughs,
guillemots and razorbills. As well as bracing walks along the coast path, Pickleridge
View gives easy access to St David’s Cathedral and Bishop’s Palace, whale and
dolphin-spotting boat trips, the sailing and windsurfing school at Dale,
sweeping sandy beaches… And the village pub is just a walk away.
Pickleridge View in Dale, Pembrokeshire, is
available through Coastal Cottages of Pembrokeshire (01437 765765; www.coastalcottages.co.uk )
Flavour of Italy
Soak
up the Italian sunshine at the Villa Orizzonti
Villa Orizzonti is a house you’ll want to
own for a lifetime rather than a week or two’s holiday. It sits on its own –
down a rough track a few minutes’ drive from the nearest town – with wonderful
views of hills, trees and fields that shift continually as the sun journeys
across brilliant blue skies. Although you’ll be spending most of the days and
evenings outdoors – in the pool, beside the pool or eating on the terrace
overlooking the pool – the house’s rooms (it sleeps eight) are cosy, the
kitchen is well equipped and the bedrooms all enjoy those grand rural views.
The Marche, one of my all-time favourite
regions of Italy, is home to all the good things we go to the country hoping to
enjoys – including art galleries, medieval hill towns, amazing landscapes, good
food, Renaissance architecture and a sandy and scenic coast – without the
crowds.
Villa Orizzonti, Italy, is available
through Vintage Travel (01954 261431; www.vintagetravel.co.uk
)
Greek delight
Lounge around on your own private
terrace at Filoxenia on Paxos
Filoxenia, which appropriately means
‘hospitality’, is an elegant, modern house sleeping eight that’s biult into the
hillside a mile or so outside Paxos’ main town of Gaios. You can easily drive,
walk or take a hired boat for the town’s restaurants, cafés and
people-watching, but – with a good-sized swimming pool plus sandy beaches
within a few hundred yards – it’s even more appealing to say put. The star
attraction is a glorious terrace that runs the full length of the villa,
providing sun, shade and views of mainland Greece, as well as the pageant of
boats travelling along Gaios channel and, occasionally, even dolphins at play.
The tiny Ionian island is an hour by
hydrofoil from its bigger neighbour Corfu and, with only 2,500 inhabitants, is
little more than a large olive grove. But the harbour in Gaios is a popular
port of call for the international yachting crowd, and billionaires and
celebrities have been known to sample the mezze in the traditional tavernas
that fringe the water’s edge.
Villa Filoxenia in Paxos, Greece, is
available through CV Travel (020 7401 1010; www.cvtravel.co.uk)
Period piece
Ancient and modern: stay in 17th-century
Braydeston in Norfolk
Approached through a typically English
garden along a gravelled driveway, Braydeston is a grand, thatched 17th-century
house with plenty of period features (think exposed beams, inglenooks, leaded
windows,…) to prove its pedigree. Situated near the river Yare, it sleeps
eightt – with one of the bedrooms on the ground floor – and has a pair of
comfortably furnished sitting rooms. Note for those with small children: there
is an uncovered pond in the grounds, but also equipment for badminton and
croquet.
In the heart of the Broads, yet close to
the attractions and easy rail links of Norwich, you’ll have the chance to
potter about on the water – we went with Broads Tours and met up with a
floating ice cream salesman! If you have children with you, Wroxham Barns is
also worth a visit – a super farm park with a fabulous, child-friendly
restaurant.
Braydeston Cottage in Brundell, near
Norfolk, is available through Norfolk Country Cottages ( 01603 871872; www.norfolkcottages.co.uk)
Thoroughly modern
Ancient
and modern: stay in 20th-century showpiece, Clare Park, in Devon
Built in 1970 and further modernised in
2011 to bring it stylishly into the 21st century, Clare Park is a
bold example of contemporary design. Built on one level around a central
courtyard, the house – which sleeps eight –is refreshingly light and airy,
inviting the outside in as well as tempting insiders to venture out.
It’s situated on the estuary shores of the
Teign, with over an acre of lawns sloping down to the river (there’s direct
gated access to the water), so guests can enjoy a range of watersports,
including swimming, fishing, canoeing, sailing, rowing, water skiing and
windsurfing. If you don’t bring your own boaty playthings, contact Seasports in
Teignmouth ( 01626 772 555; www.seasports-sw.com).
And for landlubbers, the gorgeous South Devon countryside is right on the
doorstep.
Clare Park, South Devon, is available
through Premier Cottages ( 01626 872 472; www.premiercottages.co.uk)
