For the ultimate luxury getaway, history lovers will love renting a holiday home close to a stately home. There are hundreds of these properties to explore across the UK, many owned by the National Trust or English Heritage. The North of England, particularly Derbyshire, has many country houses which you can explore. We’ve selected our Top 3.
Lyme Park in Cheshire is a stunning country house, originally the home of the historic Legh family but now operated by the National Trust. Perhaps best recognised for its lake to the front of the property, from which Colin Firth as Mr Darcy famously emerged in the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, causing women all over the world to swoon violently. The house itself provides a step back in time to the high society of the Edwardian era, with its luxurious interiors, fine selection of paintings and artwork and intricate furniture.
The 1,300 acre estate provides unbeatable walking opportunities, views onto stunning gardens such as the Edwardian rose garden – and keep your eyes out for the herd of medieval red deer that roam the lands. Lyme Park is also a great place to visit with children, with its Crow Wood Playscape and a brilliant range of restaurants, coffee shops and retail shops. We’ve truly fallen in love with Lyme Park. If you’d like to visit, why not stay in a luxury self-catering cottage in Cheshire?
In at second place, we certainly do enjoy the charms of the beautiful Castle Howard in North Yorkshire. Home to the Howard family for more than 300 years, you might recognise the house as the home of Sebastian Flyte in the TV adaptation of Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited. Up until the 1950s, the house even had its own railway station. This beautiful baroque building was built between 1699 and 1712 to a design by Sir John Vanbrugh, and has extensive gardens which make for a beautiful day’s exploration through the formal gardens, woodland and lakes with 1,000 acres to walk through. You’ll find exquisite statues, temples and fountains and picture-perfect views wherever you wander. The interiors are dramatic and the furniture and artwork sublime, and there’s an adventure playground for children. If you like the sound of Castle Howard, take a look at our stunning collection of luxury holiday homes in North Yorkshire.
But our favourite stately home in the North of England (and perhaps all of the UK!) has got to be the unbelievable Chatsworth House in the Peak District in Derbyshire. Owned by the Cavendish family since 1549, 16 generations of this famous family have called Chatsworth their home. Surrounded by over a thousand acres of stunning woodland, rocky hills and heather moorland as well as the beautiful formal gardens, we believe this is one of the best days out around – in fact, a day is probably not enough time to explore this magnificent property.
Inside the house, you can explore over 30 rooms, where you will find a plethora of priceless paintings, furniture, Old Master drawings and neoclassical sculptures and in the gardens, you can get lost in the magnificent maze and gaze over the stunning waterworks.
What’s more, Chatsworth also has 6 wonderful shops, 2 restaurants and a cafe, and the stunning Cavendish Rooms where you can enjoy afternoon tea. At the Farm Shop you can even try and buy produce from the estate and its tenant farms!
The views everywhere across the estate and the low hills which divide the Derwent and Wye Valleys, are spectacular. We think Chatsworth is unbeatable, so we do recommend that you take a look around if you haven’t already (or why not return?). Take a look at our range of luxury self-catering accommodation in Derbyshire.
