Countryside Escapes

For centuries, Estelle Manor was one of the grandest stately homes in Oxfordshire, constructed from the sort of classic Cotswold stone that seems to glow in the late afternoon light. And for all its renewed grandeur as a members club and hotel, the Manor still has something of that homely feel (the staff like to refer to it, in fact, as ‘your hosted home’), with the pleasing sense that weekend guests are there at the behest of some enigmatic host, perhaps, who may yet descend the mahogany central staircase in a velvet smoking jacket. The food is reliably superb across its four restaurants, while the outdoor pool, which steams invitingly even in the winter months, has rolling views across the Oxfordshire countryside. 

Cliveden was built in 1666 by the second Duke of Buckingham for his mistress, the freshly widowed Countess of Shrewsbury, whose husband the Duke had just killed in a duel. Its existence over the intervening centuries has been just as colourful and rakish (Nancy Astor’s parties here in the 1920s were legendary) — though the house has mellowed distinctly in its later years into a place of almost swaddling relaxation and comfort. Inside, the silk-lined walls and High Regency detailing lend the house a heady, classical air, while the symmetrical parterre garden that fronts the main aspect is perhaps the finest in the country. 

In the early 1980s, Raymond Blanc drove up to the gates of an exquisite private home in Great Milton and offered to buy the place on the spot. Blanc has envisioned in the property a truly modern type of hotel — one where gastronomy and proper produce were to the fore. Le Manoir, as it was soon christened, has held on to its two Michelin stars for each of the 41 years that it has been open  — while settling in to become a quintessential English hotel, whose mullioned windows, fringed with fragrant leaves, open out on views of the undulating green countryside.

The quintessential Scottish estate hotel, Gleneagles offers every conceivable country pursuit, from fishing to shooting to golf and off-roading — though guests seem just as happy to hunker down in its warrenous interiors, rich with roaring fires and sumptuous soft furnishings. Owned by the Ennismore Group (of Maison Estelle et al) since 2016, it latest incarnation brings a dash of modernity and playfulness to the stately surroundings, with art deco touches, splashes of colour, and an iconic pink ladies ‘powder room’ just off the main reception.

The red brick Georgian manor house sits on more than 500-acres of green Hampshire countryside — the Four Seasons group’s ultimate country escape. With notable stables on the grounds and a huge array of children’s activities (including a daring high-wire playground), it has long been a favourite with families — while the food, centred on robust British classics, is routinely excellent. 

The late chef Skye Gyngell (of Petersham Nurseries and Spring) brought real culinary warmth to Heckfield Place, with a farm-to-fork ethos that reflects the rich Hampshire countryside around it. Bright, contemporary and airy despite its classical dimensions, the former stately home is a bastion of proper calm — with misty morning views out across the glassy lake, and a walled kitchen garden that buzzes with dozy bees in the summer air.