If you are counting down to a special occasion, hiring a large holiday home is a great way to bring your loved ones together to share in the fun, scenery and special memories.
It’s hard to imagine a more beautiful country setting than the rolling farmland surrounding of Cadhay, and with the capacity to sleep 22, there’s certainly lots of scope for a party.
Cadhay is a mile from Ottery St Mary, and is one of Simon Jenkins’ ‘England’s Thousand Best Houses’, shortlisted by Country Life for the ‘finest manor house’ award.
Approached along a shady avenue of limes, the whole (mostly Tudor) house is yours, peacefully alone apart from a quiet farm beyond. The magnificent three-acre garden fades into countryside and includes a half acre lake and huge lawns.
Sleeps 22, from £3,225/week. Helpful Holidays Reference G100.
With 38 beds to fill in this magnificent former Devon rectory, you can afford to let the invitation list run. However spaces are sure to fill up fast as family, and even a few friends (after all there’s plenty of room) look forward to celebrating with you in a beautiful setting, close to the coast.
Alston Hall is located at Battisborough Cross, a hamlet near the mouth of the River Erme and a couple of miles from the beach.
The three-storey, detached country residence, built in 1906, has indoor and outdoor pools, a play area, tennis courts and three acres of grounds, with uninterrupted views over fields toward the sea.
Sleeps 38, from £4,350/week. Helpful Holidays Reference L194.
The charming farmhouse-style kitchen at Wootton House, complete with Aga and modern cooker, is the perfect place for families to gather to prepare a feast of their favourite delights.
And where better to serve their culinary creations than upon the beautiful oak table that stands imposingly in the formal dining room of this fine country house.
Located on the edge of Butleigh Wootton, in unspoilt countryside on the Somerset Levels, Wootton House is overlooked by the monument of Admiral Sir Samuel Hood high on Polden Ridge. Constructed in the 18th Century for the Hood family, the house stands on a 1,000 acre estate that comprises gardens, woods, a lake, parkland and working farms. Within the mature garden is a croquet lawn, hard tennis court and play equipment.
Sleeps 16, from £1,525/week. Helpful Holidays Reference E12.
What Nethercott House lacks in luxury and opulence it makes up for in space, with huge rooms that sleep as many as 47 guests.
The idea of clambering into a bunk bed might not appeal to older guests. But younger ones are sure to delight in the prospect. So with some careful thought put into who sleeps in the bunks, twins, a double and single everyone should be happy.
Nethercott House is a huge Victorian house, complete with games room, located in Iddesleigh, a little, mainly thatched village in wooded farmland about 3½ miles from Hatherleigh in Devon, and close to footpaths, including the Tarka Trail.
Although occupied in term-time by beneficiaries of the Farms for City Children charity, the house is available to holiday makers in school breaks.
Within the grounds are large lawns, stables, farm buildings and a productive walled vegetable garden.
Sleeps 47, from £2,460/week. Helpful Holidays Reference J102.
A stroll through the large and picturesque grounds that surround this magnificent Grade II* listed Elizabethan manor house, is surely a delightful way to work off the excesses of a lively family celebration.
Sheafhayne, in the pretty village of Yarcombe in the East Devon countryside, was likened to ‘a full-sized game of Cluedo’ by the Sunday Times, and with its dark wood Tudor panelling, four poster beds, mullioned windows, beams and stone fireplaces, it’s easy to see why.
Originally a medieval hall house and the shooting lodge of Sir Francis Drake’s Yarcombe estate, Sheafhayne is enveloped by grounds comprising a wild garden/orchard, stream, croquet lawn and games room.
Sleeps 24, from £2,675/week. Helpful Holidays Reference G1.
Whether you are six or 60, families will have fun exploring the 18 acres of woodland gardens and grounds at Lamellen House in North Cornwall.
Located off the beaten track, Lamellen House is a haven of peace, tranquility and beauty near the village of St Tudy, and forms part of the Lamellen Estate.
With so much to see and do at the detached Victorian house, including swimming, tennis and barbecuing as well as vast lawns and rambling grounds, families will be reluctant to leave.
However the lure of the Cornish beaches just a few miles away, a golf course, sailing and the Camel Trail could just be enough to tempt you.
Sleeps 15, from £2,640/week. Helpful Holidays Reference P91
Helen Hayes of Helpful Holidays says: “The friendly team will be pleased to hear from you if you have a large house or cottage you’re considering letting for holidays.”
For more details, visit www.helpfulholidays.com or call 01647 434071