Grand gatherings
“The secret, dear Alice, is to surround yourself with people who make your heart smile. It’s then, only then, that you’ll find Wonderland”.
Rally the troops, it's time to get the party back together. Country glamour prevails throughout this cherry-picked collection; a mix of golden stone manors, modern coastal marvels, enchanted millhouses and free-spirited farmhouses hidden in the hills. Formal celebration or languid weekend, live out bucolic fantasies at wooden trestle tables piled high with local fodder overlooking grounds that evoke scenes from Alice in Wonderland.
Lawn games and Champagne towers. Cucumber sandwiches and chess marathons. Swimming pool swan dives and midnight tea parties beneath a sky pinpricked with a spray of stars. This is the year to bask in all the gloriousness of a large group gathering from the environs of a lavish private house with all the bells and whistles.
The Glasshouse
Cardigan, Ceredigion, Wales, UK
Sat on the banks of the Afon Teifi with a front row seat overlooking a nature reserve, The Glasshouse is a wildlife lover’s dream with hot tub near Cardigan and the Welsh coast.
Sleeps: Up to 10 guests
From: £4,195 per week, £3,150 per short break
Alternative Group Option: Up to 6 guests
Pets: Sorry, no pets
Features: Hot tub
Charity
Black Mountains, Herefordshire, UK
Modern rusticity, clever artistry and divine seclusion combine to make Charity the ultimate wild retreat for friends and family gatherings; set down a winding mountain road in the Olchon Valley near the Brecon Beacons.
Sleeps: Up to 12 guests
From: £3,395 per week, £2,550 per short break
Alternative Group Option: Up to 6 guests
Pets: Two well-behaved dogs are welcome
Features: Wood-fired hot tub, sauna, outdoor shower, outdoor pizza oven, table tennis, snooker room, cinema barn and badminton lawn
The Pandy House
Rowen, Conwy, Snowdonia, Wales, UK
Accessed via a private bridge crossing the Afon Roe, in a world of its own, this mill turned luxury family home in Snowdonia has a personality as big as the national park itself. A perfect cacophony of colour, flamboyance and witty details.
Sleeps: Up to 10 guests (8 adults and 2 children)
From: £3,850 per week, £2,895 per short break
Alternative Group Option: Up to 6 guests
Pets: One well-behaved dog is welcome
Features: Wood-fired hot tub, summer house games room, outdoor kitchen area
Florin
Aberaeron, Ceredigion, Wales, UK
A beautifully-appointed stylish large country house set in five acres of magical gardens near Aberaeron, Ceredigion. A luxury home for family celebrations with plenty of space for several generations to unwind.
Sleeps: Up to 14 guests
From: £3,850 per week, £2,795 per short break
Alternative Group Option: Up to 10 guests
Pets: Two well-behaved dogs are welcome, a third is welcome on prior request
Features: Hot tub, treehouse for children, library with pool table, modern garden house with pizza oven
The Wilds
Crickhowell, Brecon Beacons, Wales, UK
This family home sat beneath the peaks of the Brecon Beacons has been sympathetically renovated into a countrified yet stylish abode, complete with a hot tub on the private sun terrace.
Sleeps: Up to 12 guests
From: £3,595 per week, £2,695 per short break
Alternative Group Option: Up to 8 guests
Pets: One well-behaved dog is welcome
Features: Hot tub
