For gathering
In the end, we’ll look back at the pictures we took beside that fire pit, in that treehouse, dancing around that kitchen island, and we’ll say: “look at us, we always filled those big houses to the rafters.”
Welcome to the family reunion: where kith and kin gather in large houses around the nation. Out on the wind-whipped balcony, an imaginative elder points out to sea and tells concocted stories of fisticuffs with sharks and trading treasures with the Pirates of Penzance. Inside, there’s fresh coffee and sweet apples from the orchard; and fair isle socks muffle the thuds of young ones testing their pillow obstacle course.
This winter is for coming together in luxury, for dogs dodging tumbling stacks of Jenga, for floating in and out of slumber as the stardust-souled play a motion picture, and the whole group gathers in the fire-warmed snug. Tables piled high with crackers and trailing grapes. Cheese boards and nut bowls and jars of fruit chutney; no space left for elbows. Carafes slosh with plummy Malbecs until the last drop is poured, well into the small hours.
Hiraeth
Nevern Valley, Pembrokeshire, Wales, UK
In a forest in Pembrokeshire’s Never Valley, Hiraeth is made up of two luxury properties; one traditional cottage and one gabled bothy, sharing a hot tub, sauna, and river hammock.
Sleeps: Up to 12 guests (8 adult and 4 children)
Alternative Group Option: Up to 6 guests
From: £3,595 per week, £2,750 per short break
Pets: Two well-behaved dogs are welcome, or three on prior request
Features: Hot tub, sauna, outdoor bath, fire pit and river hammock
Huckleberry
Nevern Valley, Pembrokeshire, Wales, UK
Built from old stone and shaped by new hands, Huckleberry is a luxury country cottage with a hot tub, bringing Greek notions to the hills of Pembrokeshire in Wales' Never Valley.
Sleeps: Up to 12 guests
Alternative Group Option: Up to 8 & Up to 4 guests
From: £3,995 per week, £3,295 per short break
Pets: Two well-behaved dogs are welcome, or three on prior request
Features: Swedish wood-fired hot tub, luxury Thai massage room, TV snug, snooker table, outdoor kitchen, fire pit and river hammock
Charity
Black Mountains, Herefordshire, UK
Divinely secluded, Charity is a real wild retreat; set down a mountain road in the Black Mountains of Herefordshire, this luxury country home has a hot tub and sauna.
Sleeps: Up to 12 guests
Alternative Group Option: Up to 6 guests
From: £3,795 per week, £2,850 per short break
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
Celestia
Talybont-on-usk, Brecon Beacons, Wales, UK
Resting on an open clearing beneath the tops of the Brecon Beacons, cocooned by a tangle of woodland, these luxury farmhouses are an ode to mountain living in remote south Wales.
Sleeps: Up to 14 guests
Alternative Group Option: Up to 8 & Up to 6 guests
From: £3,750 per week, £2,795 per short break
Pets: Two well-behaved dogs are welcome
Features: Pool table, Steinway piano, fire pit with grill, and stargazing bowl
Florin
Aberaeron, Ceredigion, Wales, UK
A luxury country house set in five acres of magical gardens near Aberaeron in Ceredigion, Florin is a castle-style home with a hot tub and library, made for big gatherings in Wales.
Sleeps: Up to 14 guests
Alternative Group Option: Up to 10 & Up to 8 guests
From: £3,995 per week, £2,995 per short break
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 Milk Wood
Nevern Valley, Pembrokeshire, Wales, UK
Deep within the Nevern Valley in Pembrokeshire, The Milk Wood is a riverfront family estate in Wales, comprised of two pairs of luxury country cottages – Hiraeth and Huckleberry – with a hot tub, sauna, and outdoor bath.
Sleeps: Up to 24 guests (20 adults and 4 children)
From: £7,750 per week, £5,750 per short break
Pets: Four well-behaved dogs are welcome
Features: Two hot tubs, luxury Thai massage room, TV snug, snooker table, outdoor kitchen, outdoor bath, fire pit, river hammock, sauna, an event space with a catering kitchen, outdoor barbecue and pizza oven
