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.
The Gallerist
Haywards Heath, West Sussex, UK
A former brewery, The Gallerist is a luxury country house with a cool streak, where a cinema room and pool call seekers of laissez-faire living to Haywards Heath in West Sussex.
Sleeps: Up to 8 guests
Alternative Group Option: Up to 4 guests
From: £4,950 per week, £3,750 per short break
Pets: Two well-behaved dogs are welcome
Features: Outdoor heated swimming pool (available April - October), woodfired hot tub, tennis court, and cinema room
