‘The three generations were happy with the day. We relaxed over croquet, some played tennis, and we had the library for ourselves.’ Praise this year for this Jacobean-cum-Georgian mansion in an Arcadian landscape, from readers who celebrated a significant anniversary there.

With views across gently undulating Hertfordshire countryside, this sprawling old building, with its outlying stables and barns, dates back to the 15th century.

At the gates of Waddesdon Manor, a half-timbered, ornately patterned Grade II listed house, originally built to accommodate the architects and craftsmen working on the manor’s construction.

Nick Mash has taken a step back to the future in reinventing the 18th-century red brick Three Horseshoes pub as a restaurant-with-rooms.

In a pleasant market town, Annie Rowley’s artful Georgian B&B is an Aladdin’s cave of vintage glassware, sculptures and ‘an unbelievable collection’ of objects.