Temple House

A ruined Knights Templar castle sits beside a mile-long lake in the grounds belonging to Roderick and Helena Perceval’s impressive classical mansion. The Perceval family home since 1665, the present house dates from 1825 and was remodelled in the 1860s. It’s all very grand, with a half-mile driveway to the door, through which an imperial staircase leads up from a double-height vestibule. But it’s also very much a family home, filled with antiques and ancestral portraits. Your bedroom might have a sleigh bed, a half-tester – two identical half-testers in the case of Twins room. If you need a lot of hanging space choose Porch; it has a 14-foot wardrobe. Maple has original furniture from 1864 and views across parkland and downriver. At night, guests gather for drinks by the fire, house-party style, before eating communally in the dining room. Here, dishes of perhaps braised Temple House lamb or cod with tempura wild Atlantic oyster are complemented by the historic setting, with a portrait of Roderick’s great-great-great-grandfather above the fireplace, and the family silver laid out on the mahogany dining table.