Shallowdale House

The welcome couldn’t be warmer for guests of Phillip Gill and Anton van der Horst at their 1960s house in a beautifully tended hillside garden, on the edge of the North York Moors national park. Readers mention the hosts’ ‘great kindness’, with the ‘whole place centred on guests’ comfort’, making it a ‘real pleasure’ to stay. They return year after year. On cold days a fire blazes in the sitting room, where tea and home-baked cakes and biscuits are served every afternoon. Interiors have a tasteful mix of contemporary and traditional furniture, books and artwork. Large windows afford lovely views to the Howardian hills. The bedrooms have Penhaligon toiletries and little treats such as a bowl of chocolates. With notice, Phillip cooks an ‘imaginative and delicious’ dinner of local, seasonal produce, served at 7.30 pm at tables laid with crisp white linen. Perhaps asparagus, duck breasts in Marsala, a pear and blueberry tart, with ‘an excellent choice of house wines’. A cooked breakfast with freshly squeezed orange juice sets you up for a visit to Rievaulx Abbey or Castle Howard. Then again you might just want to gaze at the vista. (MH, and others)