‘Such a romantic spot.’ Deep in the Nadder valley, amid narrow country lanes that are ‘a pleasure to get lost in’, this 17th-century house is owned by Grahame and Prue Senior and Simon and Charlotte Greenwood. Stealing the spotlight: chef Andy Britton’s ‘tremendous’ daily-changing menu turns locally sourced produce (much of it from the kitchen garden) into ‘innovative, delicious haute cuisine’. ‘Our perfect feast had many unexpected details: chocolate sauce with lamb, a hay-and-oat topping.’ The ‘artistically presented’ meal was served in the dining room, where ivy-fringed windows overlook ‘a beautiful garden’ whose blooms perfume the ‘light-filled’ sitting room. Well-designed bedrooms, upstairs, might have a four-poster, or comfy seating area; in each, crisp linens, a capsule machine, ‘lovely’ REN toiletries in the bathroom. ‘Our capacious room, with more than enough space for us and our toddlers, overlooked the road, but all was silent. We slept like tops.’ Some communication issues this year over a broken boiler on a cold day left one reader dissatisfied. A ‘superb’ breakfast of ‘succulent mushrooms, super sausages and excellent coffee’ was a ‘great’ start to the morning.