Originally published by the Guardian, Saturday 14 June 2008
Holiday houses that can accommodate an extended family or two groups are not easy to find. In the Lake District, many of the grander Victorian homes have been turned into hotels (nothing wrong with that), or in the case of farmhouses, still have farmers living in them, their barns converted into holiday lets (nothing wrong with that either). Gossel Ridding, an Arts and Crafts house on a hillside overlooking Windermere, is unusual – it can sleep a party of 13 – and it has just been launched on to the holiday rental market. It comes at a price, but in a five-star location.
A former family home (in all senses, since the incumbent’s great-grandfather built it and let his sons join the master craftsmen in contributing carved interior decoration), it promises the often mutually exclusive qualities of seclusion and convenience, being only a short taxi trip from Windermere railway station.
After my cab had turned through a white gate, a hilly street of stone terraced cottages was replaced by shadowy woodland. Then, clearing the trees, the driveway started to climb steeply, and suddenly the house loomed, grey and white and gabled.
Inside it’s more World of Interiors than holiday let, with seven bedrooms, oak panelling by the yard, thick cream carpets, B&B Italia furnishings, a grand piano, a dinner gong, solid wood butler’s pantry, a charcoal movie room with sprawl-on-me sofas, a choice of staircases, front and back, a dining room for a comfortable 12, plus leather pouffes and a low coffee table by the ornately tiled fireplace (and there were enough of those – all laid, with extra logs in giant raffia baskets).
Upstairs, in the study, I found framed Academy Awards belonging to the owner, the TV and film producer Charlie Pattinson (whose credits include the Jimmy McGovern series The Lakes), bedrooms and bathrooms at every turn, walk-in showers, a roll-top here, a moulded scoop of an Italian basin there. Two whitewashed children’s rooms, a jewel-like double the colour of jade, and everywhere the woodcarving, decoration and pattern with which the followers of the Arts and Crafts movement embellished their surroundings. Candles, cut glass and slim poetry volumes all added to my sense of wellbeing.
Had this been one of those grey, rain-lashed evenings when the mist descends like a bout of depression, I might have made like a Kristin Scott Thomas character, sighing by a streaming window, before pouring myself a stiff one and retreating to a magnificent oak fireside. On this gloriously hot summer evening, though, the indoor attributes were only a fraction of the story.
Beyond the tall drawing room windows was a view of Windermere and the Langdales so spectacular I doubted whether George Clooney could lay claim to anything better from his place on Lake Como. Slipping out through a side door, I hauled a wooden lounger across the terrace to the front and, sipping lemon tea, surveyed the twinkling lake hemmed by dark green firs, the faraway fells hazy grey.
A hot air balloon sailed overhead as the dipping sun cast a silvery lustre on to the distant water and a soft breeze nudged the rhododendrons which hugged the croquet lawn.
Back at the house I heated my dinner-in-a-box then slouched in front of The Devil Wears Prada to watch pin-thin fashionistas while I ate a lamb tagine of such richness my digestive system was still complaining the following afternoon.
In the morning I woke in a bedroom of impossible whiteness, and bathed in an oval bath of impressive depth. Then, gathering my things, I prepared to leave, reluctantly, for despite the brevity of my visit, I’d fallen under the spell of this magical place.
07810 091008, gosselridding.com. Three days from £3,750, one week from £7,000. Extra services include grocery deliveries, chef, or meals-in-a-box from Lucy’s of Ambleside.