One night stand

An increasing number of sprawling historic houses is available for rent for short stays, finds Eleanor Doughty

- Eleanor Doughty

YOU’RE sprawled on the sofa, tea— brought by the butler—at hand. Nearby, the fire crackles deliciously. You are at peace, in beautifully designed surroundings. Except it’s not your house. You’ve rented it and, at the end of the week, you’re free to go home and not worry about the gas bill. Welcome to the super-rental.

The concept of renting a country house for the holidays isn’t new; in 1881, Empress Elisabeth of Austria rented Combermere Abbey from Viscount Combermere for £600 a month, but an increasing number of estate owners have discovered the charm—and returns—of the high-end let. These are no ordinary holiday cottages, rather ‘exclusive use rentals, with privacy at their heart.

For 15 years, the Clifford family’s Frampton Court in Gloucestershire had been run as a bed and breakfast. After the first lockdown, it was time for change and, now, Frampton is available from £3,100 for a minimum three-night stay, having been renovated by Peter and Charlotte Clifford, who ‘took it in turns to sand floorboards at 11pm’. Together, they have created a cinema room, a games room, and gutted the kitchen, in which the Aga has been replaced with a periwinkle-blue Everhot and the table ‘made by a gentleman in the village out of a beam from one of the estate farmhouses’. When furnishings were needed for the downstairs rooms, Mrs Clifford explored the attics, finding a gold pelmet that once hung in the dining room. This now adorns the cinema room, with blue velvet curtains that ‘drape over the screen so it looks like a theatre’. When new wallpaper was needed, Mrs Clifford went to Lewis & Wood. Happily, the house is now fully booked for the rest of the year.