may-2012

Top: The Castelletto di Montebenichi in the Chianti region Above: Thornbury Castle
belonged to Edward Stafford, third duke of Buckingham. Henry VIII had him executed
and holidayed there with his wife Anne Boleyn Below: Star chef Raymond Blanc
splendour. Also popular with kids (and outdoorsy dads) is
Belgium’s Château de Lavaux-Ste-Anne (8 Lavaux-Sainte-Anne,
tel. +32 84 38 83 62), a 15th-century castle in miles of open
countryside that houses a museum of the history of hunting.
Gardens
Among the grand houses to look to their grounds, rather than their
great halls, is Alnwick. The 42-hectare modern gardens of this
11th-century castle (Denwick Lane, Alnwick, Northumberland, tel.
+44 1665 511 350, alnwickgarden.com) were commissioned by
the current duchess of Northumberland from Belgian father-andson
garden architects Jacques and Peter Wirtz (wirtznv.be) in
1997. Their achievement is a spectacular garden incorporating the
largest water feature in the UK, the Grand Cascade. Recently
completed, it attracts a million visitors a year.
Meanwhile the gardens at Belgium’s 17th-century Château
d’Annevoie (37a rue des Jardins, tel. +32 8261 1555, jardins.
dannevoie.be) have also been renovated with an eye to the new.
Here 20 ornamental ponds and lakes are fed by 50 water jets and
waterfalls. Visit in spring, when the waterfalls mist beds of
blooming daffodils.
brussels airlines b.spirit! magazine may-jun
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Both followed the lead of Villa d’Este (Piazza Trento, Tivoli, tel.
+39 0445 230310, villadestetivoli.info). This fresco-rich
16th-century mansion at Lake Como, outside Rome, opened its
doors to the public in the early 20th century. Its gardens are the
main draw, restored to their renaissance splendour, with fresco
grottoes and 200 fountains fed by the diverted waters of the
Aniene river.
Restaurants
The upsurge of great house hotel restaurants achieving Michelin
star status is another key approach: attracting foodies. Raymond
Blanc’s Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons (Church Rd, Milton, tel. +44
1844 278881, manoir.com) led the charge. The chef acquired the
15th-century Oxfordshire manor house in 1984 and set about
creating a rare thing: a classic English country-house hotel with a
modern French restaurant, the latter earning its two Michelin stars
in 1986 (and the French chef his reputation).
Remarkably, the small German town of Bergisch-Gladbach
(between Cologne and Düsseldorf) is home to two stately homes,
or schlösser, housing triple-Michelin-starred restaurants. The
restaurant at Schloss Hotel Bensberg (Kadettenstrasse, tel. +49
2204 42906, schlossbensberg.com), serves the “new German
cuisine” of chef Joachim Wissler; and at Castle Hotel Lerbach
(Lerbacher Weg, tel. +49 2202 2040, schlosshotel-lerbach.com/
en) chef Nils Henkel serves locally sourced meats seasoned with
herbs from the castle gardens.
With its abundance of venerable old buildings — and, of course,
all that lubricating fine wine — grand-houses-gone-gourmet also
abound in Burgundy. Among the best is Hostellerie de Levernois
(rue du Golf, Beaune, tel. +33 80 24 73 58, levernois.com/uk) a
19th-century manor in wooded grounds that’s home to trailblazing
modern French Bistrot du Bord de l’Eau.
Hotels and holiday lets
By far the most popular adaptation of grand des-reses is into
holiday accommodation.
Building preservation charity the Landmark Trust (tel. +44
1628 825 920, landmarktrust.org.uk) buys and restores historic
buildings to turn into holiday spots, with their 190 properties in
Britain, France and Italy including medieval and Tudor Wortham
Manor in Devon (sleeps 15, from £705 p/n) and Villa Sarenco, a
16th-century Palladio villa in Vicenza (sleeps 16, from £899 p/n).
Europe’s manicured hillsides are littered with fine old houses
turned four- and five-star hotel haunts. Achieving top marks for
2011 from TripAdvisor customer reviews are Castelletto di
Montebenichi (Montebenichi, tel. +39 55 9910110, castelletto.it,
from £121 for a double), a castle hotel set in the vineyards and
olive groves of the Chianti region; Parador de Jaen (Castillo De
Santa Catalina, tel. +34 9152 42400, paradores.es, aradores.es, from £103 for
a double), a 13th-century fortress palace ace with breathtaking
views of Spain’s Sierra Morena Hills; and nd Thornbury Castle
in Southwest England (Thornbury tel. +44 1454 416188,
thornburycastle.co.uk, from £197), the one where you get
to lay your head where Henry VIII once e slept.
For more, there’s Relais & Châteaux (relaischateaux.com),
relaischateaux.com),
individually owned and operated luxury y hotels with several
once-noble properties converted for the e enjoyment
of the common man. Vive la révolution!
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