#designupnorth, Architecture, Design, House Tour, Interiors, Outdoors, Renovation
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The Coach House at Middleton Lodge #designupnorth

The hubster and I have just got back from a mini break. I thought you guys would like to see where we stayed as it’s just a little bit special.

Middleton Lodge is a Georgian Palladian mansion set within 200 acres of open countryside, on the outskirts of Middleton Tyas, a small village in North Yorkshire.

Designed by the architect John Carr, it was built between 1777-1780 for George Hartley Esquire. Today, Middleton Lodge is now home to the Allison family who have lived here for nearly 40 years. Their home however, is also available for hire for private wedding receptions, functions and film location shoots.

A short walk away from the main house is The Coach House. Originally built for the carriages and horses of George Hartley Esq, it’s now the ground’s hotel, restaurant and bar.

The horse-shoe shaped building has that perfect Georgian symmetry and proportion, with rounded archways, feature windows, pale brick walls, and original beams.

With the flowering beds in the central courtyard and the April sunshine beaming down upon us, this spot was like its own self-contained retreat.

To the left was the bar and restaurant….

…and to the right, was the main reception, lounge area and treatment rooms.

Under the main archway was a secret door up to the Hayloft bedrooms.

I wonder how many feet have walked up here?

The hotel has nine bedrooms in total. Three Hayloft bedrooms, five Garden Rooms accessed via a private garden and the Tack Room which has its own wood burner and gigantic bathroom.  A two minute walk away from the Coachhouse is the 18th century restored Farmhouse,

“set in its own private garden, surrounded by a wild meadow. On the ground floor there is an open plan eat-in kitchen, dining area and lounge, with five bedrooms spread over the ground floor and first floor…. Sleeping up to 10 guests, it is available to hire as a whole private house or as individual bedrooms.”

This would be the perfect place to book for a weekend away with friends and family.

The view from the Haycroft landing across into the grounds.

And the door to our bedroom, “Adventurer”.

Rebecca Allison of the Allison family, is responsible for all the new interiors of the Coach House. Mixing vintage, antique furniture with sympathetically selected contemporary furniture, Rebecca has found a lovely balance. Well proportioned furniture, dressed and styled without being overly fussy or try hard.

The bedside lighting was on and Roberts Radio tuned in to Classic FM when we were shown our room. I felt my shoulders drop as soon as we walked in.

I spotted the Bouji chair from made.com, cushion cover from H&M and Ikea mirror straight away. The hubster didn’t seem as impressed as I was with myself. He was more “concerned” about my ability to spot where a cushion was from within 20 feet.

A nosey in the bathroom with Burlington furniture and fittings throughout. Fancy!

Loved that basin.

A fully stocked array of goodies. Always appreciate it when a hotel supplies conditioner. I don’t get it when they only give you shampoo.

The view back into the bedroom and my side of the bed.

Where we were provided with a plethora of reading material atop a vintage suitcase.

I wonder if C.E. Ricketts knows we have his suitcase?

The view from the bedroom window down onto the courtyard. Pretty.

Once we’d checked in and had a good nosey around our new digs for the night, we decided to go for a stroll around the estate before we went down to the bar for our complimentary cocktails (we’d booked through Mr & Mrs Smith hence the freebie).

After a few steps into the great outdoors, I saw a sign for “Woodland Walk”, and as the sun continued to shine down, we decided we’d follow the path and see where it took us.

I don’t want to sound too dramatic (I know) but this woodland walk was much longer than we’d both anticipated. And it was a one track situation. Once you were on it, it was either onward or retreat.

After about 30 minutes of fair pace walking, we deduced the woodland walk followed the entire perimeter of the 200 acre grounds.

**does quick math/trigonometry/algebra thingy**

That’s about two and a half miles!

I will admit, after about 30 minutes I started to freak out a little. We walked past some kind of teepee made out of old branches. Oh how we joked about people having made a shelter because they got lost on this ere “woodland walk”. Then there was a clearing that looked just like the Blair Witch Project. I’m not kidding. Then we found a bone, just before we came across a huge quarry. At this point we both agreed this would be a great spot to dispose of a body. And just before I started to lose all signs of rational thought (almost an hour after we’d set off) we found salvation.

We’re alive! Time to celebrate with cocktails.

The bar was brilliant. Brilliant surroundings, staff, drink selection, service. So good.

We sat in the snug area enjoying our complimentary cocktails, which were delicious. Chatting away about our near death experience (of going for a walk). Honestly, i’m a nightmare.

The snug was a lovely little cosy spot to sit and watch the world go by through the large windows and doors. Everything framed to perfection.

We had a table booked at the restaurant for later that evening, something we were both very much looking forward to after our epic trek.

And this is where I stopped taking photos, after all, it was a night away with the hubster. “Date night” or whatever it’s called these days. But he did manage to get these two pics of me during dinner.

See how much happier I am with a glass of wine in my hand (I didn’t know he’d taken the first one btw, I was contemplating what wallpaper would have looked good on the wall opposite. It did need some).

I’m not reviewing the restaurant or anything, but I will say, it was all delicious and we ate everything. We’d both eat there again tonight if we could. In fact, I think it’s safe to say, we will be going back at some point. I don’t say that very often about anywhere as places rarely live up to their expectations, in my opinion anyway. But this place really was stunningly beautiful. Smile inducing surroundings and a really nice, laid back, no pretence vibe with efficient yet personable service. A real pleasure to have been.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BSayDs8Atng/?taken-by=makingspacesnet

Middleton Lodge

10 Comments

  1. Wow, what a gorgeous house! I think the snug was my favourite room, that and the views from the bedroom. Thanks for sharing x

  2. Hahaha! Yes, I’d be much happier with wine than getting lost on some woodland walk! The house is gorgeous, I love Georgian architecture and North Yorkshire (hoping to be back over Easter), so this post is perfect on so many levels 🙂 xo

  3. Oh lovely – so glad you had a nice weekend away hun!
    Can’t decide which is my favourite bit. Maybe the secret staircase? No, it’s the bar. That’s where the wine lives 😉 xx

  4. Ooh wow it looks gorgeous! The architecture of the building is stunning and that bath looks divine! X

  5. Rebecca says

    I can’t tell you how much I love this blog post! Just came across it looking for some images for something. I hope you’ll come back soon and see what we’ve been up to since you last visited – I’m currently working on a further 11 bedrooms in the Dovecote, and the 3 more bedrooms “Potting sheds” next to the Fig House and kitchen gardens. Lots happening and it’s an absolute gift to work on. Ps C.E. Ricketts was my great great grandfather so hopefully he’s ok with us using his case! 😉

    • Karen Knox says

      Ah thank you so much for commenting Rebecca! Sounds like you’re busy over there. Hopefully we will be back again soon. Made me smile about the suitcase. That’s so nice!! 🙂

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