For more information and to book please visit www.mrandmrssmith.com or let us arrange your whole trip, by calling +44 (0)20 8987 4312 or from the USA dial 1 866 610 3867.
The Old Surgery
- Style
- Artistic Elizabethan townhouse
- Setting
- Cotswolds' darling Tetbury
This four-bedroom former 1940s doctor's surgery couldn't have more character. Owned by acclaimed photographer and artist Maria Stengard-Green, and her husband Nigel, the Old Surgery is a celebration of both old and new. In the hallway, framed 16th-century deeds hang across from a gilded antique typewriter mounted on the wall; meanwhile in a cosy sitting room Wii and PS2 beg to be taken advantage of. This cheap-chic self-catering stay is clearly the ideal holiday home for an extended family or group of friends of all ages. Historical charm emanates from this Elizabethan townhouse’s uneven oak floorboards and an imposing stone fireplace in the small-scale, yet grand, dining hall in the centre of the house. 21st-century flourishes are apparent in impressive modern artworks and a cool monochrome bathroom. But this rental house’s biggest luxury isn’t anything flashy or fancy – the prime Cotswolds location in Tetbury is what really wows.
'Fab house, fab location... Wonderful place for my weekend!'
In the know
House style
Elizabethan townhouse.
Grounds
Small walled courtyard at the back of the house where you can enjoy a barbecue.
Sleeps
8 in four bedrooms, but you could fit up to 10 including children.
Ideal for
Groups of friends or family, stylish celebrations, art lovers.
Rates
A week off-season is £1,400 (January to March; October to December, excluding holidays and half-term); Christmas/New Year week £2,400, high season, £1,795 a week. Weekends £975 year round, Mon–Fri, £1,025 year round.
Minimum hire
Three nights with some flexibility, check-in from 5pm.
Also
No pets – unless you can convince them you have one that is well-behaved and can be contained in a small area. They can’t go on the furniture, and an extra deposit is required. No smoking in the house.
Eating & drinking
The kitchen will be stocked with all your tea/coffee essentials, and you can also pre-order prepared meals of all your comfort-food favourites. There's also a fire pit in the courtyard if you want to have a barbecue. If you would rather someone else did all the hard work, they were closely with excellent caterers Cooper d'Abo www.cooperdabo.com.
Weddings
If you were getting married in the area anyway, the Old Surgery can lay on staff and could host 20 people for a small morning-after celebration or rehearsal affair at the house. Lots of great wedding venues in the area such as Chavenage House.
Children
Babies and toddlers are welcome and well catered for. The dining hall is equipped with two highchairs. A trusted local babysitting service is available on request. When the sun is shining, Tetbury is teeming with outdoor activity – horse riding, paint balling and go-karting are great for the adventurous types.
Music
There's unmetered WiFi throughout the house to fire up all your internet needs. As for feeding your technophilia, not only can you take advantage of the 32-inch flatscreen LCD telly in the downstairs lounge, but there's Wii and PS2 and a shelf of DVDs. Two bedrooms also have TVs, and there are two portable iPod docks.
Provided
There are two fires ready laid for your arrival and a stack of logs (careful you use the ones from the basket not the ones for show up the wall); if you're not such a dab hand with your kindling, these can also be refreshed for a small fee.
Packing tips
Your walking boots, golf clubs and polo stick. See activities.
Eco policy
This is a 16th-century home so don't expect solar panelling, but the recycling is good, and they do use products like Ecover.
Smith card offer
If you're a member of Mr & Mrs Smith, you can get special privileges at every Smith hotel you book through us. Just show your Smith card at check-in to claim the offer featured on every hotel page (like the one above).
Not a member? Join now
check availability
To check availability and book a vacation rental property please call the Smith travel team on 1 866 610 3867. We guarantee best available rates on all vacation rental properties.
Back to top
Interior
Bedrooms
Bedroom one: this is a master bedroom-standard double with a walk-in wardrobe and a dressing room and a lovely pitched-ceiling ensuite bathroom.
Bedroom two: this sweet twin room has a beamed ceiling.
Bedroom three: there's a small double bed and also a single bed which would suit two single friends or parents with a young child.
Bedroom four: this huge loft suite at the top of the house is the proper master bedroom. As a sense of the scale, the life-size cow hide rug is only a small patch of the beige carpet.
Kitchen This flagstone-floored kitchen has all the country cottage charm, with a range cooker and all the mod cons (microwave, dishwasher, washing machine, etc). There's a breakfast bar for a couple of guests to eat at.
Living room The downstairs sitting room has a sofa and chairs and also beanbags. There's unmetered WiFi throughout the house to fire up all your internet needs. There's also a 32-inch flatscreen LCD TV as well as a Wii and PS2 and a shelf of DVDs.
Dining room The front door takes you into a reception area, or vaulted drawing room, with a glorious fireplace where the main dining table seats up to 10 guests.
Other The vaulted drawing room opens out into this 16th-century house's mini atrium, a small but perfectly formed grand hall.
Outdoor
Gardens
Parking You should be able to find somewhere out on the street. There’s a free car park not such a long walk away.
Other There's a walled courtyard at the back of the house where there's a German beer hall table and bench which seats ten. Wonderfully peaceful and with the local church's steeple in view it's a great place to enjoy a barbecue, thanks to a fire pit.
check availability
To check availability and book a vacation rental property please call the Smith travel team on 1 866 610 3867. We guarantee best available rates on all vacation rental properties.
One of the Cotswolds most prime position, the world is your oyster. Bath is only 35mins away, and Cheltenham is also nearby.
Activities
Best picnic spot
You're spoiled for choice for places to get your spread: guests get a 10 per cent discount at Quail's; or there's the Chef’s Table; or go the whole hog and arrange for Cooper d'Abo's Dan & Bruno to create you a very special picnic. As for where to plot up, we recommend Westonbirt national arboretumin Minchinhampton. Or the grounds of Woodchester Mansion.
Best walks
They’ll send you off with a map if you like. Then turn right out of the property and drop down the hill and turn right which will take you through the estate where they have polo ponies. Or just amble your way to the Cat & Custard – it's a favourite of William and Harry.
Activities
Everything from riding to ballooning can be recommended or arranged as can shooting schools that can come to you. Fly fishing for trout/river and stream is great in this area. We also recommend watersports at the lakes, motor sports at Castle Combe, Walking boots. There are great golf clubs such as the one at Minchinhampton. Beaufort Polo Club is also nearby.
Smith tip
Do you have a hobby that suits sitting in a quiet corner? If so, this is the perfect place to take your knitting/sudoko puzzlebook/voodoo doll* (*delete as applicable) as there are loads of armchairs in random cosy enclaves.
Eating, drinking and dancing
Pubs
The Snooty Fox
+44 (0)1666 502436
This is a fine, traditional dining room for you to enjoy a great pub lunch. And we don't mean chicken in a basket type fare – think homecooked Wiltshire ham and beer-battered fresh fish at the bar, or Aberdeen Angus 8oz steak with home-cut chips or crayfish tail and salmon linguini in the restaurant.
Market Place, Tetbury, Gloucestershire GL8 8DD
check availability
To check availability and book a vacation rental property please call the Smith travel team on 1 866 610 3867. We guarantee best available rates on all vacation rental properties.
There’s been no scrimping on imaginative eye candy; in the hallway, framed 16th-century deeds hang across from a gilded antique typewriter mounted on the wall.
Review
This four-bedroomed former 1940s doctor's surgery couldn't have more character, especially for anyone looking for a stylish cottage to hire in the Cotswolds. The nearest station is Kemble, which is only and hour and 15 minutes from London Paddington – getting away from it all has never been so easy to do.
An Elizabethan townhouse lovingly rejuvenated by acclaimed photographer and artist Maria Stengard-Green, and her husband Nigel, the Old Surgery is steeped in history, modern and old. This dynamic duo has considered everything from what you can do to what you can see. There’s been no scrimping on imaginative eye candy; in the hallway, framed 16th-century deeds hang across from a gilded antique typewriter mounted on the wall. As for creature comforts, the amenities are anything but antique. Downstairs in a cosy sitting room Wii and PS2 beg to be taken advantage of on the plasma TV. And what better evidence that this cheap-chic self-catering stay is the ideal holiday home for an extended family?
Original oak floorboards hark back to the building’s impressive heritage and an imposing stone fireplace in the grand but small dining hall provides manor-house grandeur. 21st-century design flourishes are apparent in Dalsouple rubber flooring in a cool monochrome bathroom, and the neatly stacked showpiece logs in the reception room. But it’s the impressive modern artworks scattered throughout that really give the decor gravitas. Maria’s signature layered fine-art photographic pieces are known as ‘organic decollage’ – and if you ask nicely enough, you might be able to talk her into a commission.
In the bathroom there’s an eye-catching contemporary montage of the Stengard-Green’s ancestral portraits. But it’s not human peepers that most noticeably follow you around the room. It’s the monkeys in the striking image above the freestanding tub that really engage. This is also a nod to the fact some of the proceeds of your stay might help the Stengard-Green’s preservation projects to help bonobos, chimps and gorillas in Africa. Meanwhile their charity also begins at home. As well as supporting local businesses and suppliers, profits from Nigel’s book ‘The Seasonal Lunchbox’ contributes to the Haller Foundation, which helps to improve Africa’s chances at feeding itself. (See an excerpt recipe on our Blog.)
This rental house’s luxury doesn’t come from anything especially shiny or fancy – its real appeal is the prime Cotswolds location. Indeed one of the most alluring features of this Gloucestershire getaway is that you step outside onto one of the country’s most delightful high streets. Tetbury is not just aesthetically heart-warming with its yellow-stone facades and absence of chain-store signage. The real treat is that you couldn’t be better appointed for delis, gastropubs and even chic boutiques and galleries. If the great outdoors is more appealing, be assured that you have every sporting possibility on your lap too from horseriding to golf. Or keep it in a very low gear and just amble through some of this fabulous countryside – there are fantastic walks from the moment you step outside the house. Just what the doctor ordered? We thought you’d think so.
Reviewed by Juliet Kinsman
check availability
To check availability and book a vacation rental property please call the Smith travel team on 1 866 610 3867. We guarantee best available rates on all vacation rental properties.
Back to top
