In the know

House style

Arts and Crafts mansion

Grounds

Gossel Ridding sits atop eight acres of sloped gardens and woodland overlooking Windermere. As well as grassy banks to amble, there's a big outdoor table and chairs. Little feet should be careful on the stones. The daffodils in spring are legendary.

Sleeps

12 plus a single room and the option for two fold-out single cot beds.

Ideal for

Special-occasion celebrations; working holidays for film-industry folk; once-in-a-lifetime Lake District holidays.

Rates

£7,950 a week, peak season (half-term, bank holiday, school holidays). £5,950 out of those times. £4,250 for three days midweek or a long weekend peak season; £3,000 off-season. 10 per cent discount to Goldsmith members off-season.

Minimum hire

Three nights.

Also

There is a concierge service: see 'Activities' section of 'Worth Getting Out of Bed For'. Non-smoking throughout, although there is plenty of covered veranda space for smokers; no pets allowed.

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Interior

Bedrooms 

Every bedroom has a view of the lake, the fells or woodland, and each is kitted out for kings, with super-stylish bathrooms. Crisp, white, high-thread-count sheets cover the brand-new Hypnos beds. Pretty, rustic baskets by each door are a dignified reminder to pop muddy shoes in here rather than risk blemishing these spotless suites – especially those with thick, white carpeting.

Bedroom 1:  Officially called the Guest Room, the pleated cream French linen-lined curved walls, and dark-wood detail lend an air of first-class cabin on the Titanic – if it wasn’t for the spectacular view of the lake through themany windows, you might forget where you are. A tiled fireplace represents its Arts and Crafts heritage, and the en suite with shower is pure 21st century.

Bedroom 2: Stepping into this heavenly all-white master bedroom is like  popping open a bottle of liquid yoga – the soft, plush carpet underfoot, the vast plain white bed and that view framed by plain white drapes. Two cupboards, benches in the original chintz, white-painted dressing table and Perspex tables complete the chic. The en suite has two side-by-side dranch rain showers, and a vast bath and glass sink.

Bedroom 3: A twin with a glorious wooden dressing room. (No ensuite, but there’s a heavenly spacious bathroom with freestanding tub across the hall.)

Bedroom 4: A double with a modern four-poster and en suite with stylish Scandinavian-style bespoke bath and shower.

Bedroom 5: A mint-coloured double will give bathroom fetishists a thrill thanks to the huge shower in the ensuite.

Bedrooms 6 and 7: The all-white Swedish-style double room and single (no ensuite) are pretty as can be.

In the bathrooms, contemporary rainwater showers, elegant eye-catching sinks – all the cherry-picked fixtures and fittings are entirely individual and especially alluring in the glow of dimmable lighting. Luxuriate with five-star-standard L’Occitane toiletries then swaddle yourself in huge, fluffy white towels.

Kitchen If Mac had to create a showkitchen, it would look this white, and its presentation would be as perfectly considered. The perfect marriage of now with then, a fireplace and servants’ bell box hark back to its 19th-century stately-home status, with enough modern-day clout in the glorious Mercury range cooker and Gaggenhau fridge/freezer to wow designer label lovers. The Lakeland grey-slate floor is heated underfloor but the larder is perfect chilled-pantry temperature, and as well as containing kitchen cupboard essentials, it boasts a microwave and most baking paraphernalia. Two tables mean everyone can eat here at staggered times if they wish. There is a back door leading to an outdoor game store with an extra fridge – perfect for when catering is required for events. The laundry room next to the kitchen was the scullery – its nod to the past comes in an incredible original glass-fronted wooden floor-to-ceiling cabinet. Something the staff here from yesteryear would no doubt have appreciated are the two Miele washing machines, and twinset of tumble dryers so you can get everyone’s washing and drying done in double time.

Living room There are four main reception rooms. The large beam-ceilinged oak-panelled room to the right was originally the Billiard Room, and continues to be called that although now its entertainment highlight is its impressive Bose sound system and huge slate fireplace. Giant-sized stoking tools hang ready for alpha males to act on any fire-stoking instincts. Enormous cream sofas are elegant (and thankfully have washable covers) and beg languid limbs to stretch across; you'll want to get supine to best appreciate that spectacular Lake Windermere view. The Adam Room is Gossel Ridding’s music parlour, with a concert-standard piano. (If you’re less musically gifted, they can arrange for a pianist to come and regale you for dinner parties or romantic serenades: one of the activities the concierge service can take care of.) Pad across the seagrass-covered parquet to a lilac chaise longe or beige circular cushion-covered sofa and admire the delicate mouldings in the ceiling and on the walls. The TV Room is the audio-visual jewel in Gossel Ridding’s crown, with a 50-inch television begging for guests to take advantage of the enormous DVD library and Sky+. Pitch-black walls and light-excluding black-out blinds ensure it’s as dark as a coal mine even in full daylight, betraying that this is a house happy hosting film-industry professionals – if the framed movie posters weren’t enough of a give away. A vast room-wide charcoal-grey window seat is loaded with cushions in every size and shade of almost-black, complemented by a stack of cable-knit blankets for maximum cosying up.

Dining room The huge tealight-covered table seats 12, with two seats at each head, ideal for special-occasion suppers, yet another ready-to-light fire with a copper hood and traditional Arts and Crafts tiling. Magnificent hand-carved pannelling and ornate plastering in the ceiling, with a cosy corner and low wooden table and chocolate-brown leather square pouffes for kids to have their own party at, or for more intimate low-key dinners. Enormous, see-through string-molded orbs hang overhead striking a note of contemporary boutique-hotel chic.

Other There is a study equipped with a desk to pen that film script; it can instantly be made your very own office, because as well as WiFi there's a printer, scanner and fax if you really need to keep in touch with the outside world.

Outdoor

Gardens Eight acres of leafy flower-filled grounds look across Lake Windermere – you couldn't better this view. Walk to the bottom of the garden and open the back gate onto a road that leads you to the town in a few minutes; you can get to the lake itself in 15 minutes.

Parking As well as a garage, there is room for a few cars on the driveway.

Other There is a concierge service at your beck and call to make restaurant and excursion bookings. To really make a special occasion of your stay, if you’re not musically gifted enough yourself to have a tinkle on the ivories, they can arrange for a pianist to come and regale you for dinner parties or romantic serenades.

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Planes Both Manchester and Liverpool airports are less than 90 minutes from the southern reaches of the Lakes by car. Glasgow and Edinburgh airports are a couple of hours from Carlisle, in the north of Cumbria.

Trains The West Coast Main Line from London to Glasgow stops at Oxenholme (change here for Kendal and Windermere), Penrith and Carlisle. Regular direct trains connect Manchester Airport and Windermere (via Oxenholme).

Local taxi service Call 015394 42355 or 0800 393341 for a cab Or to book your own wheels, ring Lakes Car Hire on 015394 44408. For car hire, click on our Travel Offers page. Smithcard holders get a 10 per cent discount with Hertz.

Review

‘Darling, have you seen the little Smiths? They were in the music room threatening to play the piano when I last saw them.  Now that I think about it, they did have some DVDs in their hands – check the screening room. I’ll be relaxing by the fire in the white sitting room if you need me. You might need to shout over those speakers though.’ Oh how self-catering times have changed.

This magnificent Cumbrian house overlooking Windermere was built by the great grandfather of current owner, Charlie Pattinson. ‘As a young man in the late 1800s he would come up to Goss Hill, gaze out at the view of the lake and the Langdales and plan his future. His dream was to build a house on this hill,’ explains Charlie. And now for the first time, Gossel Ridding’s doors are now open to everyone.

On arrival, nothing prepares these guests for how special a stay this is. Entering a huge oak-panelled hall perfumed by scented candles, we feel honored to be the first non-family visitors ever to stay at Gossel Ridding. A note is waiting for us from Charlie: ‘We hope you have a fabulous stay and love the house and gardens as much as we do. We have had very happy times here. It is where I spent much of my childhood, where Teddie and I met and where we got married.’

In Autumn 2006 the Pattinsons started renovating the house, and just under two years later, after lavishing an incredible amount of energy and inspired interior design on Gossel Ridding, they have flung open the doors to this photoshoot-fit stately home. Having been rewired throughout, all the leaded windows replaced with spectacular double-glazed replicas, the hand-carved woodwork polished and fireplaces lovingly restored and five new highest-spec bathrooms added, it is ready for Mr & Mrs Smith guests. ‘We used the best of modern design in keeping with the spirit of our ancestors,’ says Charlie of the property resplendent in b and b Italia pieces, bespoke light fittings, and beautiful natural stone and marble. Present-day chic comes from statement lightshades, Seventies glass, oversized bulbs, and exquisite fittings in the bathrooms. And form is backed by function – cream drapes not only look pretty, but blocks any sunshine; meanwhile an all-white kitchen is equipped with every conceivable accessory needed to whip up your very own banquet fit for an aristocrat.

Charlie's wife, Teddie, was very much the driving force in Gossel Ridding’s renaissance, and she is responsible for perfecting the wonderful contrast of old and new and also natural and hi-tech. ‘We were inspired by our own favourite holidays where we delight in beautiful design and luxury combined with the joy of simplicity and functionality. We wanted to create somewhere guests can steal the opportunity for peace and reflection but also treat the kids to some Swallows and Amazons time,’ she explains.

‘Do you think it’s haunted?’ asks my companion as we pad down the wooden-floored hallway to snoop around another gorgeous boudoir. As thrill-packed as Gossel Ridding comes, we’re pretty sure it isn’t. Unless it’s a poltergeist with a predisposition for plumping pillows and dusting mantelpieces. The only phantom we can find here is in the form of a Philippe Starck ‘Ghost’ chair. And that super-chic 21st-century spirit is exactly what gives this magnificent Edwardian mansion such soul.

Reviewed by Juliet Kinsman

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