In the know

House style

A Grade-II Georgian red-brick residence with colourful retro-meets-now unscrimping design.

Grounds

A lovely garden is framed by copper beech trees and visited by friendly chickens. There’s also a walled terraced area furnished with sun loungers, a stable with a hot tub and, hopefully in the future, a sauna and spa-treatment room.

Sleeps

Up to 20 (nine bedrooms in total plus a sofa bed for 2 in the cottage).

Ideal for

Up-all-night celebrations with friends, inspiring brainstorming breaks, eccentric family escapes.

Rates

Prices start at £2,250 for two nights during the week and £3,650 for a three-night weekend break and rise to £8,550 for Christmas and new year bookings. Ring 0845 034 0700 to find out the best possible rate for your dates.

Minimum hire

Three nights.

Back to top

Interior

Bedrooms 

In the main house:

Bedroom 1: The bijou Ferrari-toned Red Room is rather special – it can either be a cosy twin, or ask them to fit the custom-built mattress and it becomes an eye-popping BED-room that is big enough in which to swing a cat, a dog, and a whole herd of larger animals, frankly.

Bedroom 2: Heck, the wallpaper panels in the Chinoiserie Room alone cost more than many hotels furnishings in their entirety. Understated, it ain’t. And this room can be made up as two twins or as one big bed for two. At least.

Bedroom 3: The Hollywood Room is a double-queen delight – as in the two large beds. The Fifties gold-and-pink flourishes are pure showbiz – all that's missing are effigies of Elton and David.

Bedroom 4: Black-and-white classic, the Versace Room, could be seen as the master suite; mind you, if it’s where you want to take your mistress, make sure those curtains are drawn. As you drive down Snettisham's high street, when illuminated at night, the view into this boudoir's windows rather steals the limelight.

Bedroom 5: Much like lots of Carrington House, village-view Green Room has a look to it that you’d expect to see in a stylised biopic of a Hollywood starlet’s house in the Fifties. But with boosted Technicolour.

In the adjoining cottage:

Bedroom 6: The black-and-white Terrace Room has its own – have you guessed yet? – yup, terrace. There's a quirky four-poster bed too.

Bedroom 7: The ornate-walled Balcony Room overlooks the garden.

Bedroom 8: The Cabin Room is fabulously intimate with its wood-panelling and cruise-ship cosiness. Who needs big windows when you have that freestanding bath to occupy the view?

Kitchen If you’re a believer that the kitchen is the hub of a sociable house, then be assured that this is your mothership. These sunny, canary-coloured cooking quarters not only boast an aga, breakfasting table and pantry – there's even a sofa. All that's missing is a pinny-wearing Doris Day. Next door is a more functional catering kitchen complete with shelves of CH monogrammed dinner service. Nothing at Carrington House is done in halves.

Living room Relax or rev up by the fire in the banana-leaf-walled Den. Friends may find it’s where everyone mingles most, while families may want to flop here in front of the plasma telly. Across the hallway is the Pavilion Room, a drawing room steeped in special-occasion sophistication – the bamboo- and parakeet-flocked black wallpaper is art in itself. And a backdrop heaven sent for cocktail hour. Head down to the basement and you'll find the equivalent of Carrington House’s jewel in its crown; the precious gem in a gold Versace belt buckle, perhaps? The Leisure Lounge is a hedonist’s sound-proofed audio-visual paradise. Karaoke machine, DJ decks and at-the-ready CD mixer, projector and cinema screen – ad hoc performance of Stars in their Eyes, anyone? There's even a [drum roll, please] dressing-up room; for those that just can't enjoy a social event without some velvet-rope exclusivity this can double as your VIP annex.

There’s an additional cosy sitting room in the adjoining cottage. Don’t go having too many drinks though and think that patterned carpet is a Magic Eye artwork. Although we swear we saw a dolphin.

Dining room Banqueting doesn’t get more decadent than at this table for 22. Monochrome, hexagonal and hot pink, the décor of this dining room is anything but traditional. Even the dullest board meeting would get a boost if hosted in this eccentric event space.

Other There is room for a few cars at the back and on the road alongside the house.

Outdoor

Poolside There isn’t a pool but there is a hot tub. Oh yeah.

Gardens There’s a lovely garden and a wonderful walled terrace furnished with sun loungers, which are heavenly in summer. Hopefully in the future (2010), a sauna and spa treatment room will be added to the stables which currently house the Whirlpool. And not exactly on-site, but connected to Carrington House, is their beach hut on Old Hunstanton beach, just ten minute's drive away.

Parking There is space for a couple of cars at the back and on the road, but this is a small country village, so be considerate of the neighbours.

Back to top

Planes Gatwick and Heathrow are two or three hours away by train, via London. There’s also an airport at Norwich, with limited but occasionally handy connections to Scotland and Holland (www.norwichairport.co.uk).

Trains Trains run from London King’s Cross to King’s Lynn twice an hour; the journey takes about 90 minutes. There’s a service from London Liverpool Street to Norwich every half hour or so, and the journey takes a couple of hours.

Review

Imagine someone with impeccable interior-design taste and an incredible eye for style dropped some LSD, got handed an open chequebook and went w-i-l-d. Lovers of a more-is-more approach to interior decorating will revel in the over-the-top textiles and once-in-a-lifetime holiday house surprises. Minimalists, look away now.

Wallpaper fetishists, prepare to be blown away by opulent, in-your-face prints. A monochrome hexagonal pattern in the dining room comes care of Paper Moon. The black-based bamboo and parrot print that regales all in the Pavillion room was custom-made by owner and designer Shaun Clarkson. That floor-to-ceiling banana-leaf festoon in the den? Especially negotiated through Beverly Hills Hotel in LA, no less – you won’t see that iconic print anywhere else. And the panels in the Chinoiserie bedroom? This showstopping wallpaper is Schumacher from the Silk Road Sojourn range. We daren't be as vulgar as to reveal how pricey it was, but let's just say it cost more than most hotels' whole decorating budgets.

Be assured: it's not just the colours, the carpets and the textiles which wow. This stylish self-catering stay is peppered with unique fleamarket finds as well as five-star hotel-style flourishes. There's nothing its fun-loving owners haven't thought of. How many country hideaways have a dressing-up room? Let alone a sound-proofed subterranean Leisure Lounge equipped with an arsenal of state-of-the-art audio-visuals that includes a karaoke machine, DJ decks and projector screen? Cue you living out your every Stars in their Eyes fantasy, obv. Seriously, the Carrington House crew has thought of everything. The only thing that's absent is Alexis Colby, aka Joan Collins, pitching up at cocktail hour.

And those who think guests should get out more will love the beach hut at Old Hunstanton. Mind you, even outdoor thrilseekers might find it hard to prise themselves from that hot tub hidden in the garden. Last one in's a wallflower...

Reviewed by Juliet Kinsman

Back to top