Johns Cottage

The courtyard garden at Johns Cottage is where the evening starts and rarely where it ends. A heated tiki bar sits at the far end with overhead heaters and a fridge stocked and ready, so you stay out long after the sun drops behind the treeline. Next to it, a gas pizza oven and barbecue turn dinner into something you do outside, and the hot tub fills the gap between the last slice and bed. The whole courtyard is fully enclosed, with lawn, patio furniture, and enough room for eight people to spread out without getting under each other's feet.

Inside, the sun room blurs the line between garden and house. Weiner concertina glass folds back completely on a warm day, opening the room straight onto the tiki bar and patio. Rustic brick walls and two large rattan sofas make it the room you gravitate towards, whether the glass is open or not, and it catches the last of the light as the afternoon turns.

The games room pulls its weight. A pool table sits in the middle, a piano stands against the wall, there's a games console ready to go, and a decorative drum kit on the wall adds character. It fills up after dinner and keeps the competitive streak going well into the evening.

Back through the house, the kitchen is built around a range cooker, granite-topped island, and breakfast bar. A Nespresso machine, Quooker boiling tap, and air fryer sit alongside the usual appliances, and the dining table beside the panelled wall turns meals into slow, unhurried affairs. Double doors open from here straight to the courtyard, so cooking and outdoor dining overlap without effort. The sitting room has leather sofas and its own patio doors for quiet mornings with a coffee, while the snug tucks itself away with a Velux window overhead for anyone who wants to disappear with a film.

The super-king bedroom has its own en-suite with walk-in shower, two more are king-size, and the fourth is a king that splits into twins if you need it. A family bathroom with bath and shower, a ground-floor shower room, and a separate cloakroom keep mornings moving.

Hampsthwaite sits on the River Nidd with a village pub and shop, both under a mile from the front door. Gated parking takes four or five cars, dogs are welcome, and Harrogate is less than five miles south with Bettys, the Turkish Baths, and the Valley Gardens all there for a morning out. Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal are a short drive west, and the wider Nidderdale countryside starts more or less where the garden ends.