Make like a Bridgerton and book 18th century period property Keythorpe Hall – with its own staff
Whether you’re a fan of Regency-era period drama Bridgerton or can’t stand the sight of it, retreating to a stately pile in the English countryside has always been a pleasant experience, especially for Londoners. Even though restrictions have lifted for foreign travel I still love nothing more than a simple drive out of the capital for a long weekend.
Traditional options for an English staycation tend to be a country house hotel or private home rental, but Keythorpe Hall combines the best of both. Opened in November 2021, it’s a fully staffed mansion complete with its own 1.8-acre Victorian walled garden, growing an abundance of fruit and veg served just minutes after being picked, as well as flowers, which are sold to specialist florists and Michelin-star restaurants in London.
You can’t book an individual room like in a hotel – instead, the idea is that it is an exclusive buy-out with the full support of a dedicated housekeeping and catering team, just like in the 1800s when it was owned by the 11th Lord Berners, who was president of the Royal Agricultural Society.
Located on a verdant estate in rural Leicestershire with rolling hills and patches of forest, Keythorpe Hall was initially acquired in 2012 as a family home by former-banker Barbara van Teeffelen and her husband, but over the last few years they decided to move out and transform it into a house for entertaining.
In a way it’s rather “utopian” because it brings together both hedonism and sustainability. Keythorpe is ideal for parties and banquets but ones where the organic food served is also, by the way, unbelievably delicious. You can bring your own wine (and pay no corkage fee), drink martinis with homemade herbal tinctures, and pick bouquets of fresh dahlias in the morning sun.
We arrived on a Friday afternoon via train from London St Pancras (it’s just under an hour to Market Harborough, followed by a 15-minute taxi transfer) and were greeted with pots of tea and home-baked cakes. Sinking into a sofa in Keythorpe’s elegant living room, with its double height Georgian windows looking out onto the countryside, the stress of my week began to disappear.
In total there are seven bedrooms in the main house, with an additional three-bedroom apartment available, meaning up to 20 people can be accommodated. The interiors have all been designed and curated by the Van Teeffelens, and informed by their own travels. The no locks policy on the bedroom doors was inspired by the intimacy of the Ceylon Tea Trails property in Sri Lanka, for instance. Barbara says: “Keythorpe is a home not a hotel and we wanted to keep that feel.”
Rather than being stuffy, chintzy or ice-cold minimalist, guest rooms at Keythorpe bring together handprinted textiles, antique furniture, decorative wallpaper, quirky art and regal bathrooms. I particularly loved the freestanding tubs with garden views, and the thoughtful extras such as vases of hand-picked flowers, mini decanters of brandy, and moorish orchard-fresh apples with pots of sunflower seed butter.
In the evening our group gathered downstairs for champagne and canapés, before trooping to the dining room where a long table was festooned with candles, blooms from the garden and hand-made earthenware crockery. The gastronomy at Keythorpe is an absolute highlight of the stay, and something that truly makes it stand out from any other country retreat in the UK. In the kitchen are a profoundly talented team of chefs headed up by Peter Johansen (formerly at Maaemo in Oslo) and Bent Varming (previously at St John in London).
Meals are hyper seasonal and include rare ingredients from the garden but, of course, can be tailored to guest requirements. Our menu featured a selection of raw and pickled vegetables, foraged nettle and verbena broth, baked white beetroot, charcoal roasted miso aubergine, pork belly, roasted courgette with sour plum, and warm apple cake with buckwheat salted caramel. Barbara explains that the food served is not designed to be overwhelmingly rich and heavy – guests will feel well-fed but not uncomfortably full (something I appreciate).
She told me: “The menus are inspired by the amazing produce from our walled garden, local farms and small artisan businesses. We didn’t want to create something that was simply ‘luxurious’ because we were serving lobster and oysters. The simple street food restaurants in Vietnam, for example, are an inspiration for us because that simplicity can also be gastronomic. To us it’s luxury because you are serving something so fresh that you wouldn’t be able to get it in a London restaurant.”
She adds: “A good example is the wild hop shoots that our head gardener, Claudio Bincoletto, forages in a single three-day window during the year – pan-fried with olive oil and salt, they are delicious. You would never have been able to get it in a commercial food system because it’s not readily available.”
Keythorpe Hall also has its own wine cellar where tastings can be arranged with sommelier Bert Blaize, who is always on hand to make cocktails and create wine pairings. In the daytime, guests can pick botanical herbs from the garden to use in the production of their own gin, which includes a tour of the nearby Brentingby Gin distillery in Melton Mowbray. Other bespoke activities that can be arranged include vegetable harvesting, drinking champagne in the outdoor hot tub, pizza and bread-making, and croquet on the lawn.
I can’t help but think the Bridgertons would approve.
Do it yourself:
Keythorpe Hall is available to rent to small private groups of friends and family only. It sleeps up to 14 people in seven principal bedrooms in the main house, with a further 3-bedroom apartment available.
Prices start from £6,000 per night for the full use of the house and grounds, and packages can be tailored to include all meals, drinks and service. The menus are created to reflect the best seasonal produce from the walled garden, local farms and small artisan businesses. Wines will be chosen to complement the food in consultation with the guests, by award winning sommelier and author of Which Wine When, Bert Blaize.