Deri Manor
Sleeps 21
Pembrokeshire, Wales
Gardens and grounds
Crunch your way along the sweeping tree-lined drive past the ha-ha. Notice the three acres of manicured lawn that merge into the 1000 more of farmland, and into the
Preseli hills beyond. Immediately plan a picnic on the lawn. Or to fish the trout lake. Stress is near-impossible here.
Walk the trails from the door through open pastures, then come home to drop your muddy boots on the back porch, where you can wash off your boots and bikes. Eat out on the terrace beneath the red kites and the big skies. Stay there to gaze at the stars glinting and multiplying in some of Europe’s darkest skies. Pour another drink. You’ll be waiting at the lights for quite some time.
Living spaces
Inside Deri Manor, wellies warm by the roaring fire, books sit on coffee tables beneath original beams, and sash windows gaze onto manicured parkland and the glassy trout lake. This is an elegant world of muted Georgian tones, beams, cornicing, Welsh art, and Welsh blankets to share with cocoa on squishy sofas.
It all begins with the listed original staircase: the original grand entrance made for dropping bags and creasing your neck heavenwards, or for ladies sweeping down for dinner, elegant gown in your wake. The sense of gentrified opulence continues in the living room, with the fireplace rescued from the Houses of Parliament.
MPs have their own bar and so does Deri Manor. Recharge your glass from behind the oak panels, take a pew in front of the fire beneath the chandeliers and the corniced ceilings, and get a singalong going on the old piano. Or just repair to the living room for games or books and a flexible approach to bedtime.
Stream superfast 76mb broadband, catch a Freeview film on the 56-inch TV, wield a strong drink and a true aim around the full-size snooker table in the billiards room. Escape with a book to the reading room overlooking the lake. Top up your glass, throw another log on the fire, consider becoming a Lord, Lady, Baron or Baroness.
Cooking and dining
The island kitchen’s fully equipped for whipping up wonderful home cooking on the Rangemaster and Bosch electric ovens with gas and electric hobs. But it’s big and beautiful with bar seating that makes it equally well equipped for chopping and chatting your way through perfect prepping.
Want to be waited on hand and foot? Of course you do. This is a manor house. So call up a private chief for canapes, buffets and fine dining. Roast topside of Welsh beef or Pembrokeshire lamb rump, anyone? Eat around the 21-seat dining table beneath the beams or out on the terrace under the whirling red kites and the vast skies.
Get your online orders from Tesco in Cardigan, and cakes and bakes from Crwst deli. Need a night off? Try the Golden Lion in Newport for Preseli lamb, Welsh beef, lobster fresh from the harbour, and sticky toffee pudding. Or maybe the Castle Inn for home- cooked honey and mustard-glazed ham or whole-tail breaded Whitby scampi.
Wine and dine in style at Cegin 1176 at Cardigan Castle. Enjoy stonebaked handmade pizzas, breads, delicious appetisers, Welsh craft beers and wine in a riverside courtyard at Pizzatipi. Or refuel on breakfast baguettes or scrambled eggs at Blas at Fronlas in Newport.
Bedrooms
Sleep beneath beautiful beams on deep mattresses with the sash window open to the pure Pembrokeshire air. Pick from ten bedrooms sleeping 21 across two floors. Customise your beds as luxury super kingsizes or twins through zip and link.
On the first floor, Morfa is a superking in a beautiful room with a quaint en-suite shower room. Y Llyn also offers a superking in a front-facing room with stunning views with en-suite. Y Llyfyrgell is another superking that adds a single bed, a quirky family space with shower en-suite, and steps down to the library.
Y Dderwen is a superking room in an airy, front-facing room. Connected to it is Neuadd, providing a superking in a large side-facing room. Y Frenni, meanwhile, has a superking bed and a generous en-suite shower room and overlooks the lake. Castell Coch offers a superking with beautiful en-suite.
Up on the second floor, Gnol provides a kingsize bed with amazing views of the lake and the lawns, Cwm Meigan is another kingsize with garden views, while Penrallt is a family room with superking and single. The rooms share a fully equipped modern bathroom with shower.
Children welcome
At the end of several long and twisty roads, you’ll arrive at Deri Manor with the kids wondering if you’re reached Buckingham Palace. Children love a bit of size and scale, and three acres of landscaped lawn should offer enough scope for handstands, headstands and cartwheels.
There’s plenty around West Wales to keep young minds and bodies active but if you’d rather stay on site, ask us to sort out wild swimming in the lake, walks around the estate lanes, estate cycling, farm tours, and a lambing experience in spring. Mums and dads might also like a little clay pigeon shooting.
Inside, kids can stream music and movies on the superfast broadband, and dip into toys and books in the reading room overlooking the lawns and lake. For the very young, we provide a cot with linen and two high chairs. Kids not wanting to leave their best friend behind will be happy we accept two dogs.
Virtual Tour
Gone are the days when the only way to view a house was solely by way of poring over flat and sometimes confusing floor plans. With the emergence of 360-degree video we have an exciting new way of being introduced to the layout of a house.
With a few clicks you can be leisurely making your way through living rooms, bedrooms, dining rooms, kitchens and bathrooms – the whole house in all its beauty waiting for you to step on in for an effortless and insightful virtual tour.
What people say
Dolphins, lobsters and wild coasters
Spot dolphins and pull up lobster pots on boat trips from New Quay. Ride the Teifi Valley Railway or Megafobia, one of the world’s wildest coasters at Oakwood. Grown- ups can shoot clay at Cwm Gof or 18 holes at Newport Golf Links. Fish the trout lake, walk the coastal path, then sink a pint at Tafarn Sinc, Pembrokeshire’s highest pub.
