Escape to Hassness Haven

Although we were still miles away, winding through the dense greenery, the Hassness House, in all of its ivory glory, had already begun to peer across Lake Buttermere. While its architecture shows its history, the house recently underwent some exciting refurbishment, to ensure Hassness can continue to thrive.

The stunning estate is twenty minutes away on foot from Buttemere village, and our neighbours consisted of grazing sheep and some scurrying red squirrels, making it feel truly as if we had escaped to an undisclosed country home. The lounge where we could read, sip tea, or chat by the fire, has huge windows with uninterrupted lake views and over the hills beyond.

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Hassness House is situated in splendid isolation with very little mobile reception so it proved to be a welcome relief from electronic interruptions. I was transported back to a simpler time, before technology controlled the world of entertainment, and books, outdoor games, and conversation filled our days. It was refreshing, and made me yearn for the days of old.

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In order to complement the time-honoured style of the estate, managers, Carole and Brian, and their daughter, Ruby, serve traditional British cuisine throughout the day. All of the food is entirely home-made using only local ingredients. We began our mornings with a cooked breakfast, packed lunches were made up for us with Brian’s home made flapjacks for lunch and in the afternoon we were presented with one of Ruby’s famous cakes (she made a different type each day!). Come supper time, a full three course meal was served with fresh and locally sourced ingredients and home baked bread. After which, we all had to roll ourselves to our rooms, our bellies full of scrumptious treats!

Hassness House is in a prime location for some of the Lake District’s best hiking. By merely walking out the front door, I had the option of starting on the Haystacks walk, the Red Pike High Stile Walk and the High Crag Walk. If we wanted to venture further afield there were the options of other walks including the highest peak in England Scarfell Pike and the exciting scramble along Striding Edge.Lamb Henry

I came to this newly refurbished house to see the result of the remodelling but after a short stay I left Hassness with the feeling one has after a week’s holiday: refreshed, soothed and very well fed!Hiking around the Buttermere Lakes

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