The Old Stables holiday cottage is set back down its secluded drive directly off the High Street in Lyndhurst village, the "capital" of the New Forest. Full height gates offer seclusion but with the convenience of pubs, restaurants, tea rooms and local shops being on your doorstep.

You are in the heart of the New Forest at the Old Stables. Walk in any direction out of Lyndhurst and you'll soon encounter scenery and landscapes unchanged for hundreds of years. The village centre location is ideal in a large group situation, any of the pubs, restaurants, shops or cafés are accessible in minutes without the need to travel out in cars. Although the village centre is fairly prominent and lively there is hardly any development beyond this and you are able to walk straight out into the New Forest National Park in minutes, rather than having to take the cars for access to forest walks.

Full of character, our conversion gives you all the convenience of a modern building, with all the charm of a Victorian Stable Block in the Forest.

Walking along the driveway from the entrance opposite St Michael's Church, The Old Stables runs on down the hill and away from the High Street. It is built with soft red brick and the roof has been re-tiled using hand made clay peg tiles. The stable setts from the original stable block have been reused in the conversion's landscaping and retain much character.

The split level lounge area with large open fire and exposed beams has seating, stereo, television, video and dvd player. plus a data and dvd projector, so you can watch films on the wall! Measuring a huge 38ft x 15.5ft this room holds 30 guests. Up the four full-width steps to the top end by the large fireplace there is direct access to the dining room and kitchen. The other end of the lounge offers access to the 4 bedrooms and 2 bath and shower rooms.

Midway along the lounge is the wide original stable door, now refurbished, giving access to outside in good weather. There are six sofas in the lounge, along with other seating (including fireside chairs and a church pew!) to accommodate guests.

The lounge area has all original stable windows, and conservation roof lights in the high vaulted ceiling. The windows around the upper level door and the door itself are all original and refurbished - this raised part which contains the large original fireplace was the only part of the building not used by the horses, as this was the tack room and had the luxury of the fireplace, floorboards and panelled walls. Reclaimed floorboards have now been used for the entire room - created by opening up the higher tack room and lower 4 stables. contact us check availability

Through the main front door of this large new forest holiday cottage, is the large open plan dining/kitchen area and there is space at the large table for 30 guests.This large dining and kitchen area is approximately nine and a half metres by over 5 metres - a very big communal area which is ideal for one or two families or large groups to dine together. It also directly accesses the large vaulted lounge.

Through the kitchen area on the left, is the Utility room, with stainless steel utility sink and worktop, full height dedicated freezer and the washing machine. Through the Utility is a downstairs Shower Room, with w.c., hand basin and shower. The downstairs bedroom (bedroom 5) was a separate stable and now has a "split level" ceiling, to retain the high windows which light this interesting space. This ground floor bedroom has its own additional stable door which leads directly out to the front if required. This is a double room with a 4' 6" bed. contact us

The Kitchen area has stainless steel worktops and sink, with cupboards under for storage of crockery and cooking utensils etc. Both electric and gas cookers, large larder fridge, second fridge/freezer, microwave, dishwasher, kettle, toaster, all the usual appliances are here, along with the washing machine and full height freezer in the utility room. Two large floor standing cupboards and two glass wall cupboards provide extra storage space.

The exterior doors, once the doors to the various stables, run along the front of the building and provide entrances to the cottage, some are wide and can be opened in summer as you would open patio doors. The main front door leads into the kitchen/dining area, the 5th door down enters the lower lobby and is useful when unloading luggage to the lower four bedrooms. The stripped interior doors are all reclaimed doors from the local New Forest area. There are two staircases at the rear which lead to the top end first floor bedrooms and bathrooms. check availability

The staircases feature cast iron railings which have been salvaged from the original stable block. The first floor has high, vaulted ceilings throughout, featuring original round windows and Velux conservation rooflights giving an airy feel to the bedrooms and landings.

Bedroom 1 is a comfortable double room, with windows front and rear, a single and a double bed. Bedroom 2 has a 4' 6" double bed. Also leading off the landing is the bathroom for these two bedrooms, featuring bath with shower over, hand basin and w.c.

The staircase on the right of the living area leads up to the landing for bedrooms 3 and 4. Bedroom 3 is a large double and single room with an interesting twist - the original hayloft entrance is part of this room, giving you an insight into the working history of this building. This is where feed would have been winched up by the stable lad (not included!) in years gone by. You also have a super view of the church tower from here.

Bedroom 4 is a comfortable high vaulted room with a double and two singles. Also leading off the landing is the bathroom for these two bedrooms, again featuring bath with shower over, hand basin and w.c. contact us check availability

Towards the lower end of the holiday cottage, through the door leading from the lounge, the hallway here leads to the fourth and fifth bath/shower rooms.

The shower room (no4) has a shower enclosure with folding/sliding door and shower mixer, wall-hung basin and wall-hung wc. Reclaimed floorboards have been used in both the shower room and bathroom.

The bathroom (no5) has a bath with mixer tap, quadrant shower enclosure with mixer, bath and wall-hung basin and wc. contact us

Past the bath/shower rooms 4 and 5, we come to a short flight of steps leading up to the largest bedroom. This room is a very generous 19' x 19' at floor level, plus more space above the galleried areas. The room feels all the more spacious for having a high, vaulted ceiling and juliet balcony with open views over school fields and trees.

This room has a double and up to six singles, or can have up to 8 singles, still with ample space and 3 deep double wardrobes.

There are three more bedrooms, each of which has a double bed, the largest with 2 additional single beds - bringing the total number that the cottage can sleep to 30. These rooms all have double wardrobes.

Parking is at the bottom and top ends of this New Forest cottage, rather than along the front of the property - the school next door has joint right of access over this land. Please park vehicles allowing a clear 3 metre wide path to provide access to the school gate. Emergency vehicles may need to use this as access to the rear of the school building at any time.

We wish you a pleasant stay at our New Forest holiday cottage in Lyndhurst! contact us