Luxury Countryside Escapes in Clipston: The Loft, The Barn and The Cottage

Most people arrive at Clipston by accident. It is not on the way to anywhere, it has a church, a pub and a few hundred residents, and the road in from Market Harborough narrows to the point where you assume you have taken a wrong turn. Then you get here and understand. This is what the English countryside is supposed to look like, and the reason I built three properties in one village rather than one property in three places is that I have never found anywhere else quite like it. If you are travelling as a bigger group and want the practical version first, my guide to group stays and celebrations at 14 Acres covers the booking mechanics.

The Barn, The Loft and The Cottage sit on the same 14 acres of Leicestershire and Northamptonshire border countryside, a few steps from each other, and they were restored one at a time over several years. They are not three versions of the same thing. They are genuinely different buildings with different characters, and choosing between them matters more than people expect.

Additionally, and this is the part that surprises most guests, you do not have to choose. All three can be taken together for exclusive use, which turns a village estate into a private one for up to 19 people. Families do it. Groups of old friends do it. One set of guests booked the lot for a milestone birthday and never left the grounds.

Clipston itself

Clipston is a conservation area, which is the formal way of saying that somebody decided the village was worth protecting from the usual creep of unsympathetic development. It works. The stone and ironstone cottages, the lanes and the church tower all still read as one piece, and the countryside runs right up to the edge of the houses rather than being held back by an estate of new builds.

All Saints, the parish church, is the landmark. It is Grade I listed and dates from the early 13th century, with a spire you can see from most of the surrounding fields and Sir George Buswell’s 1667 almshouses and free school beside it. If you want to know exactly what you are looking at, All Saints and several other buildings in the village appear on the National Heritage List for England, which is searchable by parish. The Bulls Head is the village pub and it is a proper one. Beyond that, the village is small and quiet, and that is the entire point. Guests who come here for the first time often say the same thing, which is that they had not realised how much background noise they were carrying until it stopped. I have written a longer history of Clipston for anyone who wants the full story of how the village came to look like this.

The position is better than the quiet suggests. Market Harborough is about ten minutes away with its market, its restaurants and a station that reaches London St Pancras in under an hour. The A14, M1 and M6 are all roughly 15 minutes off, which is why guests arrive from Birmingham in an hour and London in under two. You get a village that feels genuinely remote without any of the penalty that usually comes with it.

The three properties, side by side

I get asked to recommend one over the others constantly and the truthful answer is that it depends entirely on who you are bringing.

	The Barn	The Loft	The Cottage
Sleeps	Up to 8 (max 6 adults + 2 children)	Up to 6 (max 5 adults)	Up to 4 (max 3 adults)
Building	Eco barn conversion	Stable conversion	Cottage
Bedrooms	3 superking doubles (one splits to twins)	2 large superkings (split to 4 singles)	1 large superking (splits to 2 singles)
Extra sleeping	Double sofabed	Sofabed	Sofabed
The defining feature	10m glass wall onto a private garden	Dining balcony over the private lake	Outdoor dining deck with countryside views
Outdoor	Outdoor kitchen, 8-seat dining, gas BBQ, large terrace	Gas BBQ and picnic bench	Outdoor deck with gas BBQ
Best for	Bigger families, group escapes	Couples who want the view, small groups, working trips	Couples, romantic breaks

Every one of the three has the same underlying kit, because I refuse to run a two-tier estate. That means original art, luxury linens and Rituals products, a smart TV with free Netflix, an Xbox, Amazon Echo and unlimited music, air conditioning and underfloor heating, 100MB fibre, bean-to-cup coffee, breakfast provisions, fresh milk and herbal teas waiting for you. Nobody gets the lesser version.

The Barn

The largest of the three, and the social one. It is built around a single massive open-plan kitchen, dining and living space with a 10 metre glass wall that opens onto the private garden, which means the cook, the children and the people who came to talk are all in the same room. Outside there is an outdoor kitchen with eight-seat dining, a gas BBQ, and a large terrace with sofas. Firstly it suits bigger families. Next it suits groups of friends who actually want to be together rather than politely dispersed. Infants under 24 months stay free, up to three of them.

The Loft

A stable conversion, and the one with the view. The large dining balcony looks straight out over our private lake, and it is the single most photographed thing on the estate. Two large superking beds split into four singles, which makes it unusually flexible for friends travelling together, and there is a proper work zone with the fibre connection for anyone combining a few days away with a few days working. One guest watched a goose sit on her nest from that balcony for an entire weekend and wrote to tell me about it afterwards.

The Cottage

The smallest and the most romantic. One large superking that splits into two singles, a sofabed, a well equipped kitchen and an outdoor dining deck with views over rolling countryside. It gets booked for anniversaries and birthdays more than anything else, and the feedback is consistently about the details rather than the size. It sleeps four at a push but it is really a place for two.

Booking all three for exclusive use

This is the option most people do not know exists. Taking all three properties together gives you the whole estate and nobody else on it, which for a family reunion or a significant birthday changes the character of the weekend entirely. The numbers work out like this.

• Up to 19 guests across the three properties, plus infants under 24 months free, to a maximum of three.
• Six superking double bedrooms in total, five of which split into two singles each.
• Three double sofabeds and one single sofabed on top of that.
• Optional private chef, so nobody has to cook on the night it matters.
• Optional spa treatments on site, including reflexology and full-body therapies.
• Daily housekeeping and breakfast provisions provided throughout.
• Minimum stay of two nights, and the cancellation terms are more generous than the individual properties: changes or a full refund up to 60 days before arrival, with a 10% deposit rather than 50%.

The practical advantage is the sleeping arithmetic. A party of 19 in one large house means somebody sleeps badly. Split across three buildings, the couple who go to bed at nine are not listening to the group who go to bed at two, the family with a baby has its own front door, and everybody still eats together in The Barn because that room was built for exactly that. It is the arrangement I would choose myself, and I have watched enough groups do it to know it works better than the alternative.

Which one should you book?

• Two of you, celebrating something? The Cottage. It was made for it.
• Two of you, but you want the view and a bit more room? The Loft, and sit on that balcony.
• Four friends who want their own beds? The Loft, with both superkings split into singles.
• A family with young children? The Barn, because of the one-big-room layout and the garden.
• Eight of you? The Barn, though check the arithmetic. It is six adults and two children, not eight adults.
• Between nine and 19? Take the estate. There is no other sensible answer.

Finally, do not underestimate how much there is within a short drive. Market Harborough is ten minutes, Foxton Locks about the same, and the wider county opens up from there. If you want ideas for filling the days, my guide to things to do in and around Clipston is the place to start, and the conservation area guide explains what you are actually looking at as you walk through the village.

More to explore

• Large group cottages near Market Harborough, if you are weighing up the alternatives.
• The Cromwell Monument at Clipston, a short walk from the estate.
• The best restaurants near The Barn, for the nights you do not want the private chef.

Frequently asked questions

Where is Clipston?

Clipston is a small conservation-area village on the Leicestershire and Northamptonshire border, roughly ten minutes from Market Harborough and about 15 minutes from the A14, M1 and M6. Market Harborough station reaches London St Pancras in under an hour, so the village is far more accessible than its quiet lanes suggest.

How many guests can the 14 Acres estate sleep in total?

Up to 19 across the three properties booked together for exclusive use. The Barn sleeps 8, The Loft sleeps 6 and The Cottage sleeps 4. That is six superking double bedrooms in total, five of which split into two singles each, plus three double sofabeds and one single sofabed. Infants under 24 months stay free, up to a maximum of three.

Which property has the lake view?

The Loft. It is a stable conversion with a large dining balcony that looks out over the estate’s private lake. The Barn has a private garden behind a 10 metre glass wall, and The Cottage has an outdoor dining deck with views over rolling countryside, but The Loft is the only one of the three that overlooks the water.

Can you book all three properties together?

Yes. Exclusive use of the whole estate is available with a two night minimum, and it includes daily housekeeping and breakfast provisions, with a private chef and spa treatments available as options. The cancellation terms are more generous than for individual properties: date changes or a full refund up to 60 days before arrival, with a 10% deposit rather than 50%.

Is there fishing on the estate lake?

No. The lake is a feature to look at rather than a stocked fishery, and it is not run for angling. There is excellent fishing nearby, including stocked trout at Pitsford Reservoir and free canal fishing on the Grand Union, all within about half an hour.

Do all three properties have the same facilities?

Yes, in terms of the standard. All three include original art, luxury linens and Rituals products, a smart TV with free Netflix, an Xbox, Amazon Echo with unlimited music, air conditioning and underfloor heating, 100MB fibre internet, bean-to-cup coffee, breakfast provisions, fresh milk and herbal teas. What differs is the size, the layout and the outlook.

Do you need a car to stay in Clipston?

Yes, realistically. Clipston is a small village with a church and a pub, and public transport is limited. Market Harborough is about ten minutes by car and has the shops, restaurants and railway station. There is free parking at each property.