They don’t celebrate Thanksgiving in the UK for obvious reasons, and Matt and I spent last year’s turkey day eating Mexican food and pretending we weren’t missing our families. We totally made up for the lameness of last year by acting like the Granthams (minus the downstairs staff). We rented a manor house (that comfortably sleeps 13) on the west coast of Scotland for a few days and lived like lairds and ladies (lords and ladies that cook and clean for themselves, mind you).
How? Just check out the Landmark Trust properties website, choose a castle, estate, tower that suits your fancy and book away. What’s incredible to me is that the rates are totally reasonable and our chosen house (Saddell House — click to see more pics) was huge, warm (for an old Scottish house), incredibly clean and had amazing showers (again, something you wouldn’t expect even in a refurbished house from 1774).
Just take a gander at all this loveliness:
Apart from exploring the house and the surrounding estate (including a castle, abbey, beach and hills), we spent much of our get-away eating delicious food (thank you, Sara!), watching movies, making s’mores in front of the fireplace, and drinking copious amounts of mulled wine and gin and tonics in tea cups:
This is not a sponsored post:
The Landmark Trust have no idea about AsianCajuns. I found out about them because my smarty friend Sara (the lady in the blue shoes in the photo above) found out about holidaying with Landmark Trust, and we decided to book a massive house for Thanksgiving (not celebrated on these green isles — so rates were even cheaper during Thanksgiving week). It was just £500 for four nights, and there were just five of us — the house had enough beds for 13 people. Amazing, non?
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Dear Cath,
Isn’t Saddell House awesome?! The whole time I was thinking about how all those house museums that we went to growing up are newer than this place. And remember how we used to always dream of living in one?! All the secret passages, basements, attics, expansive grounds, big rooms — Saddell had all of it.
We are hoping to explore more Landmark sites around the country this year, but we definitely want everyone to come over some time so we can meet up at one and stay for a week. A shooting party (rah-di-rah-di), without the shooting and just the eating and walking and dozing on feather-down couches in front of crackling fires.
Hope you had a wonderful turkey day. Miss you ever so much!!!
xoxox,
Lar
p.s. JUST 20 days!!! See you sooon!!!
What a lovely place to spend a long weekend in. Scotland has such a beautiful landscape!
This sounds SO AMAZING. definitely doing this next time I’m in that direction. All I need is a fireplace and I’m already in Downton Abbey mode.
You would love this place then, Ali! There were three working fireplaces (though all the rooms including one of the bathrooms were equipped with coal fireplaces). A magical, magical place!
I can’t wait to pick a castle for my visit! Which needs to be so soon. Geez.
YES it DOES!!!! I can’t imagine a place you would fit in better ;D
xoxoxo
OK. That’s the limit. I am CONSUMED with covetousness.
That looks like a seriously great Thanksgiving Day.
It was, PC! I highly recommend it.
That’s amazing! Glad you had a great thanksgiving:)
Thanks, Ashley! Hope you did too!
This place looks amazing! I’m totally looking into this for our visit in the spring. Were you on the west or east coast? Thanks for the suggestion!
This was on the west coast, and most of the Landmark houses are for some reason. They all look absolutely gorgeous 😉
OMG, Lar. Words can’t describe how jealous and excited I am about this place! It’s like the type of place we’ve always wanted to live in and explore! I want to go to there!
This beats my family’s potluck. By a lot.
Love my family, but totally not kidding.
OMG – I’m so jealousthat sounds like the best Thanksgiving ever!
Beautiful house & Thanksgiving getaway. Glad that you & your sis will be together again SOON! Yay!
That looks awesome! I would love to rent a house like that or even a castle someday! Glad you guys had fun!
good lawdy! that sounds like a delightful time! G&T in teacups is a most elegant way of libation dranking. I would have the intro song to Downton playing in my head the whole time while walking around the house or the grounds. AND speaking of which, I just splurged on the DVD box set for myself, (tis the season, right?) and I cannot wait to park my butt on the couch and re-watch all the episodes a 5th time.
♥ laura
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OMG, that is AMAZING! I’m so jealous. I just rewatched the first season of Downton Abbey, because it’s Christmas-y (not really)