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Holestone Moor Barns self catering holiday cottages, in the Derbyshire Dales, just 5 minutes drive from the Peak District National Park.
Holestone Moor Barns Holiday Cottages are luxurious conversions from two 200 year old stone farm buildings standing adjacent to our own house, Holestone Moor Farm.
We strive to always keep our holiday cottages and surroundings updated, and so we are continually redecorating, replacing and upgrading, both inside and out, in an effort to provide a luxurious ‘home from home’. Judging by the comments in our visitors’ books, and the amount of returning guests, we must be doing something right!
Many of our guests like to have the whole place to themselves; the two holiday cottages, the Games Room and the 6 acres of garden, by hiring both cottages ~ Steadings ~ together (sleeps 15 people plus 2 babies). Our largest cottage, the Barn sleeps 11 plus baby and its dining room will easily seat 15 guests. The smaller cottage, the Stables sleeps 4 people plus baby.
Your holiday starts as you drive down our track to the holiday cottages, through well established woodland, with lots of wildlife. We will be waiting to welcome you when you arrive. In the winter, you’ll find the cottages will be warm and cosy with a log fire waiting to be lit. Whatever the weather, you’ll find freshly made beds, and towels neatly laid out. Our gift to you is cakes freshly baked that morning by Kath at Riber View Farm shop, just down the road. You’ll find a pint of milk in the fridge, and tea, coffee and sugar, so that you can have that much needed cup of tea before you unpack.
We pride ourselves on offering everything you need to start your holiday - all you need to bring are clothes and food (and yourselves of course!), check out What’s Included in the list on the Right.
The Barn is available all year round, but only for weekends, normally starting on Fridays. Although the price for a weekend stay in the Barn is for 3 nights, many of our guests stay just 2 nights, leaving as late as they can on the Sunday. It’s possible to add one day on to the start or the end of your weekend, and if you contact us we will quote a price for this.
In The Stables we offer Full weeks(7 nights) and Short breaks (3 nights at a weekend or 4 nights midweek).
At Christmas and New Year, we offer a 4 night stay (maximum) in either of the cottages or both. All bookings are of course, subject to Availability. Our Prices are fully inclusive – no hidden extras!
Children love to play hide and seek in the wood which is just part of our 5 ˝ acres of grounds. There’s also a garden with wooden climbing castle and picnic tables. And if it’s raining … well there’s always the games room and under 5′s playroom. We hope that you will join us sometimes when we bring the alpacas in to hand feed them. You can also collect eggs from our hens, and they love it when you take left overs for them to eat!
It’s very peaceful here at high lying Holestone Moor, away from main roads, yet only 4 miles from Matlock in the Derbyshire Dales, in the rural parish of Ashover. There are several good pubs just a short drive away, and some of them are great places to stop for a drink on some of the walks you can do from the door.
Wildlife enthusiasts will be delighted to find rare animals and birds such as water voles, badgers, skylarks, and hares, just a few of the many!
We (Vicki and Steve) moved to Holestone Moor Farm on 1st May 1998, with our Irish Water Spaniel, Rags. We had found an old three bedroomed farmhouse with some interesting almost derelict farm buildings and just under 6 acres of upland, most of which had been used for grazing by the previous owner. Our two sons, Adam and Neil, then 19 and 17, were living not far away in Nottingham.
The two farm buildings consisted of a two-storey stone barn with huge grain silos at one end, and a building that had variously been stables and pig sties in a previous life. The Barn already had a slate tiled roof, but The Stables was sheltered under ancient and dangerous corrugated asbestos. It took 8 months to convert the two farm buildings into holiday cottages ‘The Barn’ sleeping 12 and ‘The Stables’ sleeping 4. During that time we planted around 4,500 trees and hedging, and we started to plant our own garden.
Just two days before we opened for our first guests, we had a bit of an anxious time, when we tried to move furniture into The Stables living room, the settee would not fit in. No way was it going to go through the front door. Fortunately our builder was still around and within an hour he took a window out, got the settee in, and put the window back!
It’s very much an owner run business; team work is very important. Vicki does all the administrative work and Steve does the maintenance on the cottages and our land. We couldn’t manage without our two brilliant and loyal housekeepers; Louise, who has been with us from the start, and June has been here just a couple of years less than that. The ‘girls’ not only help with cleaning, bed changing and restocking in the cottages, but they also do our own house, and all the ironing for the cottages. No mean feat when there are 15 bed spaces in the cottages and 5 in the house! We manage to meet occasionally for coffee breaks and meals, and we keep in touch by means of a Walkie-talkie!
Now, some things have changed a lot, others just a little. The trees have grown … the wildlife pond and wildflower meadow are flourishing. Décor and soft furnishings are changed … we regularly discard, move and renew things so that there’s always something different for our returning guests. (The record is 17 visits since we opened at Christmas 1999.)
Tel 01246 591263
www.hmbarns.co.uk
Derbyshire self catering holiday cottages