Witherslack · The Winster Valley · Southern Lakeland
A late-Georgian house at the head of an ancient wooded valley over Morecambe Bay. In the Stanley family since the early 1800s, and yours, whole, by the week or the weekend.
Aerial film: licensed stock by Zetong Li, standing in for the valley
The estate, in five lines
One house, four bedrooms, a walled garden open to everyone, five artists in the old servants’ wing, and the Lakes within the hour.
A
A house made to be lived in
We know, because we spent our childhoods here. All the furnishings are original and the bathrooms are the genuine article. There are squishy sofas, a library of books, a piano for family songs, board games, and a warm hearth with a real fire.
B
Cakes on the tray before you unpack
A tray laden with cakes, tea, coffee and milk meets you on arrival. The kitchen holds a large double oven, a microwave, a large fridge freezer, and enough tea pots to host the largest Mad Hatter’s tea party on earth.
C
Muddy boots and happy dogs
Both welcome. A maximum of two well-behaved pets, part of the family, with a hard bed, not in the bedrooms, and a lead around the free range hens. The children, they believe, were born to play outside.
The walled gardens
Open to everyone, daily from nine to five. Guests who want them to themselves hang the sign from the second drawer down.
The garden and estateFrom the visitors' book · 6 September 2025
“Nothing to dislike and everything to love. Halecat always gives us what we need. 9th time here, so far.”
Repeat visits are the norm in their book: a ninth year, five years running, three generations under one roof.
The year, plainly
The house lets all year
Peak times book early, and the winter months bring exceptional deals, weekend and mid-week breaks among them. There is no booking widget here and none at the house: a date is held by a conversation, which is rather the point of the place.