Both the National Trust Holiday Cottages (nationaltrustholidays.org.uk) and the Landmark Trust (landmarktrust.org.uk) rent out a wide range of cottages, manor houses, gatehouses and castles overlooking classic English gardens. Some of the best Landmark Trust properties, available for a midweek or long weekend stay:
• The Gothic Temple, a dramatic turreted folly sitting in the middle of the arcadian Stowe Gardens between Northampton and Oxford.
• The Pineapple, a manor shaped like a mammoth pineapple, overlooking a large walled garden in central Scotland.
• Ingestre Pavilion, an elegant pavilion, surrounded by parkland designed by Capability Brown, in Staffordshire, north of Birmingham.
Raphael Kadushin
