The three best country manors to escape to this weekend

The three best country manors to escape to this weekendBeat a hasty retreat from the city to one of these three stately escapes Chatsworth HouseSimon Broadhead

CHATSWORTH HOUSE, DERBYSHIRE

From the desert to Derbyshire — this month sees the opening of a fantastical new exhibition at Chatsworth House, bringing eight otherworldly sculptures from Burning Man, plus four new ones, to the grounds of the stately home. It’s a project between Sotheby’s and Fab Five Freddy, the hip-hop pioneer and long-time ‘Burner’ who counted Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat as collaborators. Of course, showcasing contemporary artists has long been part of Chatsworth’s DNA: the current Duke and Duchess of Devonshire have a private collection, encompassing pieces from Picasso to Freud, which has recently gone on display inside the house until 9 October. For those art aficionados who can’t absorb it all in a day there’s the option of renting one of the lovingly renovated cottages on the estate for a weekend to really soak it in.

Head space: one of the Burning Man sculptures at Chatsworth HouseChristina Sporrong

Cottages from £120 per night (minimum stay applies). Radical Horizons: The Art of Burning Man at Chatsworth runs from 9 Apr to 1 Oct (chatsworth.org)

NORTH FARM, COUNTY DURHAM

Within the old Walworth Castle Estate, interiors doyenne Rita Konig has cleverly renovated an old farmhouse to create the most swoon-worthy weekend rental. North Farm has been outfitted in her typical style — heritage papers and paints offset by sumptuous sofas and bric-a-brac collected by Konig throughout her life and career. By farmhouse standards, the property is palatial (there are seven bedrooms, five bathrooms and three sitting rooms alone) but a clever configuration means that there’s no shortage of inviting nooks to retreat to with a book plucked from the shelves of the house library. So far, so stately, but the real appeal here for stressed-out city types is the rolling dales that surround the house, nearly 400 acres of it, and the lure of outdoorsy pursuits. If you need a little more to chew on beyond the glorious countryside, you’re also a handy drive from Barnard Castle (to test your eyes) and the historic university city of Durham with its imposing cathedral.

Rita Konig’s interiors at North FarmSimon Brown

From £2,300 for a three-day weekend in low season (northfarmdurham.com)

MIDDLETHORPE HALL, YORKSHIRE

Plonked 20 minutes outside of York, among formal Italian-style gardens, Middlethorpe Hall is getaway gold. Built in 1699 and inspired by the Grand Tour, the house certainly has grandeur, but what makes it such a delight is its lived-in, relaxed atmosphere. Request a room in the main old house — there is a more recent annex — and you won’t have to leave your cosy confines. Middlethorpe has mastered the breakfast-in-bed experience (my wife still talks about the black pudding); the early morning view of deer strolling across the lawn comes at no extra charge. If the fully loaded afternoon tea in the portrait-lined ballroom doesn’t finish you off, then be sure to book a candlelit dinner in the oak dining room. Don’t worry, there’s a Tardis-like spa and pool hidden inside a nearby cottage to work off the over-indulgence. Fun fact: Middlethorpe Hall’s brief 1970s incarnation as Brummels nightclub is the stuff of local legend; one taxi driver remembered it as ‘the Studio 54 of Yorkshire’. If walls could talk…

Lived-in elegance at Middlethorpe HallES

B&B from £245 per room including use of the spa (middlethorpe.com)