Cowdray House

Cowdray House stands in Capability Brown parkland on the 16,000-acre Cowdray Estate outside Midhurst, in the South Downs National Park, looking west to the ruins of the Tudor house that received Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. The present house, a former hunting lodge, is let on an exclusive-use basis only. It is not run as a hotel, and whoever takes it has the 22 bedrooms, the reception rooms and 110 acres of garden to themselves.

The party rooms sit on the ground floor. Buck Hall is the largest, with a vaulted ceiling, stained glass, a minstrels' gallery and a stone chimneypiece, and dinner for up to 150 is laid there. Afterwards guests move through to the wood-panelled Dining Room, which the house itself sells as the room for dancing late, or settle in the Morning Room. There is a billiard table, a private ten-pin bowling alley, indoor and outdoor pools, a tennis court and a helipad.

Catering comes from The Yellow Kitchen, the estate's own team, using lamb, beef, game and venison raised on Cowdray land. For a larger summer party the lawns take a marquee, and fireworks are permitted in the grounds.