THE PIG in the New Forest

The house at the end of a long drive outside Brockenhurst was built in 1602 as a lodge for the groomkeepers who looked after the New Forest, and it later traded as the Whitley Ridge Country House Hotel. Robin Hutson reopened it as THE PIG in July 2011, the first of what is now a group of country houses, after finding the old walled garden behind it. The house keeps 31 bedrooms, spread between the main building and huts, lodges and a stable yard in the grounds.

The restaurant sits in a glass conservatory with a patchwork tiled floor, school chairs and pots of herbs climbing the pillars. Its menu changes daily and draws on the walled Kitchen Garden and producers within 25 miles, from Dorset fishermen to Hampshire and Wiltshire farms. The house has four sitting rooms, one of them holding a panelled bar, each with sofas set in front of an open fire.

For private gatherings the house offers The Green Room, a panelled dining room with a chandelier, a long wooden table seating between eight and fourteen, and a garden terrace of its own. A party booked there is given one of the lounges beforehand for drinks. Larger groups take tables in the conservatory restaurant, and guests can stay the night in the house.