Barton Hall Farm - Stone Barn

Stone Barn comes with the essentials already sorted: electricity, Wi-Fi, bed linen, and wood-fired heating (fuel included) mean you arrive and settle in. The kitchen has an electric cooker, dishwasher and microwave, so you can cook properly or keep things simple. Upstairs are two bedrooms—one with a king bed, one with two singles—and a bathroom with a shower over the bath. Downstairs is a single open-plan living space with a woodburner, TV and DVD player, where you can actually gather as a group.

The barn sits on a working farm just outside Pooley Bridge at the northern tip of Lake Ullswater, in countryside backed by fells. A pub is within a mile; Penrith is five miles away for shops and restaurants. You get private parking for two cars on the cobbled yard, plus a bike store if you want to explore the lake shore or head up into the High Street range or towards Helvellyn. The place suits families and groups of four, and one dog is welcome. There is a travel cot available, and a shared garden area with a barbecue if the weather holds.