National Trust - Choristers' House, North Yorkshire

Bring your friends or family and organise a special celebration, whether it's a big birthday or a reunion. Choristers' House, with its striking architecture, will offer you gentle strolls through the stunning landscape that surrounds Fountains Abbey. You'll also be 10 miles from spa town Harrogate with its myriad of independent boutiques, restaurants and cafés.

When you choose to stay at this house now owned by the National Trust, you'll find it was formerly used as a music school (hence its name). It was designed by Burges (who is also responsible for Cardiff Castle), and you'll be able to see a careful restoration inside where lots of his original style is still evident. The classically-styled 5 bedrooms, split into 3 doubles and 2 twins, make it ideal for get-togethers, with 1 on the ground floor and 4 on the first floor. There's also a white painted shaker-style kitchen with a modern range cooker, and a light and airy dining room with seating for 10.

Outside, there's a small enclosed garden to the front of the house which sits in the middle of an impressive deer park that's home to red, fallow and sika deer. And, if you stay in October, then you'll be able to hear them roaring and barking during the rutting season. You'll also have free access to the whole of Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal Estate both during opening hours and until dusk once the public have gone home.

All photos - National Trust Images / Chris Lacey and Roger Coulam