Wootton House, Butleigh Wootton

This is a great place for a family reunion, with space, peace, character and good facilities so that people can do things together or on their own as they wish. Our family loved it! As you can see below, we used this house last year and everyone looked forward to coming again- this time to get the family together to celebrate my wife's 70th Birthday. It's well equipped and clean, with a great kitchen where 12 of us could eat together. We didn't bother using the very dark and rather "heavy" dining room! The (mostly) teenage kids loved playing the grand piano (carefully) and accompanying it with their guitars, while adults enjoyed some peace and quiet in the 2 lounges or went for walks down the neighbouring lanes. The family also made good use of the play room and tennis courts- and especially enjoyed the croquet, where matches got very competitive! They also tackled a very complicated jigsaw puzzle until the (not so) early hours of the morning! What a nice change from smartphones and tablets. The property is a bit run-down and needs a bit of TLC, but this has the advantage that you can be yourself without having to be over careful. However, it also meant some things fell short of our requirements. We knew from last year that the windows were unacceptably dirty and asked for assurances that they would be cleaned- but they are still filthy. That spoils the vista, especially from the back bedrooms. The drawers in the bedrooms were lined with dirty paper or even newspapers. Again, we asked for assurances that these would be improved, but they weren't, so most of our guests left their clothes in their cases. Some wallpaper is falling off the walls and some ceilings have large cracks- and one passageway ceiling leaked in heavy rain. A couple of carbon monoxide alarms also weren't working properly, but we told the person in charge of maintenance and he has promised to correct this quickly. We don't want to overplay the problems, as we felt privileged to be able to use this lovely historic house- and we would love to come again sometime! We just hope something can be done to make the place feel a little more loved.

Just digging out the details for a friend and realised that I hadn't done a review! We stayed in February, three years in a row, with a large group of our friends. The House met our every need with a variety of bedroom types, plenty of bathrooms, a decently large kitchen, seperate dining room, and two comfy sitting rooms. It was an absolute haven, even on the windiest wettest days in February and we had some wonderful times there. There is so much to do withing a reasonable drive - and Glastonbury is so close the health conscious can walk it. We loved it!

Where do you start! My wife & I booked this house for a week to celebrate our forthcoming golden wedding anniversary by getting together with our family of 3 children + partners and 7 grand-children aged between 10 & 20). Everyone rated it the best time we have ever shared together. Why was that? The house is large and rambling, with a lot of history around the Hood family (who have a rich naval history). There are 8 double bedrooms, 2 with 4-poster beds and 2 with en-suite facilities, but there were 4 extra bathrooms (counting one downstairs). All were nicely equipped with linen, towels, toiletries, etc. There is a very large kitchen where we could all eat together and a formal dining room (which we used once). There are 2 lounges, a lovely hall/foyer area, with 2 pianos, including a grand piano plus a largish games room with pool and table tennis. The grounds are extensive, with large outdoor eating and grassed areas, a tennis court, a croquet lawn and lots of wooded areas to explore. That gave everyone plenty of space to do their own thing, while it was easy to get together for games or chatting or just exploring. We have 3 very musical grandchildren and they had a great time playing music on the pianos and their guitars- it was great to see cousins getting on so well! We spent quite a lot of time playing tennis (the first time for many years for some of us), croquet using some sort of vague rules that descended into hysterical chaos and table tennis & pool, where the teenagers took delight in beating some of their parents or adult relatives- or vice versa! The Samuel Hood monument is close by and just a few miles away is Glastonbury Tor, both of which gave us some hill-climbing exercise. On the downside, the place is a bit run-down and the rooms were not as clean as we would have liked, especially in the cupboards and drawers. A few things didn't work properly, including a few lights. However, this didn't spoil our enjoyment and it made us feel that we didn't have to be over worried about treading carefully all the time. We could be ourselves and not be too concerned about spoiling the heritage of the place. All the family want to go again so, who knows???

A group of us spent a long weekend at this country house in November 2015 and had a great time. Despite the cold Winter mornings, the house was lovely and warm and there was plenty of wood for the two sitting rooms with open fires. (suggestion for future guests that there should also be kindling available or a hatchet in the wood store). The kitchen has plenty of space for a large group and has all the facilities required. Games room includes table tennis, darts, a pool table (not level) and loads of other outdoor games and kids toys etc. I'm sure that kids would have a blast here with all the space and corridors and gardens to run around. Bedrooms and bathrooms. Plenty of well appointed bathrooms. One or two of the double beds were on the small side, but overall, a good mix of twins and doubles etc. The house has bags of history and lots of original family paintings and photographs. Overall the decor is tired and in some places, slightly distressed, but it all adds to the charm and doesn't inconvenience in any way. Plenty of parking space and nice gardens. Definitely recommended and good value for large groups. We were 12 people. Get detailed directions or stop and ask a local as we did.

Although a bit frayed here & there it made the house more interesting as the owners try to keep it as original as possible.everyone loved the house & the grounds with its own tennis court. lots of places nearby to visit.it was sad to leave as the week went so fast would definately come here again. a great holiday in a brilliant house.