Coolest estate of them all
DEBORAH STONE visits a retreat where you can relax in your chic holiday home and lord it over lakeside parkland of a grand country mansion
BUYING a holiday home has been a hot topic this summer, quite literally, as soaring temperatures have made city living almost unbearable. Now that we’ve discovered we can work from home quite easily it’s not much of a jump to realise we can work from a holiday home that’s near the sea, lakes, rivers or country walks.
But what sort of holiday home? Buying bricks and mortar second homes is more affordable thanks to the stamp duty holiday in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland, although it doesn’t help in Wales.
But with demand for seaside boltholes frantic at the moment you may be lucky to find anything you can afford; then there’s the stress of security and finding an agency if you want to rent it out.
An alternative is to buy on a holiday park. If the idea doesn’t appeal, you might reconsider after a look around Fritton Lake in Norfolk, a private holiday club on the Somerleyton country estate between Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth.
Impressively, the wooden lodges really do have plenty of space and mature woodland around them but there’s an extra wow factor for owners from this year.
A glamorous open-air heated swimming pool that looks more exclusive country club than holiday park was completed during lockdown, with four tennis courts (two of them grass), croquet and petanque courts.
This is on top of the treehouse-style adventure playground and a junior area with its own small pool and a jumping pillow. Plus the lake, more than a mile long, which offers wild swimming, canoeing and paddle boarding – all included in owners’ membership.
Also on-site is the Fritton Arms, an estate house that was once a pub but is now a members-only bar/restaurant, although you can also stay, hotel-style, in the individually styled rooms and use the facilities.
If it sounds upmarket that’s because it is. Run by restaurateur Hugh Crossley, 4th
Baron Somerleyton, its inspiration is Soho Farmhouse – the swish members’ club and hotel in Oxfordshire.
Crossley, who was managing director of the company that owned London’s DishDash Persian restaurants, had been a member at Soho House: “They have spent a serious amount of money. It is a very upscale resort. But we have a better natural asset than they have – the lake and woodlands. It is part of the Broads landscape, spring-fed but man-created centuries ago.”
Crossley has been modernising Fritton Lake and its holiday homes since inheriting the estate from his father, who was among the first to open his stately home and gardens to the public and diversify into weddings and lodges.
Ongoing modernisation includes more stylish lodges, which range from sleek wooden retreats to more funky
Shedrooms and new Koto cabins that are carbon neutral and designed by award-winning architects.
Prices for these modern lodges start from £265,000 for Retreats, £240,000 for Shedrooms and £275,000 for Kotos, although second-hand lodges are also available from £69,995 with annual ground rent from £6,100 including club membership (01493 484008; frittonlake. co.uk). More upgrades include gym and spa in a barn, cricket nets and terra sail boats.
The 70ft pool, beside gardens that run down to the swimming area, have log fires outside twin changing rooms for winter.
Owners can rent out their homes through the in-house agency as much as they like or not at all, although Crossley cautions that the average income is likely to be just £3,000 to £5,000 a year.
“There’s income to be made but it is a lifestyle choice,” he stresses. “You can get to the situation where you cover your ground rent and other costs by summer lettings but if you are thinking of coming here to make money, go somewhere else.”