Alsio Vandrelli

Private Equestrian Estate

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Vol. I · The House Willowmere Lane By letter

The Stay

a room in the house, not a hotel on the road

Kept for those already received to ride

The house keeps a few rooms. They are not advertised as a night for the county, and they are not let to those who have not first been received in the yard. A bed at Alsio Vandrelli is an extension of the morning — a place to arrive the evening before, or to remain when the work is done and the lane is already dark.

There is no public desk, and no calendar of occupancy printed here. Write which room you hope for, and for which night. The estate replies by letter. The way to the gates is given then, as it is given for the ride.

The stone house across the water, trees at its back
The house from the water — the rooms look this way, or toward the yard.

The Rooms

What the house keeps

three chambers, and no more

A swan on the estate water, pavilion beyond

The water

The willow room

A chamber looking toward the lower water, with the willows as they are and not as a view arranged. One bed. Quiet enough that the yard, in the morning, is the first sound. For a rider who comes alone, or who prefers the house to speak as little as it can.

Morning mist over the paddocks

The yard

The south chamber

Morning light, and the gravel of the yard beyond the glass. It is the room nearest the work. Those who like to be dressed and down before the first appointment ask for this one. It is not larger; it is simply nearer the horses.

A small red cottage on a grassy rise

The lane

The cottage

A small house at the inner lane, for two who already ride together. A sitting room that is not a lounge. A fire when the season asks it. You are still of the estate — not boarded out, not set apart as guests of another kind.

The night

How a room is held

A room is held with the morning that belongs to it, or with the morning that follows. We do not keep a night for its own sake. If you are not riding, write that plainly; the house will say whether the chambers are for you. Children who are not riding remain with the adult who brought them. Spectators are not lodged.

The keeping

What is included

Linen, a fire if the evening is cold, breakfast of the house before the yard, and silence after nine. There is no room service in the hotel sense. If you need something, you ask, and it is brought if it can be. Fees for the room, as for the ride, are confirmed in the letter of reply — never as a tariff on this page.

The Plates

The house at rest

studies from the rooms, and the land they keep

The stone house across the water
Fig. I — The house, as it sits.
A small red cottage on a grassy rise
Fig. II — The cottage at the inner lane.
A swan on the estate water, pavilion beyond
Fig. III — The willow room looks toward this water.
Morning mist over the paddocks
Fig. IV — From the south chamber, first light.
A horse doubled with the forest
Fig. V — The trees beyond the cottage.
Chalk study of a rider in water
Fig. VI — A study kept in the house.