If you’re looking for a holiday house for 12 with a private pool, you really need to know about Jurston Barn. Okay, we may be biased but honestly, you’d be hard pushed to find better group accommodation that has as much going for it as this place does. There’s plenty of space, 6 en suite bedrooms, a huge open-plan kitchen/dining room, a snug/games room, and as well as the private indoor heated pool there’s a hot tub, landscaped gardens and a play area for the children. Add to that a private setting tucked away in the West Country, a generous helping of wow factor and a big dose of luxury, and your boxes are all ticked.

400 years ago Jurston Barn served as somewhere to keep the hay and a shelter for the cows on what was one of the biggest farms in the area. That makes the transformation it’s undergone even more incredible, because what you have is a large group holiday house that still retains a few rustic features here and there but is bang up to date and full of all the modern conveniences you could wish for.

The kitchen is well equipped, with heaps of storage space and a big range cooker with 2 ovens and a 5 ring induction hob; the long chunky dining table is set right beneath a huge glass roof so if you’re coming here to raise a glass to a big birthday or a milestone anniversary, there’s the perfect setting for a corker of a celebration feast, sunlit at lunchtime or starlit in the evening. The whole of Jurston Barn is lovely and light and airy, and there’s such a wonderful feeling of calm that seems to waft all through the house; unwinding is not an option here, it’s just what you do.

Jurston Barn is one of those all-season kind of places, with plenty to keep you all amused regardless of what the weather’s doing. The sitting room/games room has commodious sofas where you can all cosy up and watch a movie together, or when it’s cold it’s a delight to come and settle down by the warmth of the wood-burner with a tray of hot buttery crumpets. It’s a room where families can all be together and have a lot of fun – there’s a pool table and table football, and right at the end of the room the mezzanine makes a nice spot to play board games, to read with little ones, or just to sit and have a quiet chat.

Of course any holiday or short break is better when the sun is shining and at Jurston Barn it means you can throw open the French doors and make the most of the weather, idling the hours away in the garden with a barbecue on the patio, a soak in the hot tub, or if you feel that way inclined, doing cartwheels on the lawn. There’s a play area and a trampoline for the tinies and of course, the private indoor pool where you can all have a whale of a time larking about together, friends and family and all.

You see, Jurston Barn is the kind of place that once you get here it feels so much like your own little world that you’re not really bothered about going out. But if you do want to, you really don’t need to go far to see some of the delights that this beautiful part of Somerset has to offer. You can walk into Wellington and  have a browse about; go when the Farmer’s Market is on and fill your basket with fresh local produce. Explore the beautiful countryside; hard to beat is a stroll up to Wellington Monument or Culm Beacon – the views are astonishing and if you time it right, you can wind up with lunch at a cosy country pub when you come back down.

Just a few miles up the road is Sheppy’s Cider where you can have a stroll in the apple orchards, find out how the golden brew is made, and have a bite to eat in the café. Go and discover some of the historic houses roundabouts like Killerton, Knightshayes Court and Cothay Manor. Drive down to Tiverton and hang out down by the canal basin where you can have a ride on one of the very few horse drawn barges left in England; such a relaxing thing to do, especially if you round it off with a cream tea in the canal side tea gardens or a drink on the Duck’s Ditty Floating Café Bar.

Further afield there’s a multitude of possibilities for days out – explore the rugged Quantock Hills where wild ponies feed on the heaths, or go to Exmoor and climb to the summit of Dunkery Beacon, hang out at the harbour at Porlock, amble along the river at Watersmeet, ride the Victorian Cliff Railway at Lynton and Lynmouth, see Dunster Castle, take the kids to Exmoor Zoo – what an adventure!

But like we said, when you come to Jurston Barn you kind of feel like you’re in your own little bubble and what’s going on elsewhere doesn’t matter, so why go out? Stay put, happy and relaxed with the people you love, and everything you need to hand.  Isn’t that what holidays are all about? Come and stay; come and play – check availability and book today!