A retreat fit for royalty on the Isle of Wight

Northcourt House is a Bed and Breakfast on a grand scale, with just two guest bedrooms in what is the second-largest mansion on the Isle of Wight. The only building larger is Queen Victoria’s summer residence, Osborne House, but that’s still owned by the Crown and you certainly can’t stay there.

Northcourt House is a great alternative for an Isle of Wight stay. The property dates back to 1615 and has been extensively modernised over the years. It offers grand and elegant comforts on a pretty massive scale and the B&B rooms occupy pretty much all of the East Wing.

There are two guest bedrooms, both looking East so flooded with light at dawn, that overlook the tennis and croquet lawns. Both are ensuite and can be configured either as king-sized doubles or comfortable twins. The Mary Gordon Room has a bath with shower over, and is probably easier to access if you’ve limited mobility. The Sir John Leigh Room has much the same view but from a large bay window and a full-size double-ended roll top bath, though there’s also a walk-in shower that is, perhaps, more often used. Once-patchy wifi has been improved and there’s now a good signal throughout.

Breakfast is served in the grand dining room, and includes homemade bread, home produced honey and jam and home grown fruit from the kitchen garden. Cooked breakfasts include fresh and locally sourced produce which is easy enough for a standard Full English, but if you’d like fish for breakfast this will be fresh so needs to be ordered in advance.

The scale of everything is impressive. There’s a large sitting room, where new guests are offered tea on arrival, and a library with space for a full-sized snooker table. Its a comfortable place to stay at any time of year: the Isle of Wight as a whole is pretty temperate and Northcourt House has a biomass boiler, wood-burning stove and plenty of open fires to banish winter chills.

The gardens are superb. John and Christine enjoy sharing the house and garden with guests and John will be pleased to do tours by arrangement. He is an avid plant collector and has 4,500 plant species, all spread overfor 15 acres. There’s a walled kitchen garden that produces ingredients for the kitchen and various areas themed around particular species. The garden as a whole is on the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens and opens every year as part of the National Garden Scheme (NGS). The property is surrounded by the Isle of Wight National Landscape ( formerly AONB).

Northcourt House B&B suggests:

While the East Wing of Northcourt House provides B&B accommodation, The North Wing and Little Northcourt (the West Wing) provide self-catering accommodation. The North Wing can accommodate 20 guests, while Little Northcourt sleeps 16. Combined they”d accommodate 36 if rented together. These are dealt with by another part of the Harrison family and have their own website and email.

Pricing

Price per room per night based on two sharing, including breakfast £120 - £130 Minimum 2-night stay. Prices go down for longer stays.

Location

Getting to the Isle of Wight inevitably involves a ferry. Northcourt is able to offer discounted ferry travel booked through its trade account on crossings from Southampton, Portsmouth or Yarmouth. The property is in the picturesque village of Shorwell, within easy walking distance. This has its own village store and pub serving the local Goddards ale and excellent evening meals. You can walk from the house up onto the Downs  in all directions and there are single track lanes leading 2 1/2 miles down to the sea. NorthCourt is situated on the south-west side of the Isle of Wight: by car nowhere on the Isle of Wight is more than 35 minutes away. To the north one can visit Carisbrooke Castle at Newport and Osborne House at Cowes. Ventnor Botanic Gardens are to the east and to the west there are Mottistone Manor, Compton Beach, Dimbola photographic museum and the Needles, all within 25 minutes.

Reviews

"Thank you SO much for having made us feel so welcome in your beautiful home. You could not have been better hosts & by the time we left, you honestly felt like real friends. Although we had gone to the IOW for sad reasons, you turned our trip into something truly special & memorable. We are in awe of what you two have achieved in both the house & garden, turning something that was neglected & dilapidated, into a home fit for royalty. You were especially kind to Max, who it was obvious to see, felt completely ‘at home!’ We really hope that some day we can stay again with you. In appreciation & warmest wishes, Jackie, Johnnie, Debbie & Max"
February 2025

Accreditations

Previously gold award by IW Tourism. Five star Tripadvisor