Art and Italian in the Dorset Hills

Thurnwood is a three-bedroom B&B near Sturminster Newton with two well-converted barns offering self-catering options.

The main house is a traditional rambling mansion. Accommodation is in three guest bedrooms. On the first floor there is the Chinese Room with ensuite shower and the Tapestry room which has a king-sized bed and a private bathroom. Up another flight of stairs there is the second floor bedroom, which can be a king-sized double or twin, with a sitting room and it’s own bathroom. Antique furnishings abound, with a relaxed, country-house atmosphere.

Breakfast is served in the elegant dining room. This is generally casual, with a continental breakfast usually served, though cooked options may be available depending on the farming comittments on the day. There’s a comfortable sitting room for guests, flooded with light from the large sash windows and warmed in the winter by an open fire.

Outside the vibe is very much rural. The driveway alone is nearly a mile long. There’s a livery yard attached to the house – you’re welcome to bring your own horse, there are stables and paddocks – and you’re in the middle of the best hunting country in the west. The fields are dotted with rare-breed Portland sheep, started witih ten foundation ewes. The breed almost went extinct in the 1970s and are still one of Britain’s rarest breeds. These sheep are small, with a cream fleece and golden tan face and legs: visit in April and you’ll be welcome to watch lambing.

Your hostess here spent five years in the studio of Nerina Simi in Florence and is a skilled painter in oils. She is also a natural teacher and regularly runs week-long residential courses in either Art or Italian at Thurnwood. These are intensive with full-board accommodation: there’s no better place to learn.

Thurnwood B&B suggests:

Further self-catering accommodation is available in Thurnwood’s two converted barns. Mappowder and Maple Cottage each have two bedrooms that share a bathroom, fully-equipped kitchens and large, beautifully-furnished sitting rooms. Read more here.

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