The Old Stables is perfect for large groups of friends and family to get together in the New Forest. The ponies are no longer inside, only out! Its now a very large New Forest cottage, set back from the road down it’s own secluded drive off the High Street, in the centre of Lyndhurst, the ‘capital’ of the New Forest. The huge cottage is a wonderful conversion of a fine Victorian stable building, a most unique large New Forest cottage, full of character with high vaulted ceilings, expansive living spaces and many original stable features retained or re-used. Big cottages sleeping so many people rarely have all the dining at one large table. The Old Stables does exactly this, making it the perfect venue for large family get-togethers, birthday celebrations, hen weekends and business events alike. The village centre location is ideal for large group accommodation, any of the pubs, restaurants, shops or cafés are accessible in minutes without the need to travel out in cars. Although the village centre is prominent and lively there is hardly any devel-opment beyond this and you are able to walk straight out into the New Forest National Park in minutes, rather than needing cars for access to forest walks. The dining for everybody in one room at one table makes this large cottage a great place to have a special birthday or other celebration meal. Book the chef’s team for the night and celebrate with the finest local seasonal food prepared with passion and presented beautifully at the table, with no washing up to do afterwards or any large wine bill – just bring your own drinks. And then no need to worry about taxis home – you are all already there! Just retire to the lounge or your room in your own time. Until the millennium, the Old Stables was derelict, with the roof removed and part of the end fallen down, but had all the original Stable features intact. During the conversion we reinstated the roof and formed the internal layout and floors, opening up the large fireplace and reusing the stable setts outside. The cast iron stable divisions were used as the banisters and all the large beams, A-frames and other timberwork were retained and left exposed. The feature round windows remain, along with all the original character. Outside appears exactly as it would have done when the occupants were horses rather than holidaymakers, the only additions being the dis-creet conservation rooflights which provide plenty of light to the glorious spaces inside. The lounge is over 38ft long with high vaulted ceilings and exposed A-frame beams, a large open fireplace, grand piano, pew and a couple of fireside chairs occupy a raised area, from which full width steps take you down to the lower part, which has settees, chairs, television & DVD player, and a projector for presentations (plug a lap-top in) or for films via the attached DVD player. The kitchen / dining room has a table for everyone to eat together, with at one end the freestanding stainless steel ‘Udden’ kitchen units containing dishwasher and twin cookers providing three ovens and eight hobs. A huge larder fridge and a sec-ond fridge/freezer stand adjacent, with a full freezer, washing machine and further sink in the utility room just off the kitchen. Near here is a double bedroom and a shower room with basin and wc, with two more bedrooms and a bathroom with bath, separate thermostatic shower over the bath, basin and wc, accessed from the staircase here. At the other end of the dining room, another staircase leads up to two family bedrooms with another similar bathroom. One of these bedrooms contains the hayloft door, now a window, which is seen from outside. All these four bedrooms have high vaulted ceilings, with stable balustrading to the staircases and the odd round window. The other bedrooms and bathrooms are off the far end of the lounge. A contemporary shower room with wall hung wc and basin, and a bathroom with freestanding double ended bath, corner power shower, and wall hung wc and basin, serve the remaining seven bedrooms this end, one of which is a family room with sliding patio doors, two are double rooms, and upstairs is a vaulted and galleried double height space giving access to four similar smaller bedrooms with a double and single bed, and a Juliet balcony with views over playing fields.