Sleeps two (+1)
Hello, here's another website-without-frills. If you're a professional site designer, you might be distinctly unimpressed; on the other hand, animations that take ages to load and carry little information don't impress those of us with old-fashioned dial-up connections. Anyway, can't stop and chat.
In addition to our B&B accommodation, which is running just as we like it, we also have a self-catering apartment available. This is ideal for someone staying slightly longer, as you have space to stretch out in, some privacy and of course somewhere to cook, entertain, even do laundry! This makes a good bridge between the short-stay accommodation of our B&B and the usual 6-month minimum contract period for an apartment. It also makes a useful holiday cottage for those of you who decide to combine the retrieval of tender offspring from the clutches of Baron von University with a short break in a part of the country you might not otherwise have occasion to visit; there actually is quite a lot worth seeing! On the other hand, if you had, for your yearly holiday destination agonised over the choice between Goa and Sheffield, plumping for the latter - you might like to toss the coin again?
Click Here to look inside Hardwick_GardenFlat_InsideViews.htm (small-ish file size pictures for dial-up users). -[soon]
Description:
The flat (or "apartment" as some prefer), the lower floor of three in a hundred year-old victorian house is called the "Garden Flat" for rather obvious reasons - it has a small garden area of its own, directly onto which open the French doors in the dining area. The kitchen and the sitting room look out onto the garden and the trees beyond, and it's all quite private and peaceful. The property feels cosy but with plenty of space, rather cottage-like (I'd use the term 'deceptively spacious' if it hadn't been applied to absolutely every property that has ever come up for sale!). It was entirely refurbished in 2000, with new heating, lighting and so on, but reclaimed materials were used in the decoration (where possible) to keep the cottage feel. The old-plus-new combination works rather well, though if you like Bauhaus and smoked glass (groovy baby!) you might not go for this. It was designed to be lived in, rather than to adorn a magazine page. It is all centrally heated, of course.
There are four main rooms, all opening off a central tiled hallway. They are all lime-plastered, which is a technique from Roman times (and possibly earlier); this gives a lovely uneven finish (which is deliberate!) with rounded corners - a little hobbit-like, rough-hewn yet tidy.
Sitting Room:
Decent size, with fairly high ceiling. Contains 2x two-seater settees and one three-seater that rather cleverly turns into a guest double bed in less than one minute. There is also a little oak desk and chair for those that bring their work with them. The dummy log-effect stove (they used to be so unconvincing, but are actually quite nice now) has a concealed 2Kw heater that works instantly. The colour television lives here, though it is portable so can be moved.
Bedroom:
Good-sized double with beamed ceiling (I don't mean it is projected, there are wooden beams across it). Wardrobe, bookcase, that sort of thing.
Kitchen / Dining Room:
Lovely feel, nice for a dinner party. There's a Rayburn stove (looks older than it is -it runs the central heating) that has two ovens (roasting and slow-cooking), timber beams and low-voltage lighting. There's also a small dedicated kitchen area that has the double sink, washing machine, additional gas hob, microwave and dishwasher. Quarry-tiled floor, aforementioned french doors to garden, plus two other windows.
Bathroom:
Cosy and, well let's face it, small. Slate floor, exposed stone wall, beamed ceiling. Contains usual complement of toilet, washbasin, bath (with shower above) and heated towel rail, shaver point. Unusual tongue-and-groove 'stable door' (splits into top and bottom halves that can be opened independently) for those that like to chat whilst bathing! (it's not compulsory, though)
And that's just about it. The area is nice and very convenient and the noisiest items in the vicinity are usually the five or six hens just beyond the fence, as they wander around my garden gossiping on about philosophy and stuff. The trees in the gardens that surround this property offer homes to various birds, and the area seems to be a staging post at migration times (probably because of the abundance of hen-food). The sounds of the city are there, in the distance, but rarely intrusive.
Prices and Terms (as of December 2003):
The minimum letting period is 3x nights, and the short-stay price is £65 per night.
For 1 week, the price is £330
For two weeks it is £600
and for one month it is £900
These prices include gas, electricity, council tax, crockery/utensils, linen and towels. Usual payment terms: 10% deposit holds the booking, the balance payable on arrival and there is a refundable £150 deposit needed (in case of accidental damage). There is no VAT, as we are too small to register.
Located 2 miles (3km) west-south-west of the city centre, a small, quiet (unusual in a location so close to the city), residential 'cul-de-sac' -with good on-street parking, just off Psalter Lane; 3-minute walk from the A625 Sheffield to Castleton road (named: "Ecclesall Road"), along which run several bus routes (generally numbered between "81" "88"), the nearest bus-stop is at "Hunter's Bar" roundabout.
Location relative to certain facilities of the city.
And for e-mail enquiries the address is : peter[at]lennox01.freeserve.co.uk (substitute the @ symbol for the previous [at] -this is because the moronic web-trawling robots that recover e-mail addresses from websites so that their only-slightly-less moronic spam-sending owners can do their dirty 'work' are easily fooled by such a simple ploy!)
or: peter[at]hardwickhouse.fsnet.co.uk - same as above; I'm sorry to have to do it but we're plagued by senders of unwelcome (and inappropriate) 'offers'. You can highlight, right-click, copy and paste into an e-mail 'to' box, then alter the [at] to @.
We welcome contact by e-mail, though we are unable (just yet) to accept credit card bookings (due to the exceedingly small scale of our business); I'm afraid deposits still have to travel by old-fashioned postal services.
Please not that exact equipment specifications may change from time to time, due to maintenance requirements. Every effort is made to ensure equivalent standards.