Talliston House & Gardens
East Anglia Essex Great Dunmow
- From £145 a night
- 3 Guest Rooms
- Quirky & Unique
This unique Essex B&B is undoubtedly the most astounding place you will ever stay!
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Talliston House & Gardens seems a rather grand name for a three-bedroomed semi in Essex. But then things are not always as they seem. Beyond the front door of this bed and breakfast are a series of extraordinary rooms. Each has been designed and decorated with so much commitment to their wildly different themes that you’ll feel like you’re exploring another world every time a new door opens. There’s the futuristic Japanese Tea Room, a 1920s New York study, the Victorian watchtower and the New Orleans kitchen. Of the 13 rooms in total, three are guest bedrooms, but during your stay, you'll explore them all.
If you’re lucky enough to book an overnight stay here you’ll find the guest rooms are similarly unique, with decorations straight out of visionary owner-cum-storyteller John Tallow’s incredible imagination. Take the 'Haunted Bedroom' – decorated to represent the bedroom of a Scottish Edwardian child, complete with a dark wood sleigh bed, heavy fabrics, period wallpaper and appropriately creepy toys. Or for something a little lighter, the 'Room of Dreams' recreates a Moorish bedchamber, with artefacts from around the world, a soundscape of Spanish wildlife and the scent of orange blossom: details like these – sounds and even smells – only add to the enchantment at Talliston. The third option is a Canadian Trapper’s Cabin – like all the rooms, set not only in a specific location but in a specific era too. This one transports you to 1940s Saskatchewan: the scents are woody and the sounds are bluesy music.
Great Dunmow, where the house is found, is a pleasant market town just six miles from Stansted airport, making Talliston a handy location if you have a flight to catch – comfy beds and a hearty breakfast will set you up for your journey – but really, it's more than a place to stop over. All guests get a short introduction from John, but to really appreciate the property, you should also book the full house and gardens tour, which takes you through the 25-year journey that has transformed this ordinary house into the most extraordinary B&B you've ever come across. The more time you spend here, the more you’ll discover – and the more you’ll want to come back!
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Facilities
Book any internal guest bedroom at Talliston and you get the whole house, too! The rooms are period recreations, so expect corresponding facilities. That said there's a full kitchen with all your could want and a generous bathroom with bath, deluge shower, plus many and varied reception rooms. What we don't have is clocks and TV. Talliston is about stepping out of time, so leave the modern world at the doorstep and prepare yourself for a unique sanctuary of rooms and gardens.Suitable For
Property best suited for couples.Nearby
Great Dunmow is a fascinating ancient market town with no high street chains and lots of independent shops, cafés & restaurants.Food & Drink
You are spoilt for choice, but we always recommend The Green Man at Lindsell and The Angel & Harp for dinner, plus Meadow Hill Café & Deli for teas, coffees and lunch time food.Open
Open all year.Pricing
Double rooms from £145 a night including continental breakfast. Fully cooked breakfast available for a supplement.Why Book Direct?
With Cool Places you pay no commission or booking fees. Cool Places links you directly to the property owner, so you always know that you are getting the best prices.
- You’ll get the best rates, avoiding hefty fees and hidden costs
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The Owner Says
I created Talliston because I needed a house that was beautiful and functional – and allowed me to go on wild adventures without ever leaving home. Now you too can experience what it feel like to live inside this unique and amazing house and gardens.
Talliston was a 25-year project that took the UK’s most ordinary house and transformed it, room by room, by ordinary people on an ordinary budget, into ‘Britain’s Most Extraordinary Home’ (The Times).
Starting as a three-bedroomed, semi-detached, ex-council house in Essex, its thirteen rooms have been transformed into extraordinary locations each set in a different time and place. Magnolia living rooms have been recreated as Welsh watchtowers. Garages as log cabins in the woods. Box-rooms as 1920s investigator offices. A former pink bedroom is now a dark and haunted Scottish chamber. Talliston – a name that means ‘the hidden place in the wood’ – in the medieval market town of Great Dunmow, just minutes from Stansted airport, is another world hiding on a perfectly normal street, inviting you to step inside and discover its secrets.
Location
Contact Website 07760 171 100 Talliston House & Gardens, Talliston Newton Green, Great Dunmow, Essex CM6 1DUGetting There
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Add Your ReviewRated ★★★★★ over 10 reviews
Utter privilege
Can’t wait to go back!
You need to stay here!
Truly awesome
No words!
Loved it
Stunning!
100% Recommend
Totally unique
Wonderful experience!
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