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f you like your country houses with a bit of character, then we've a feeling you're going to love Pencarrow, in Cornwall. Forget painfully preserved rooms cordoned off behind scarlet ropes, this is a bona fide family home – and has been for over 500 years.

The Molesworth-St Aubyns originally moved in here when the first Queen Elizabeth was on the throne – during the 16th-century – and you'll probably see the latest generation knocking about as you wander round the magnificent rooms. As you'd expect from such a historical family, the house is packed with treasures – our favourites being the drawing room, which is decked out in Chinese silk captured from a Spanish treasure ship in 1762.

Spare some energy for a stroll round the Italianate gardens, though – all 50 acres of them – where you'll find rhododendrons, primroses and daffodils bursting out in spring, bluebells in May and a peaceful lake where you can soak up the silence. After all that lot, you'll probably be ready for a cup of tea in the Peacock Cafe. Keep an eye out for the brightly coloured eponymous birds, they’re partial to a few crumbs…