Raymond Blanc first laid eyes on the 15th-century manor house that would become Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons in 1983, while perusing a copy of Country Life. Having recently won a second Michelin star for his Oxford restaurant, Les Quat’Saisons, the self-trained French chef was on the lookout for a new project and this period home, advertised for sale in the nearby village of Great Milton, fired up his imagination. His vision? A restaurant with rooms where guests could enjoy an elevated dining experience, enhanced by ingredients grown in the surrounding gardens, before staying the night. Four decades on, Le Manoir has surpassed that initial ambition to become one of the finest country house hotels in the land, with 32 suites laid out across a sprawling, bucolic 27-acre estate that includes 11 different gardens.
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