Overview

We recently enjoyed a week’s holiday in the Longhouse, in North Yorkshire.

Transport & Parking

There was private parking immediately next to the property with plenty of room for our large WAV. The area was paved offering level entry straight into the kitchen at the rear of the property. Due to its rural location you would really need your own transport to get here.

Access

My brother was able to manoeuvre his powered wheelchair throughout the entire ground floor which consists of a kitchen, dining room, downstairs bedroom with en-suite wetroom, main bathroom and a ramp with gentle incline up to the living room. All of these rooms are generously proportioned and we seemed to have a lot more room than we were expecting from the photos. The door into the living room was the only tight bit to negotiate but was perfectly manageable for his wheelchair. Although we could have managed without doing so we did decide to move some of the furniture around a little to allow him a bit more independence with his driving. The downstairs bedroom was huge, with a mezzanine and seating area above it accessed for those that can manage it via a small spiral staircase. This does take up some floor space next to the bed but we were easily able to overcome that by pushing the bed over a bit which still allowed for plenty of room at both sides of the room. The sticking point for many will be the bed and lack of hoist. We had taken elephants feet raisers and the Sara Stedy in the hope that we’d be able to use them but we soon realised that this wasn’t going to be practical (as can be seen in photo no. 8). Fortunately though the bed was a really good height for my brother, and his wheelchair but it did mean that two of us had to help him with his transfers off the bed. As much as we (as carers) miss the profiling bed when we’re away from home it was a real treat for him to get to sleep in such a luxurious bed and he had so much fun being able to roll across it. He also loved the novelty of being able to open and close the blinds in the bedroom himself using the remote control. The kitchen was spacious with a height adjustable worktop and wheelchair accessible sink (the tool for changing the height would need to be obtained from the owners, my brother’s wheelchair is height adjustable so he was able to access them at the standard height). The microwave is situated beneath the kitchen counter that’s visible in the photo (no. 2) to the left of the cooker. There was a separate utility area with a combination washing machine/tumble dryer. Upstairs there are two double en-suite bedrooms up one set of stairs and a third on its own up another. It’s worth noting that for anyone that might struggle these steps are quite steep. There are no TVs in the bedrooms but the WiFi was good for anyone wanting to bring devices with them. There’s a small enclosed garden at the front of the building that my brother was able to access via the front door, (photo no. 7). There was lots of information about things to do in the area including details of walks with easy access which was appreciated.

Toilets

The wetroom was a good size and included a much more substantial pull down seat than we’ve seen before, pull down hand rails and two narrow glass screens either side of the shower (see photo), as you look at the photo, the screen on the left can be moved round to allow better access but the one to the right seemed to be fixed. There is a sink with clearance underneath it that some wheelchair users might be able to access but it wasn’t suitable for my brother’s wheelchair. There was a standard accessible toilet with handrail to the side of it and space for a wheelchair user to transfer to it from the left hand side of it. There's also an emergency pull chord. The main bathroom is also situated on the ground floor, is spacious and has a bath, and large walk in style shower.

Staff

Alan, the owner of the property met us there and showed us how everything worked, he was very friendly and helpful and answered any queries that we had promptly. He and his wife and their daughter and son in law live in the neighbouring properties.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

The Longhouse was built in 1695 and is by far the oldest and most characterful house that we’ve ever found to have wheelchair access. It was truly lovely to be able to stay in such a unique and charming house. For anyone very sensitive to noise due to the age of the house there wasn’t much sound proofing between the living room and the bedrooms that are above it, this isn’t a criticism just worth noting if it’s an issue for anyone. I only gave it 4.5 stars because although it worked perfectly for us the additions of a profiling bed and a hoist would make it more accessible to more people.

Photos