Lock Cottage on the Worcester & Birmingham Canal, Stoke Pound, Worcestershire - 1790-1815

Floor plans for Swarkestone Pavilion near Ticknall, Derbyshire - 1632. Shown on book cover, right

The Pineapple in Dunmore, Central Scotland - 1761

"The Landmark Trust is an independent UK building preservation charity which was founded in 1965 to rescue worthwhile historic buildings from neglect, and then to restore and let them for holidays. The income from letting contributes to their upkeep. They include follies, forts, manor houses, mills, cottages, castles, gatehouses and towers. You can stay in any of these buildings. "

The Landmark Trust Handbook can't be purchased at a bookstore, available only through Britain's Landmark Trust for $25. Reading the 188 page soft-cover handbook is fun by itself, with its chronicle of restorations. It's also the first step to choosing a vacation lodging unlike any other in the world. You can stay in any one of these amazing historic restored wonders for the price of a two star hotel. The book comes with a £12 coupon which you can apply to a rental.

Great Britain's Prince Charles became patron of Landmark Trust in 1993 and writes a foreword praising the diversity of its building conservation. There are temples, towers, schools, manors, farm houses, gate houses, lock houses, mills, mines, a pigsty, a music room, palaces, castles, forts, a House of Correction and more. Woodsford Castle near Dorchester, Kent, was completed around in 1370. Charles Rennie Macintosh's buildings were completed in 1904, and then there's everything in between.

You can fall into a fantasy world with every page turn... each of the 180-some heritage properties is detailed with descriptions, pictures, floor plans, occupancy, notes from the logbook, and quirky considerations. Character is presented in its most charming light, as in this note for Causeway House in Bardon Mill, Northumberland:

"The loft is now a warm-weather bedroom, where you can sleep under the knotted tent-like thatch in a fully roofed bed."

Anyone who speaks Real Estate knows that this means it's hostile in winter and that little critters routinely fall from the thatch onto your head if it weren't for the canopy over you. Only Landmark Trust could make it sound irresistable. For Bath Tower, a logbook entry praises in typical British understatement:

"A medieval atmosphere has been achieved without all the discomforts of the period..."

Looking for seclusion? They've got that for rent at Fort Clonque in Alderney, Channel Islands:

"Any cold or damp, characteristic of such a fort, will be more than compensated for by the delight of its spectacular setting. (The clean air allows all sorts of lichen to grow on the granite walls)... At high tide the fort is cut off and the sea runs between it and the mainland."

Upon inspecting the floor plans, you discover even more character. Swarkestone Pavilion near Ticknall, Derbyshire is not just another 1632 "bowle alley house." In adding a bathroom to the place, they made use of a turret, and so Swarkestone Pavilion has the odd feature where the occupant scampers across the open roof from the stair tower to get there. According to the log book, former occupants found it enchanting. (And if you need a vast bowling green for your Frisbee® champions, this place allows dogs.)

Many of these buildings, often stone, have characteristically thick walls and some are damp and cold, and unsuitable for winter use. All lodgings come equipped with the minimum trappings of civilization - linens, a toaster and a teapot. You may have to trot 100 yards to the bathroom, climb tiny winding stairs, and cohabitate with the denizens of your thatch roof, but this is England, after all. The caretakers see that you'll have your toast and tea.

After you have fallen in love with a handful of buildings and have your week holiday roughly visualized, you may want to see if the place is actually available when you want it. The Landmark Trust website has a frequently-updated .pdf file you can download and see when each property is available, a good two years in advance. The landmarks are rented for three, four and seven day stretches, and to give you an idea of price, the two lucky people staying at Swarkestone Pavilion pay £216 for a week of bathroom roof-scampering in winter, £452 in summer. Reservations are made by phone or fax to their London office. Who knows... maybe Prince Charles will pick up.

Leslie Strom has her eye on a place with real working cannons. You just never know when you'll need one.