With Agatha Christie enjoying a renewed moment in the spotlight, from Netflix's Seven Dials Mystery to BBC's Towards Zero, fans of the world's best-selling novelist can now do more than watch her stories unfold on screen – and stay in the very house that helped to inspire them.
High Peak Manor, an 11-bedroom manor house perched above Kinder Reservoir in the Derbyshire Peak District, is available to rent through luxury large house specialist Big House Experience, and it comes with a literary pedigree few holiday homes can match.
These photos offer a glimpse inside the stunning property – would you like to stay here if you had the chance?
1. Centuries of history
Dating back to at least the 14th century, the manor started life as an isolated farmstead at the meeting point of ancient pack horse routes near Hayfield. Photo: Big House Experience
2. Grand shooting lodge
It was later transformed into a grand shooting lodge by Sir James Watts, the wealthy textile merchant and Mayor of Manchester, after he sold the surrounding land to Stockport Water Authority for the creation of the reservoir - on the condition he could keep the house for himself. Photo: Big House Experience
3. Christie connection
It was Sir James's son, also called James, who brought Agatha Christie into the story. He became her brother-in-law, and Christie was a regular guest at the manor. She often stayed for extended periods and used the house as a writing retreat, reportedly drawing on its atmosphere, isolation and grandeur while working on some of her most famous novels. Photo: Big House Experience
4. Poirot’s Perch
The connection is woven into the house today, as one of the eleven bedrooms is named Agatha's Bedroom - while Poirot's Perch is a nod to her most famous detective. Photo: Big House Experience