(CNN)Spending your vacation in an historic landmark property once occupied by royals or famous writers ought to cost top dollar — but thanks to the UK-based charity The Landmark Trust, you can do so for around $25 per person per night.
Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson’s French hideaway?
$1,262 for 12 people for four nights.
Rudyard Kipling’s self-built family home in Vermont? Sleeping room for eight for $390 a night.
The Landmark Trust rescues historic and architecturally significant buildings from decay and ruin. It maintains almost 200 European properties as vacation rentals, re-decorating them sensitively and — in line with that historic vibe — without TVs or WiFi.
Standalone iterations of the trust exist in Ireland as well as the US.
From English Tudor castles to Atlantic-facing lighthouses, these unusual buildings all have a story behind them.
Here are 10 worth booking:
A UNESCO site that inspired a new style of architecture
Villa Saraceno, Italy
The ancient city of Vicenza was founded more than 2,000 years ago, but it was in the 16th century that Venetian architect Andrea Palladio built a set of villas so influential a style of architecture was named after him.
Part of the Palladian Villas of Veneto, a UNESCO World Heritage site, Villa Saraceno resembles a Roman temple, dramatically imposed upon the flat, green landscape of the Vicenza countryside.
Its clean lines are testament to Palladio’s devotion to symmetry.
The architect sought inspiration from the ruins of Rome, reinventing their columned design principles as fashionable villas for noblemen around the city.
Stepping inside, six-foot-wide frescoes of Greek mortals and goddesses adorn the ceilings.
In the living room, friezes depict scenes from Virgil’s Aeneid — mainly Dido and Aeneas’ romantic frolics on their journey towards Carthage.
There are seven bedrooms and despite the villa’s museum-like grandeur, Saraceno still manages the kind of rustic warmth you’d expect from a Mediterranean home.
Sleeps 16. Four-night stays from $1,466 (1,193).
Rudyard Kipling’s Vermont home
Helen’s Tower, Northern Ireland
Proof that a rural vacation does not have to mean slugging it in a tent.
Helen’s Tower is an enchanting stone turret squirreled away in the woodlands of County Down, Northern Ireland. It’s inspired eponymous poems by Robert Browning and Alfred, Lord Tennyson.
Originally a Game Keepers Tower, it was built for the fifth Baron of Dufferin in the mid 1800s. Inside, rooms are stacked on top of each other accessed via a snaking stone staircase.
There’s a shower room, separate bathroom, kitchen, living and dining room with an open pit fire and a rooftop poetry room. Atop, its terrace is swamped by gorgeous views across the lush green hills of the Clandeboye Estate — a regular filming location used in “Game of Thrones.”
The bedroom is a little snug, but what it lacks in luxury it makes up for with Northern Ireland’s wild landscape and ancient ruins.
You can pull on boots and ramble off within its woodlands, or set off for a round of golf.
Eco-conscious guests will be happy to know it was awarded a bronze in sustainability in 2015 by the Green Tourism Business Scheme
Sleeps two. Priced from $335 (273) for two nights, minimum stay.
Henry VIII’s building project
The Georgian House at Hampton Court Palace, England
Known as Henry VIII’s renovation “plaything’ and set amongst the English king’s grand reworkings of Hampton Court Palace, this series of gardens and courtyards alongside kitchens once covered 36,000 square feet.
Despite its imposing features, the Georgian House started life as a simple kitchen for King George I, built on an alley leading to Henry VIII’s tennis courts at Hampton Court Palace.
Inside, the house sleeps eight across five rooms all minimally furnished but no less comfy with grandiose chandeliers in its living and dining room.
Sleeps eight. Price starts from 864 ($1,061) for four nights.
The castle where Cardinal Wolsey was arrested for treason
Cawood Castle, England
The gatehouse and great hall (now empty) are all that remain of this once spectacular medieval castle for archbishops — reportedly “more palace than castle.”
It’s seen a fair share of drama during its 500-year history. In 1529, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey was arrested for treason on King Henry VIII’s orders, after failing to secure an annulment so the king could marry Anne Boleyn.
Following arrest, he rode out through the gate passage on a mule bound for London and died on route. Henry later stayed at the castle with new wife Catherine Howard.
Her entourage included Thomas Culpeper. Howard and Culpeper were later to be accused of adultery and beheaded for treason.
Used afterwards as an officer’s mess during World War II, the gatehouse now sleeps up to four people in bright, airy rooms. Its main bedroom sports a grand four-poster bed.
The dark interiors, hessian lampshades and tapestry curtains make you feel instantly cosseted from the outside world — lord of your own castle (until Henry VIII sends for you).
On starlit nights you can climb the second floor stairs and dine on the roof terrace for uninhibited views of rugged Yorkshire.
Sleeps four. Priced at $292 (238) based on four nights.
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