Country Life early property pages 31st May 2023

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Property market Penny Churchill

Hidden Herefordshire

BOUNDED by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire and Powys to the west, dreamy, landlocked Herefordshire, best known for its fruit, cider and cattle, is one of the smallest, least-populated and most rural counties in England.

Having tested the water at the height of the pandemic, Will Matthews of Knight Frank (020–7861 1440) and Crispin Holborow of Savills (020–7016 3780) are overseeing the relaunch onto the market of the pristine, 266-acre Poston Court estate at Vowchurch, nine miles from Hay-on-Wye and 11 miles from Hereford, at a guide price of £9.55 million. The focal point of the estate is Grade II*listed Poston House, which stands on the site of a medieval deer park high in the western hills, looking out over the glorious Golden Valley to the Black Mountains and the Forest of Dean.

The original Georgian house was designed in 1765 by the architect Sir William Chambers, of Kew Gardens fame, as a shooting lodge for Sir Edward Boughton, whose father bought the manor of Poston from the 5th Duke of Beaufort’s trustees in 1749. In the late 1800s, the house was altered and extended, with

the addition of east and west wings. The estate grounds were laid out by Sir Thomas Robinson, who was master gardener to George III, and many of the magnificent trees seen at Poston today were planted at that time.

In the 1960s, the estate was sold to a local farmer, after which the ‘very charming shooting box’ mentioned in Pevsner went into rapid decline. By 1988, when Esmond and Susie Bulmer bought the Poston estate, the house was a virtual ruin, its classic late18th-century rotunda a nesting place for hens.

An article by Mary Miers in C OUNTRY L IFE (July 7, 2005 ) traces the transformation of Poston House from a forlorn wreck to an ‘arresting country house on a diminutive scale’, thanks to an inspired collaboration between the Bulmers, the architect Philip Jebb and master-builders Treasure & Son of Ludlow.

The remodelling of Poston House involved the restoration of the 18th-century core, comprising the south-facing round room, the hall, the staircase and the Doric portico, and the replacement of the Victorian wings by two-storey pavilions in keeping with the original Chambers design. The former gate lodge, used as a farmhouse in Victorian

times, was turned into a guest annexe, with buildings in the farm courtyard later converted into an office, a gardener’s cottage and garaging.

During their tenure, the present owners, who bought Poston Court in 2015, have, according the agents, transformed ‘a timeless classical house into a modern masterpiece’, thanks to an extensive and minutely detailed programme of renovation, repair and/or rebuilding of the entire house, orangery and pool house, lodge, cottages and estate buildings, all carried out by a dedicated team of specialist craftsmen.

The main house offers 4,362sq ft of glamorous and colourful accommodation including an elegant drawing room, a comfortable library, a Chambers circular dining room, a bespoke Martin Moore kitchen and three bedroom suites, with a further three bedroom suites in Poston Lodge, and four further bedrooms in Poston Cottage.

Having recently found a buyer for The Old Rectory in the village of Pudleston, four miles east of Leominster and 14 miles south

The launch onto the market of three landmark country houses reveals why the county is increasingly seen as a quiet alternative to the Cotswolds

of Ludlow, Mr Holborow is also handling the sale—at a guide price of £7.5m—of Grade II-listed Pudleston Court, the principal house of the village, set in 49 acres of formal gardens, parkland and woodland with views over the surrounding rich farmland and the Welsh mountains.

Pudleston Court was acquired by local grandee Elias Chadwick in 1845 following the death of its previous owner, who was rector of Pudleston. He subsequently rebuilt the house in pink sandstone with a battlemented roofline in the Tudor Gothic style to the designs of Liverpool architect J. T. Brearley. It was later described as ‘a handsome modern mansion in the castellated style standing on an eminence in a beautifully undulating park of over 200 acres ornamented with shrubberies, plantations and sheets of water’. In the late 20th century, Pudleston Court was the home of Dutch supermarket entrepreneur Albert Heijn, who lived there until his death in 2011.

Restored to the highest of standards in recent years, Pudleston Court offers sumptuous accommodation on two main floors, including a reception hall, grand hall, drawing room, library, sitting room, kitchen/breakfast room, dining room, office, nine principal bedroom suites, a cinema complex, an indoor swimming pool complex, a staff flat and extensive cellars. It comes with five cottages (two with indoor swimming pools), two entrance lodges and two newly built houses, most currently let on an Airbnb basis and producing a substantial income.

Finally, Lindsay Cuthill’s Blue Book Agency (07967 555545) is handling the sale of historic, Grade I-listed Rudhall Manor, three miles east of Ross-on-Wye in south-east Herefordshire, close to the Welsh border and the northern edge of the Forest of Dean. A guide price of £3.25m is quoted for the wonderfully atmospheric manor house set in 10 acres of picturesque landscaped gardens leading down to the Rudhall Brook, which enters the grounds via a waterfall and is crossed by a series of bridges. The brook

Above left, above and below: Glamorous Grade II*-listed Poston House stands at the heart of the immaculate 266-acre Poston Court estate at Vowchurch in Herefordshire. £9.55m

Poston House is high in the western hills, looking out over the glorious Golden Valley to the Black Mountains and Forest of Dean

Property market

feeds a pair of lakes that provide a haven for birds and wildlife.

According to its listing details, the manor house was extensively remodelled in the midto-late 16th century, further remodelled and rebuilt after a fire in the 17th century, altered in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and restored in the 20th century. The manor was home to the influential Rudhall family and their heirs by marriage, the Westfalings, until 1830, when it was acquired by Alexander Baring, later 1st Lord Ashburton. Other notable owners include the ornithologist Sir Peter Scott and the businessman Sir John Harvey Jones. The current owner is intriguingly described as ‘a well-known artist with an illustrious catalogue’.

Admiral Lord Nelson first visited Rudhall as a guest of Thomas Westfaling in 1802, the year that Nelson was made a freeman of Hereford city. Thereafter, legend has it that Nelson and Lady Hamilton would meet at the manor, away from the prying eyes and disapproval of London society.

According to Mr Cuthill, the present owners, who bought Rudhall Manor in 2013, have done much excellent work in paring back ‘improvements’ made in the 1980s and 1990s, while restoring the interior to its historic warmth with the use of bold authentic

colours, notably in the Tudor Great Hall and the Georgian drawing room and library. The accommodation includes a reception hall, three main reception rooms, a sitting room, family room, breakfast room and kitchen, plus a master suite, five further bedrooms and bathrooms, a further sitting room, solar

and morning room, and two offices; there is also a three-bedroom annexe. Outside, an array of outbuildings have been repurposed for modern living and now includes a heated indoor swimming pool and gym, with a selfcontained studio apartment located above a large garage.

Some 49 acres of gardens and parkland provide a glorious setting for battlemented Pudleston Court at Pudleston, Herefordshire. £7.5m

Rudhall Manor, in south-east Herefordshire, counts Nelson as a former guest. £3.25m

When the shoe no longer fits

IT happened really quite quickly I think,’ says Nick Hewer. ‘I’m going to be 80 in February, so something clicked. The clock went “tick” and we realised that we can’t keep on managing this.’ To most people, the idea of owning a property such as Nick’s Park Farm, with its seven bedrooms, swimming pool, tennis court and 12 acres of land in Northamptonshire, would be a fairytale. It’s easy, when flicking through the pages of property advertisements and editorial in this very magazine, to get jealous about the space and lifestyle on offer. But at the same time, for many, including the former Apprentice adviser and Countdown host, there comes a time when it all gets a bit too much. ‘At the moment, we’ve got two gardeners coming twice a week, and it’s still a struggle to keep the grass down, or the hedges cut, or keep the pond clean,’ he adds. For as much as you admire the beautiful properties for sale in these pages and may think ‘who would dare leave such a paradise’, the answer may often be people looking to downsize.

Downsizing itself has a very simple definition (‘to move to a smaller place of residence’), but the reasons behind it can be very complex.

One of the benefits can be freeing up some equity tied up in an older, larger home, but, for many, it’s the simple benefit of finding somewhere more manageable, that’s closer to various amenities and closer to their kids and grandchildren. ‘It’s all of the above,’ says buying agent Richard Winter from Surrey Property Search. ‘For example, I have a client who had a 6,000sq ft home in the countryside, but they spent three or four nights a week in London and all of the sudden they’ve got a big house that they don’t use any more. They don’t see the point in heating the pool every year any more.’ Buying agent Michelle Hendrie extols the attraction of being closer to the children and grandchildren, and also notes that, as a whole, ‘far fewer people are happy to take on a project’ when moving to a smaller home, and that the trend has now ‘moved from having a smaller version of what they are coming from, to something more modern. People are much more open to something newer, eco friendly and energy efficient’.

Nick and his partner, Catherine, speak effusively about moving closer to their granddaughter, who will soon be only a field away, although they admit that the person

who will be most upset about them leaving Park Farm will be said granddaughter, who loves the space to roam and the pool to swim in. ‘She takes my dog on a lead, she’s got her own little electric car and the two of them go off roaming round the woods,’ he says, before adding: ‘I think we’re being really unkind, but there we are, she’ll just have to suffer!’

Obviously it’s tough to leave behind a place full of memories. Nick and Catherine say that they have ‘no bad memories’ of their years at Park Farm, and reel off highlight after highlight from their time there, including looking after Catherine’s dad, a former Spitfire pilot, who used to sneak into the main house and help dispose of any excess

Sometimes our homes can get too big for us, meaning it’s time to downsize. Here, we speak to those involved with the process

Nick Hewer with his partner, Catherine, at Park Farm in Preston Deanery, Northamptonshire (Michael Graham, £3.25 million)

Properties of the week

whisky, as well as happy memories of big family parties, the kids growing up, flying kites and the friendly community of their village, Preston Deanery. But, as Catherine points out, ‘for a long time I think we both realised that there would be a risk staying in this large place at our age. Neither of us would be able to manage the complications of the gardens and the woods and so on.’ They admit that they embraced the challenge 15 years ago, but now time has caught up with them.

They are, however, excited about their new home, which is smaller and in a village nearby. ‘We are most looking forward to the manageability of the new home, to taking some of the stress out of our lives,’ says Nick. ‘The move can be an emotional time for clients,’ agrees Simon Roberts, head of the south and east regional agency at Strutt & Parker. ‘This doesn’t mean that it needs to be a negative experience, though, and it’s often about reframing the experience. Downsizing should be seen as an exciting next step—whether you’re upping sticks to a new area, moving closer to your grandchildren or freeing up equity so you can travel more.’

Moving to a smaller home is still moving and, as such, requires a not insignificant amount of planning. Of course, it’s important to find the right agent to help you through the process. The sale of Park Farm is being handled by Michael Graham, who, according to Nick ‘sent what was effectively the cast of Madame Butterfly for the first meeting, there was about 10 of them!’. Most agents have a helpful ‘to do’ checklist on their websites, with Strutt & Parker’s containing tips such as ‘visualise your new lifestyle’, ‘get your new home buyer ready’ and ‘leave yourself time’. Time is a key one, with Nick and Catherine admitting that they were ‘amazed at the amount of planning that

goes into it’. They also add that ‘you’ve got to be mentally quite strong, as it’s a hard process. It’s a long journey and it’s tough emotionally and physically. You’re saying goodbye to things.’

Finding a new place to downsize to is also key, and where buying agents such as Mr Winter and Ms Hendrie can be of great help. Now is as good a time as any, they say, with Mr Winter confessing that ‘half of what I’m doing at the moment is downsizing. Most of the people I sold to when they were 45 are now 65–70 and are keen to downsize.’ When it comes to buying and selling, Ms Hendrie also suggests aiming for a quick exchange and a delayed completion, which gives ‘vendors the comfort of knowing they have time to find something’. It’s also worth exploring a ‘rent back’ scheme, where vendors can sell their home and stay a little longer until they find exactly what they are looking for. Mr Winter also adds that although lots of people are currently looking to downsize, the market

is still a bit tricky. It’s vital to list ‘at the right guide price’, he says. However, according to Mr Roberts, a cooler market has brought a lot more downsizers forward, who didn’t want to be involved with the ‘frenzy’ of 2021 and wanted more time to ‘consider their next steps’. ‘It’s therefore no surprise that we’ve seen an increase in downsizers coming to the cooler market in recent months as it feels like a more approachable space,’ he concludes.

Throughout our chat, it’s clear that with every laugh about Park Farm, there is a moment of sadness at moving on. ‘I’ll miss the space, it was fantastic, amazing,’ says Nick. ‘And also the privacy and the beauty of it. You can stand there and go “how bloody lucky are we?”.’ But it’s clear that they are both thrilled at the prospect of a simpler life and more time with family. ‘This is what we’re doing. Simplifying life and clearing the brain of the hundreds of things that have to be managed at the moment.’ That certainly sounds like something to look forward to.

Ray Mead Road in Maidenhead, Berkshire: this four-bedroom Victorian home offers the downsizer charm, idyllic walled gardens and river views (Savills, £1.2 million)

Ivy Cottage in Wateringbury, Kent: a double-fronted Georgian property with four bedrooms and many period features (Jackson-Stops, £825,000)

West Street in Kingham, Oxfordshire: a three-bedroom Cotswold-stone cottage (Knight Frank, £625,000)