Country Life Early Property Pages: June 12, 2024

THE GREEN ISSUE

Property market

Penny Churchill

It’s

grand in Norfolk

Coast, countryside and everything in between–East Anglia’s biggest county has a great deal to offer country-house buyers

EAST ANGLIA’S largest county, Norfolk, covers an area of 2,074 square miles and boasts a wonderfully diverse landscape of woods, lush farmland and a glorious sweeping coastline that stretches for 90 miles from King’s Lynn in the west to Hopton-onSea in the east. This year, buyers looking to secure a base in this least cluttered of counties can choose from an unusually wide selection of coastal and country properties, from manors and farmhouses large and small, to seaside houses old and new.

Ben Rivett of Savills in Norwich (01603 229256) sets the pace with the launch onto

the market of Grade II*-listed Ingoldisthorpe Hall, only three miles from the royal estate at Sandringham and 10 miles from King’s Lynn—a rare find in west Norfolk, where, as elsewhere in the county, most of the finest houses are owned by the major estates. He quotes a guide price of £3.75 million for the imposing country house, set in 33 acres of private gardens, parkland and woodland. Originally known as Mount Amelia, the property was described in William White’s Gazetteer of Norfolk (1845) as ‘the delightful seat of Capt John Davy RN, built by John Davy Esq in 1745 on an eminence commanding

The elegant Georgian frontage of Gurneys Manor at Hingham in mid Norfolk. £2.35m

an extensive view of the ocean and the adjacent country’.

The Norfolk Heritage Explorer confirms 1745 as the date of the original building, which had side pavilions that were later built into the 19th-century wings, whereas, according to the date on the downpipes, the present red-brick Ingoldisthorpe Hall was built in 1757, with stone and stucco dressings, a slate roof and wings of the local carrstone that defines this part of the county. The

stable block, groom’s cottage and coach house to the north of the hall also date from 1745, but were remodelled as a mock-medieval folly with a Gothic tower in 1820 and converted in 2008 to a private house.

In the late 2000s, Ingoldisthorpe Hall was meticulously restored by the current owner following a landmark renovation project led by Mark Ashurst of Norwich-based architects A Squared, which earned the team a coveted CPRE (Campaign to Protect Rural England) Award in 2010.

Ingoldisthorpe Hall is a rare find in west Norfolk, where most of the finest houses are owned by the major estates

Since then, the hall and its complex of properties have been successfully developed as a high-end holiday destination for large groups or families wishing to celebrate special events or simply spend quality time together. Located within easy reach of the sandy beaches of Holkham, Brancaster and Hunstanton, with the ancient Peddars Way Trail and the 84-mile Norfolk Coastal Path on the doorstep, Ingoldisthorpe Hall offers 10,454sq ft of elegant, light-filled living space on two main floors, including entrance and staircase halls, four principal reception rooms, two kitchens, a television room and various utilities on the ground floor, with nine bedrooms and six bathrooms and a dining room, hall and cellars on the lower ground floor. Further accommodation is available in The Folly, which provides a family room, kitchen/breakfast room and three further bedrooms.

Buyers prepared to consider a renovation project will surely be tempted by the launch onto the market, again through Savills (01603 229229), of another rare find, Lodge Farm at Castle Acre, which is being sold on behalf of the Holkham estate. A guide price of £2.75m is quoted for the substantial former farmhouse with its outbuildings, farmstead and shoot lodge set in some 21 acres of gardens, pasture, meadow and woodland. Although few may be aware of its existence, Lodge Farm sits in undulating countryside, a mile north-east of the charming and historic village of Castle Acre with its Norman castle, ruined Cluniac priory and medieval church of St James, three miles from the Georgian

market town of Swaffham, 11 miles from Fakenham and 18 miles from Brancaster.

Originally an important farmhouse on the Holkham estate, Lodge Farm, which is unlisted, has been let to long-term tenants over many years and now requires updating and refurbishment throughout. The original approach to Lodge Farm was from a lane to the west, over a drive that swept through a hedged avenue via open, park-like grounds and through woodland before arriving at the handsome south façade. The drive is shown clearly in old images and will need to be reinstated by the new owner to provide access and re-create the sense of arrival that the house deserves. Built of the distinctive Holkham estate brick, the main house is Georgian with a substantial

Victorian addition. It offers more than 8,700sq ft of living space, with five reception rooms, nine bedrooms and five bathrooms, the most important of which are laid out along the south side of the house, overlooking the grounds and the countryside beyond. A courtyard of singlestorey buildings to the north of the house currently provides garaging, stabling, a workshop and stores, but could be converted to a variety of uses. As is Lodge Farm itself, the gardens are a blank canvas, ripe for landscaping, but with an old structure that provides a useful starting point, whereas the farmstead to the north of the house, which incorporates the former walled garden, combines both traditional and modern barns that could also be converted to a number of alternative uses.

Above: Imposing Ingoldisthorpe Hall is set in 33 acres of grounds in west Norfolk. £3.75m.

Below: Lodge Farm at Castle Acre in Norfolk offers buyers a renovation project. £2.75m

Property market

Holiday cottages are increasingly big business in and around villages within easy reach of the north Norfolk coast and enterprising London buyers contemplating a move from the capital will be heartened by the story of Lynne and John Johnson, who moved to north Norfolk some 25 years ago. In 2000, having acquired a decaying Victorian farmstead with seven acres of farmland at Home Farm, Cranmer, 1½ miles from South Creake and six miles from Burnham Market, they converted the former model farm into nine luxury holiday cottages. The site has since blossomed into an established farm-holiday business, with a swimming pool complex, tennis courts and access to two acres of gardens.

From there, the Johnsons moved into farming and became the custodians of the rest of Home Farm, with its south-facing farmhouse, four-bedroom cottage, workshops, outbuildings, woodland and arable farmland, 170 acres in all. Now, they have finally decided to call it a day and Home Farm and Cranmer Country Cottages are on the market with Strutt & Parker (01603 883607) at a guide price of £6.5m for the whole or in up to five lots.

As well as overseeing progress at Home Farm, selling agent Tom Goodley has been clocking up the miles around his native county in recent weeks. His next port of call is the coastal village of Blakeney, which lies within the North Norfolk Heritage Coast,

five miles north-west of Holt and 13 miles west of Cromer. Blakeney was a thriving commercial seaport from the Middle Ages until the early 20th century, but, now that the harbour has silted up, only small boats can make their way past Blakeney Point to the sea.

The 17th-century Manor House is set in 4¾ acres at Oulton near Holt in Norfolk. £2.15m

Home Farm and Cranmer Country Cottages is a flourishing farm-holiday business within easy reach of the north Norfolk coast. £6.5m

Property market

Here, where the sky meets the sea, Strutt & Parker are handling the sale, at a guide price of £4.5m, of Larkfields, a striking New England-style coast house inspired by houses in Cape Cod and the Hamptons, as well as the work of renowned New England architects Polhemus Savery Dasilva, and designed by local architects SMG of Sheringham and Norwich. Located off the Morston road on the western edge of Blakeney, Larkfields stands at the end of a tree-lined drive within 10 acres of professionally laid-out gardens, wildflower meadows and two hedged paddocks that drop down to the coastal path, from which the house can’t be seen. In a quiet channel close to the property is a recently built pontoon, used for launching a tender or small boat. The result, say the agents, is a beautiful house with panoramic views over the saltmarshes, Blakeney, the Point and the sea beyond.

The interior of the house is typically New England in style, with almost 5,000sq ft of flexible living space on two floors. There are three first-floor bedrooms, including the principal bedroom suite, which enjoys sublime coastal views. Located on the ground floor are the reception hall, drawing room,

a kitchen/dining room by Bryan Turner, family room/fourth bedroom, various utilities, a large covered terrace, stores and plant rooms. Outside are a heated swimming pool and an all-weather tennis court. A courtyard on the south side of the house is currently arranged as four garages—some or all of this block could be converted to additional accommodation if required.

It is a beautiful house with panoramic views over Blakeney, the Point and the sea beyond

Finally, for buyers seeking a good family house in a quiet location within reach of leading Norfolk schools such as Gresham’s in Holt, the various independent schools in Norwich or Wymondham College in Wymondham, Strutt & Parker present a choice of two charming manor houses: The Manor House at Oulton, eight miles from Holt and 13 from Norwich, for sale at a guide price of £2.15m; and Gurneys Manor at Hingham, 7½ miles

from Wymondham and 15¾ miles from Norwich city centre, on offer at £2.35m.

The Manor House at Oulton is a charming and substantial period house that isn’t listed, but is believed to date from the late 17th century, with later additions. Set in 4¾ acres of delightful gardens, grounds and paddocks, it offers 4,214sq ft of accommodation on two floors, including a reception hall, two principal reception rooms, a study, kitchen/ breakfast room, six bedrooms and five bathrooms (four en suite).

Owned by the same family since the 1930s, gracious Gurneys Manor is a fine, Grade IIlisted manor house, the oldest part of which dates from the 16th century with an 18thcentury Georgian front. The main house, which needs updating, offers more than 6,000sq ft of well-organised accommodation on three floors, including formal drawing and dining rooms, a sitting room, study, kitchen/ diner, flower and boot rooms, eight bedrooms and four bathrooms. It stands centrally within its 16½ acres of gardens, parkland and paddocks and comes with a four-bedroom cottage, barns, offices, workshops and stores.

Next week Essex and Suffolk

Larkfields is a striking New England-style property set in 10 acres of grounds at Blakeney on the North Norfolk Heritage Coast. £4.5m

Properties of the week

Annunciata Elwes

Good and green Eco-friendly properties to keep you feeling virtuous

Gloucestershire, £1.35 million

Embedded in the slope leading down to the River Frome, within walking distance of Stroud town centre, this extraordinary house is constructed with a 4Wall panel system finished with brick slips and Siberian larch cladding, complemented by a heat-pump ventilation system. A garden room, plant room and garden store sit underneath the lawned top garden terrace and the main three floors have an upside-down arrangement, with the master bedroom, and four further bedrooms, sitting room and balcony on the lower two floors and a large kitchen/living space on top. Fronting the river and overlooking a mill pond, the garden incorporates wildflower-meadow areas, specimen trees and terraces and there’s an electric-car charging point at the front. Hamptons (01453 802339)

Somerset, £5 million

Grade II-listed Selwood Manor on the outskirts of Frome has been extensively renovated and extended in the past five years, with state-of-the-art plumbing, electrics, heating, data and security systems behind a mellow Jacobean façade, thanks to local specialist builders Roy Pike & Son, which has since worked almost exclusively for Longleat. The ground-source heat-pump system on site, with geo-exchange technology that also heats the outdoor pool, was developed as a pilot scheme by Erda Energy and is now used in many superstores, universities and other buildings, say agents—and Selwood is quite the enterprise, too. Within 11 acres of rolling grounds, including woodland and pasture, there are 10 bedrooms across the main manor and two cottages, plus Cooper Hall, a venue in itself (www.cooperhall.org). An additional 24¼ acres are available by separate negotiation. Knight Frank (01225 325994)

Properties of the week

Hampshire, £4.95 million

Somewhere beneath the smooth surface of the River Hamble at Bursledon rest the remains of Henry VIII’s fleet, built at the village’s Elephant Boatyard; above the water sits an extraordinary Huf Haus built with Paragraph 55 permission. Bridge House, as its name implies, is designed as a bridge over a one-acre river lake within eight acres of woodland and is termed as ‘a modern and opulent take on a South-East Asian long house; the architecture creates a Zen-like gateway into Nature’ by agents, who particularly praise how the changing light through the day and in different seasons is reflected in the interior. With triple-glazed floor-to-ceiling glass walls and a wraparound balcony, it covers 3,540sq ft, including five bedrooms and a sitting/dining/family room centred on a biofuel fire, plus a gym annexe. Underfloor heating, a solar-panelled roof, air-source heat pump and electric-car charging point complete the green idyll, giving Bridge House an EPC rating of A. There are nice pubs, shops and schools in the main part of the village and Southampton city centre is only five miles away. Toby Gullick (01962 678478)

London NW11, from £1.45 million to £2.95 million

One of the first town-centre developments in the UK to provide luxury living and also achieve the British Business Bank’s coveted net-zero carbon status, The Luxley, at Golders Green, houses nine residences, from twobedroom apartments to three-bedroom duplexes and a penthouse with its own lift (each has its own steam room and jacuzzi). As expected of its EPC A rating, the development is made with carefully selected materials and energy sources, utilising photovoltaic cells on the roof, ‘superquilt’ insulation and air-source heat pumps; other admirable features include a 61 square metre (656 sq ft) living wall, which removes 20.42kg of pollution, stores 471.53kg of carbon, handles 134.57kg of carbon sequestration and produces an astonishing 358.68kg of oxygen per year—and all while cooling the building’s interior through absorbing 50% of sunlight. Currently, only two residences are occupied. Telephone 020–8064 3223 or visit www.luxleyhouse.co.uk

Dorset, £3 million

A charming thatched, red-brick and timber-frame new-build that on first glance could easily pass for something built a few hundred years ago, Godwins House has four bedrooms (two en suite) and there is also a handsomely converted barn with two bedrooms. There has been no expense spared, say agents, with quality interior features, including limestone and herringbone flooring, a high-spec kitchen, orangery with Georgian-style bi-fold doors leading to the garden, which slopes down to a stream and an inglenook with stone plinths, limestone hearth and woodburning stove in the sitting room. Further buildings include stables and there is planning permission in place for a new master-bedroom suite and larger utility room. On a plot of three acres surrounded by paddocks and woodland within Waterditch, a small hamlet on the outskirts of the New Forest village of Bransgore, about three miles from Christchurch, with its priory and castle ruins, Godwins is EPC rated A. Ecoefficient features include a sewage treatment plant, air-source heat pump and solar-power system. Fine & Country (01202 488988)