EVERY WEEK
JANUARY 19, 2022
Gardens for the future
ISSUE: 03
PRINTED IN THE UK
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WINTER GARDENS JANUARY 19, 2022
Chatsworth’s Arcadia: beauty in wilderness Sweetcorn in summer: new seeds to sow Salley Vickers, tweed and telegraph-pole fans CLI339.cover.indd 1
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ONE FAMILY SPECIALISING IN FINE FURNITURE SINCE 1866
The Pavillion Sofa is a majestic well proportioned classic 3 seat sofa copied from our original archives. Constructed with a solid mahogany shaped frame with carved flute detail, fully coiled sprung seat unit and the cushion filling of feather and down. The Pavillion sofa has been upholstered in classic Gold Damask.
£2,100
Width: 74¾ inches (190cm) Depth: 29 inches (74cm) Height: 37¼ inches (95cm)
NATIONWIDE HOME APPROVAL SERVICE | BESPOKE COMMISSIONS UNDERTAKEN OVER 1,000 ITEMS OF EXCLUSIVE CLASSICAL FURNISHINGS IN STOCK CALL 01491 641115 | WWW.BRIGHTSOFNETTLEBED.CO.UK NETTLEBED
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OXFORDSHIRE
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RG9 5DD (OPEN TUES-SAT)
KING’S RD
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LONDON
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SW6 2DX (OPEN MON-FRI)
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BATH, SOMERSET
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n exceptional Grade II listed Georgian villa with beautiful gardens and spectacular views. Avonstone House occupies a prime position in Bathampton, less than two miles east of the City of Bath.
P R I N C I PA L B E D R O O M S U I T E | 5 F U R T H E R B E D R O O M S | 5 B AT H R O O M S | 7 R E C E P T I O N R O O M S WINE CELLAR | GYM | SAUNA | HOME OFFICE STUDIO | FORMAL GARDENS | OUTD O OR KITCHEN | HOT T UB B AT H C I T Y C E N T R E 1 . 8 M I L E S | B AT H S P A S TAT I O N 1 . 9 M I L E S ( L O N D O N PA D D I N G T O N F R O M 9 0 M I N U T E S )
Guide price £3,750,000 Knight Frank London & Bath sarah.ka.brown@knightfrank.com 020 4502 7856 charlie.taylor@knightfrank.com 01225 685523 Ref: BTH012149138
knightfrank.co.uk Winner of six customer service experience awards in 2021
BLEDLOW RIDGE, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE Guide Price: £1,700,000
5 Bedrooms | 6 Reception Rooms | 3 Bathrooms | B EPC
A detached brick and flint house with driveway parking, a detached double garage and wraparound gardens with panoramic countryside views to the rear. The property has 3,404 sq. ft. of versatile accommodation including a galleried reception hall with understairs wine store, a triple aspect sitting room and a self-contained one bedroom annexe. The garden extends to over 0.52 acres and has a country gate providing private access to the footpath leading to Yoesden Nature Reserve.
Michael Graham Princes Risborough Paul Copping 01844 396000 Michael Graham London Bob Bickersteth 0207 839 0888
michaelgraham.co.uk michaelgraham_living
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BRAMLEY, HAMPSHIRE
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charming red brick farmhouse with an extensive array of outbuildings, situated within a peaceful location. The outbuildings are laid out as a courtyard offering a party barn, secondary accommodation, extensive storage and garaging.
6 - 7 B E D R O O M S | 3 B AT H R O O M S | 4 R E C E P T I O N R O O M S | G R A N A R Y E Q U E S T R I A N FA C I L I T I E S | L A K E | W O O D L A N D | P A S T U R E L A N D | A P P R O X I M AT E LY 3 3 . 1 1 A C R E S | E P C E B A S I N G S T O K E 4 . 5 M I L E S ( L O N D O N WAT E R L O O F R O M 4 4 M I N U T E S ) | N E W B U R Y 1 6 M I L E S
Guide price £2,850,000 Knight Frank London & Basingstoke edward.cunningham@knightfrank.com 020 4502 7121 mark.potter@knightfrank.com 01256 806421 Ref: BSK160237
knightfrank.co.uk Winner of six customer service experience awards in 2021
Unrivalled Location, Spectacular Views East Meon, Hampshire Petersfield: 6 miles, Winchester: 15 miles An outstanding country house with far-reaching views in an exceptional setting in the Meon Valley within the South Downs National Park. 5 reception rooms, 6 bedrooms (2 en suite), 2 further bathrooms, cellar, swimming pool with pool house, tennis court, stables, manège, annexe/studio flat, agricultural barn and triple carport. EPC = D
About 9.1 acres | Guide £5.5 million
Camilla Elwell Savills London Country Department 020 3918 7281 camilla.elwell @savills.com
Steven Moore Savills Winchester 01962 659 827 smoore@savills.com
savills
savills.co.uk
The Lake District, Ambleside
An ‘Arts and Crafts’ house just a short drive from Lake Windemere, overlooking the Brathay Valley and with stunning views down the Langdale Valley Ambleside: 1.6 miles, Windemere: 5.4 miles, Kendal: 13.9 miles, Broughton-in-Furness: 15.3 miles, M6: 20.4 miles Reception hall | Sitting room | Dining room | 6 Further reception rooms | 3 Kitchens | 14 Bedrooms | 15 Bathrooms 2 Annexe cottages with flexible accommodation | 3 Balconies | Gardens | Woodland | EPC rating E About 4.49 acres
Over 50 Offices across England and Scotland, including prime Central London.
Tom David
Mark Rimell
Chester Office 01244 354 877
Country Department 020 7318 5025
thomas.david@struttandparker.com
mark.rimell@struttandparker.com
/struttandparker
@struttandparker
struttandparker.com
Castle with Views to France Hythe, Kent Hythe: 2 miles, Ashford International Station: 11 miles (London St Pancras from 37 minutes) Situated on the edge of the escarpment, this Grade I listed castle enjoys stunning views across the Romney Marsh towards the English Channel. Currently operating as a wedding and corporate entertainment venue, the property includes stables, 1 staff flat, 4 holiday let cottages, restaurant, remains of a Roman fort, walled garden, further gardens and enclosures. About 137 acres | Guide £11 million
Will Peppitt Savills London Country Department 020 3553 7833 wpeppitt@savills.com
savills
savills.co.uk
Cobham Country House Cobham, Surrey Heathrow Airport: 17.4 miles, Central London: 25 miles A substantial country house completed in 2017, finished to a very high standard throughout, just 2 miles to Cobham Town Centre. 6 reception rooms, 7 en suite bedrooms, outdoor swimming pool, tennis court, astro turf football pitch, stables/tack room, equestrian facilities, double garage, landscaped gardens and paddocks. EPC = C
About 5.25 acres | Guide £5.5 million
Trevor Kearney Savills London Office 07807 999 872 tkearney@savills.com
Louis Winterbourne Savills Cobham 07807 999 285 lwinterbourne @savills.com
savills
savills.co.uk
Magical Country Setting High Beech, Essex Loughton Station (Central Line): 3 miles, London City Airport: 14 miles Unmodernised character house in outstanding parkland setting. 2 reception rooms, 6 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, various outbuildings, potential for replacement dwelling. EPC = G About 38 acres | Guide £4.25 million Tim Phillips Savills London Country Department 020 3627 2363 tmphillips@savills.com
David Bloomfield Savills Loughton 020 3883 6578 dbloomfield @savills.com
savills
savills.co.uk
PORTHKIDNEY SANDS, NR. ST IVES Carbis Bay 2 miles, St. Ives 3 miles, Truro 23 miles, Newquay Airport 37 miles - all distances approximate
A truly stunning haven – situated in an utterly astounding, world class position in one of Cornwall’s most desirable and most recognisable locations. Located only a few miles from St Ives and perched just above the golden sands of Porthkidney beach, boasting glorious, awe inspiring views over the Hayle Estuary, across St Ives Bay to Godrevy Lighthouse and with private steps down to the beach below. Once the home of the world renowned artist John Miller and the inspiration for his iconic beach scenes; a detached 4 bedroomed house plus his former Art Studio, now a separate 2 bedroomed residence. With further scope to develop the site with planning permission in perpetuity to create a beach fronting chalet. Only a short walk from the superb West Cornwall Golf Course and the popular village of Lelant. Main House: conservatory, open-plan living/dining room, kitchen, shower room, principal en-suite bedroom, 2 further bedrooms, galleried landing with 4th bedroom and storage area off. Former Studio: open-plan kitchen/dining/living room, utility room, 2 bedrooms, shower room. Outside: steps to the beach, large sun terrace, boat house with planning in perpetuity, lawned seating area. Freehold www.lillicrapchilcott.com
Offers in excess of £1,500,000
| 01872 273473 |
Sole Agent sales@lillicrapchilcott.com
Only With Us property showcase
Only With Us All these properties appeared exclusively with us, 24 hours or more before Rightmove or Zoopla.
Headley, Surrey
Hoby, Leicestershire
£1,750,000
guide price
Surrounded by the glorious Surrey Downs, this charming converted barn enjoys rural views whilst offering remarkable accessibility. Contact: Kingswood office 01737 483772
POA
Duncow, Dumfries & Galloway
£750,000
offers over
A lavish Grade II listed property with 8,428 sq. ft. of accommodation set in an elevated position on the edge of a desirable village. Contact: Melton Mowbray 01664 518924
An 18th century, category B listed manse set within 3.98 acres of gardens. Situated in an elevated position with spectacular views. Contact: Castle Douglas 01556 487991
Kirkburton, West Yorkshire
Dartington, Devon
£975,000
offers in region of
A stylish detached home set in large gardens and woodland, offering views overlooking the village church and countryside beyond. Contact: Kirkburton office 01484 973962
£625,000 guide price
An immaculately renovated three-bedroom Grade II listed cottage situated in the highly sought-after village of Dartington. Contact: Totnes office 01803 268823
Create an alert To view these and the finest selection of premium properties, search OnTheMarket Epping, Essex
£2,500,000
offers in region of
A rare Grade II listed five/six-bed 4,400 sq. ft. country house and stables. Set in 1.2 acres with great transport links to London. Contact: Epping office 01992 843894
Barton Turf, Norfolk
£1,650,000 guide price
A well-presented former vicarage with a converted coach house in over 3 acres of grounds set within the Norfolk Broads. Contact: Norwich office 01603 963948
Verify at www.onthemarket.com/only-with-us/. Agents specify exclusivity.
at CountryLife.co.uk and set up a property alert today.
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A Rural Revolution: Knight Frank’s Farms & Estate team From small farms to diverse estates, Knight Frank’s Farms & Estates team handle a wide selection of rural property. Find out how their expertise can help you. The winds of change are blowing through British agriculture. From climate change to the pandemic, rural businesses face significant challenges and landowners must adapt as never before. The need for specialist, bespoke advice is critical and that’s where Knight Frank’s Farms & Estates team can help. Their experience and market knowledge has helped clients successfully buy and sell land assets right across the UK. Will Matthews, Partner in Knight Frank’s Farms & Estates team, outlines the changes he has seen over the past eighteen months, the most dramatic in his eighteenyear career. “Since the pandemic we are seeing a wholesale change in the people looking to invest in land,” he says.
Your partners in property for 125 years
“A raft of new people are looking at buying land assets for the first time. These new buyers are aware that land is limited. Purchasing land makes a thoughtful investment – it can provide an income, offer tax advantages and vitally, help us positively impact climate change. The desire to have a custodian of land.” The Farms & Estates team deal with all land assets nationwide. In one day they can advise on the sale of an historic property in Kent, tour a rewilding farm in Cornwall, complete the sale of a livestock farm in Devon and bring a multi-million pound estate in Wiltshire to market. The team has doubled in size over the past two years – reflecting the growth in this marketplace – and the team cover the entire UK.
This autumn, figures from the latest Knight Frank Farmland Index showed that farmland values reached their highest levels since the start of 2017, an indication of the level of interest in owning land. And while farmers account for 39% of buyers, over half of current purchasers are buying either for investment or as a lifestyle choice. “Demand is being driven by three factors at present,” says Will. “Rollover relief, rewilding and sustainability. Rewilding in particular is a genuine force in the market and increasingly what people want to discuss when we are out on viewings.” Whether you are buying or selling, hoping to rewild one field or to invest in hundreds of hectares of farmland, Knight Frank can help. Your Partners in property Knight Frank is one of the world’s leading independent property firms who for 125 years have provided buyers and sellers with personalised, clear and considered property advice. The Farms & Estates team offer the same outstanding expertise across every aspect of land acquisition and sales.
Meet the Farms & Estates team. Please contact us directly on 020 3627 0407 for more information
Property market
Penny Churchill
Camusericht in Perthshire sold through Knight Frank in November 2021 for more than £1.5m
Left: The sale of 8,710-acre Pennyghael estate in Mull will complete in March. Right: Cairnty estate in Morayshire found a buyer last year
Fast and furious
Highland mists are increasingly full of buyers, particularly institutions hoping to do their bit for the environment
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OMING hard on the heels of a hectic trading year in 2020, the market for traditional Scottish sporting and residential estates was ‘fast and furious’ in 2021—notably in the Highlands, where land values increased significantly year-on-year, says Tom Stewart-Moore of Knight Frank in Edinburgh. With more buyers than sellers, he expects the market for Scottish estates to remain equally buoyant in 2022.
Highlights of Knight Frank’s year include the sale of the picturesque Castleton estate overlooking Loch Fyne, Argyll, on Scotland’s wild west coast, for which ‘offers over £1.95 million’ were sought at its launch onto the market in August 2021. Currently under offer, completion takes place on January 24. At the heart of the 68-acre estate, once part of Shirvan lands owned by the GrahamCampbell family, stands Category C-listed
Castleton House, an imposing nine-bedroom country house built in about 1830, with a twostorey wing of 1875 and a Scots-Baronial wing added in 2000. The idyll that is Castleton is completed by its own 23-acre island, Eilean Mor—accessible on foot at low tide or via a short boat ride from the slipway—which comes with rare planning consent for a onebedroom stone and slate house, the foundations for which were laid in 2015.
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Find the best properties at countrylife.co.uk
Another private residential estate with loch frontage is the 66-acre Camusericht Lodge estate on Loch Rannoch, near Pitlochry, Perthshire, which came to the market in March 2021 for ‘offers over £1.5m’ through Knight Frank and saw a sale completed in November. Historically part of the Clan Menzies estate in Rannoch until 1911, it comprises a well-modernised Victorian lodge, coach house, cottage, range of excellent outbuildings and a helipad, the whole set in formal gardens and surrounded by pasture and woodland, with nearly 5,000ft of foreshore to Loch Rannoch. Reflecting the recent surge in demand from well-funded institutions for large tracts of land with potential for woodland development and carbon capture is the 8,710-acre Pennyghael estate on the Isle of Mull, which
came to the market in March with ‘offers over £5m’ sought by Knight Frank and the Estates Office Argyll. A quick closing date was set for July 21 last year; completion is scheduled for March this year. Described by the agents as ‘an outstanding coastal, residential, sporting and amenity estate’, historic Pennyghael is located in the south-west of Mull, with frontage to Loch Scridain in the north and the Firth of Lorne to the south. At its core stands the Grade C-listed former principal lodge, originally built in 1819 and extended in 1920; although now derelict, it could be sympathetically restored or replaced by a new estate house, subject to planning. Pennyghael offered a multitude of opportunities to buyers, from sporting, farming and eco-tourism to woodland creation, rewilding and the development of natural capital.
According to Evelyn Channing, who heads up Savills’s farming and estates operation in Scotland, ‘what we are now seeing is a small, active and growing pool of very well-financed investment funds, institutions and individuals in the market for large land holdings on which to carry out their own woodland creation and peatland restoration projects—in recognition of the role that land is going to play in combatting climate change’. She continues: ‘Following on from the private sale in 2020 of the 7,400-acre Urlar estate, comprising two grouse moors at Aberfeldy, Perthshire, to an institution—not for its grouse shooting, but for its naturalcapital potential—we have seen some extraordinarily high prices paid for Highland estates in the past six months. The rate 83
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Property market particular. In the Scottish-estates sector, this saw 40% of estate sales achieved in 2021 being residential estates—an increase of 10% on the previous year’. Reflecting the broad spectrum of buyers seeking to buy north of the Border, Strutt & Parker offered the tranquil, 1,593-acre Ardhuncart residential, farming and sporting estate in the Don valley, on the Highland fringe of Aberdeen, for sale for the first time since 1952, at ‘offers over £5.645m’ with a closing date of September 7, 2021. The estate is now under offer, with an early completion in prospect.
We have seen some extraordinarily high prices paid for Highland estates in the past six months
The 1,593-acre Ardhuncart estate in the Don valley is under offer for more than £5.645m
of change in values as a result of unprecedented demand—partly driven by the scarcity of opportunities available—has caught us all by surprise, and although the prices paid for many of these estates are not yet in the public domain, once they are known, we would expect more estate owners to come to the market.’ Among the notable sales of estates concluded in 2021 (estimated at 22 in all, compared with 21 in 2020), Mrs Channing cites the purchase of the 3,500-acre Ralia estate, near Kingussie, Strathspey, which was bought by Standard Life for woodlandcreation and carbon-offsetting purposes, and the recent acquisition by Aviva Investors and Par Equity, the Scotland-based forestry investment fund manager, of 6,300 hectares (15,568 acres) of moorland in the Glen Dye area of West Aberdeenshire, with the aim of delivering a significant woodland creation and peatland restoration scheme, designed to capture more than 1.4 million tons of carbon by 2055. Rob McCulloch of Strutt & Parker acknowledges the importance of the international drive towards net zero and the need for business and industry to forge their own
route to carbon neutrality, which resulted in Scottish estate prices reaching £20m, £30m and more in 2021. He also highlights the lifestyle changes caused by Covid, which have resulted in ‘a huge upswing in demand for property throughout the more peripheral parts of the UK—and Scotland in
Patience paid off in the case of the scenic, 563-acre Cairnty estate on the banks of the River Spey at Fochabers in Morayshire, for which Strutt & Parker sought ‘offers over £2.65m’ when the estate was first launched in the autumn of 2019. Its focal point was an impressive Georgian-style house designed by the owner with family, sport and entertainment in mind. The estate offered excellent pheasant shooting, roe-deer stalking and trout fishing, in addition to farming, forestry and residential opportunities. A buyer emerged from the mist in 2021— a trend that shows no sign of abating in 2022, says Mr McCulloch.
The 7,400-acre Urlar estate was sold not for its grouse, but for its natural-capital potential
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Properties of the week
Annunciata Elwes
Our neck of the woods Houses with woodland for when a walk under the trees beckons
Gloucestershire, £1.75 million This Cotswold idyll enjoys glorious views from its position at the top of a no-through lane in the hamlet of Prescott (home to the Prescott Speed Hill Climb), about seven miles from Cheltenham. A lot of work has gone into landscaping the south-west-facing garden over the years, with a pergola, pond with bridge and colourful trees, shrubs and flowers. Well-kept Manor Farm has Gothic-arched doorways, a Rayburn and four bedrooms; various outbuildings include an indoor swimming pool and plant room (needs updating), various barns and a stable block with three boxes. The land extends to 31 acres over fields, woods and pasture that is occasionally steep as it runs up the valley’s edge. Hayman-Joyce (01608 651188)
Northumberland, £1.975 million Original servants’ bells and arched plaster corbels belie the otherwise up-to-date interior decoration at mid-Victorian Apperley Dene, an eight-bedroom property with spacious reception rooms, billiard room and a wine cellar on the edge of Stocksfield, about nine miles from charming Corbridge. Formal garden ‘rooms’ can be found within its 8½ acres, as well as an orchard, a tennis court and lawns leading to a paddock and woodland. Knight Frank (01896 807013) 86
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Herefordshire, £1.395 million Tall, red and Georgian, four-bedroom The Valletts peers out over 41 ancient acres of pasture and mature woodland at Ruckhall, a sought-after village not too far from Clehonger and Hereford. The interiors are charmingly French-farmhouse rustic, but some updating is probably needed. Planning permission has been submitted to convert a barn into a four-bedroom property and other outbuildings include stabling and a Nissen-style hut/Dutch barn. Grant & Co (01531 637341) Surrey, £2.25 million In Cranleigh—famously the largest village in England and within hopping distance of the Surrey Hills AONB— these 4½ leafy acres contain an immense amount of character. First, there’s the historical arboretum planted by the grandson of renowned planthunter Robert Fortune. Sculptures are scattered among mature palm trees, rhododendrons, azaleas and camellias in gardens that are criss-crossed with little paths stretching down to the lake and Tea House. The main dwelling here is pretty 16th-century Newhouse Farm Cottage, with five bedrooms; two-bedroom Inglenook Cottage (which has separate access and planning permission for a three-bay garage in place) overlooks a pretty Victorian pond and one-bedroom The Chalet could be used as a studio or home office. Strutt & Parker (01483 306565)
9000
Co Durham, £1 million More than a house, Carrs Farm offers ‘a fantastic business and lifestyle opportunity in the heart of the North Pennines’, say agents. In the Dales village of Wolsingham on the River Wear (home to one of the oldest agricultural shows in the country, founded in 1763), the 102½-acre plot includes an attractive, three-bedroom farmhouse, plus a 21-bed bunkhouse (which could be converted or used for tourist accommodation), stables and traditional and modern outbuildings, plus grassland, woodland and wildflower meadows. Ecofriendly features include solar panels, a wind turbine and borehole water supply. Finest Properties (01434 622234)
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