Country Life: 5th October 2022 Early Property Pages

Robert

Wevaluetheopportunityforchange

As the pace of life begins to gain momentum afterthe lull of the warm summer sun, our mind wanders to cooler weather as we start to embrace the festiveseason. When life retreats inside thehomewecan notice theneedfor morespace and theseeminglysmall things thatcan make abig difference.

Could one of these exceptional homes turn your aspirations into reality?

MOTTRAM ST ANDREW CHESHIRE

Stunning converted barn with five bedroomsand spacious living room with feature stove and countryside views.

EPC: D| Council Tax: H

Tenure: Freehold OIEO £2,500,000 Contact: 01625 725888

SKIPTON NORTH YORKSHIRE

An exceptionalGrade II Listed manor house with beautiful grounds, believed to date back to 1606.

EPC: E|CouncilTax: H

Tenure:Freehold £3,500,000 Contact: 01943 661462

Contactyour local Fine &Country agent

Head Office 119-121 Park Lane, Mayfair,London W1K 7AG Tel: +44 20 7079 1515 parklane@fineandcountry.com fineandcountry.com

NANTYDERRY ABERGAVENNY

Amagnificent nine bedroom Grade II Listed country home with a wealth of period features all set in around eight acres.

EPC Exempt |Council Tax: I Tenure: Freehold £1,500,000 Contact: 01873 736515

LOWER CUMBERWORTH

HUDDERSFIELD

Abeautiful farmhouse, set withina 21 acre parkland estate, with adetached cottage apartment.

EPC: F| Council Tax: H Tenure: Freehold OIEO £2,500,000 Contact: 01484 550620

and avaluation of

facilities

Provincial Mansion

‘Blair Athol’, Bathurst, Central Tablelands, NSW,Australia

•Always the pinnacle of Bathurst society,the ‘Blair Athol’ mansion stands tall as the landmark Victorian estate in Australia’s most historic provincial city

•A 7year back-to-bare-bones restoration has returned ‘Blair Athol’ to her original 1892 glory —agrand 19th Century mansion fit for 21st Century living

•The 5bdm Italianate mansion encompasses stately reception &dining rooms, conservatory,4bdm guest house, garden pavilion &magnificent grounds

•‘Blair Athol’ is truly breathtaking —agrand lifestyle for generations to come

•Whereverthe world takes you, youwill always come home to ‘Blair Athol’

Auction Fri18Nov 10:30am

William St, Bathurst, NSW,Australia

Lucy Nell +61 400 726 897

Andrew Crauford +61 417 416 205

Emms Mooney

Your indispensable guide to the capital

SIXTY YEARS OF JAMES BOND

Now pay attention, 007, because the most extensive collection of ‘James Bond’ scripts, screenplays and movie treatments is being offered for sale by rare-book dealers Peter Harrington and Adrian Harrington to celebrate the 60th silver-screen anniversary of our most sophisticatedly lethal civil servant (www.peterharrington.co.uk).

Peter Harrington—with shops on Chelsea’s Fulham Road and Mayfair’s Dover Street—is at 007’s domestic epicentre. In both literature and film, our hero is thought to keep an address near Sloane Square. He gambles on Park Lane, drinks Vespers at Dukes and his frequently outraged tailor is only a couple of blocks from Dover Street.

The business opened in 1969, with brother Adrian joining Peter in 1971. The late Peter’s son Pom runs his business now, as Adrian’s son-in-law Jon Gilbert—who happens to be Ian Fleming’s official bibliographer—oversees the operation in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.

Back to the collection: about 120 individual items, assembled by Norwegian bibliophile, historian and businessman Dr Martin Schoyen‚ described by the seller as ‘a dream haul’. Highlights include the earliest draft screenplay for the first Bond film, Dr No; Roald Dahl’s 244-page manuscript for You Only Live Twice; Louis Armstrong’s handwritten lyrics for the title track of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, We Have All theTime in the World; original costume designs from Goldeneye; and the storyboard from Casino Royale that shows Daniel Craig totalling an Aston Martin DBS.

The price to Goldfinger your way through this collection on a permanent basis is a Roger Moore eyebrow-raising £500,000. Or, for a bit less, one could invest in a library of Fleming first editions. The booksellers have individual 007 tomes, some inscribed by the author, at £750–£120,000. Say live and let live a little. Adam Hay-Nicholls

Alamy

Book now

FOLLOWING a hugely successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Wildcard Theatre’s one-woman thriller Ruckus has transferred to the Southwark Playhouse (77–85, Newington Causeway, SE1), October 5–29 (www.southwarkplay house.co.uk)

• The National Theatre has kickstarted its autumn programme with a revival of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, the writer’s allegorical drama about the Salem witch trials. Tickets available until November 5 (www.nationaltheatre.org.uk)

• Charles Dickens’s seasonal favourite A Christmas Carol returns to The Old Vic theatre this Christmas, November 12–January 7, 2023 (www.oldvictheatre.com)

The power is switched back on in Battersea

BATTERSEA POWER STATION will open on October 14, 10 years after it was purchased by its current shareholders, more than 40 years after it was slated for demolition and 93 years after building work began under the watchful eyes of the indomitable Sir Giles Gilbert Scott.

Lead architect Jim Eyre is responsible for the Power Station’s latest iteration (at one point, Mr Eyre had more than 35 other archi tects on site, helping out): shopping destination, luxury residential site and tourist hotspot rolled into one. Highlights include the restored Art Deco Turbine Hall A (spread across three floors worth of space, linked by bridges and escalators), Control Room B, now a bar, a hanging-wire suspension bridge, a lift to the top of one of the chimneys and an on-site heritage exhibition. For more details, vist www.batterseapowerstation.co.uk

New openings

LEGENDARY seafood restaurant Scott’s (20, Mount St, W1) has thrown open the doors to its long-awaited sibling in Richmond, TW9. The riverside outpost is spread over two floors; the lower houses a crustacean bar that serves oysters, Champagne and cocktails

• Claridge’s has unveiled its first-ever spa —part of a groundbreaking building project that saw a team of experts excavate five

floors into the London terra, underneath the fêted hotel. The 7,000sq ft spa (above) is situated three floors down

• Calling all hungry Southwark-based workers: you can now pick up one of the sublime stacked sandwiches by Sons + Daughters at Borough Market. There are six available to choose from, including roast chicken with soy-cured Parmesan and lettuce (left ; www.sonsanddaughterslondon.com)

• The fifth-floor Piazza restaurant and terrace of the Royal Opera House (ROH) has

reopened following extensive renovations. The works are part of the ROH’s ongoing ‘Open Up’ project, designed to make the building as open and as accessible to the public as possible. As such, the Piazza is now open to everyone—and not only ROH ticket holders—for the first time in its history

• On top of an interior reboot, the Piazza has a brand-new menu, overseen by chef Richard Robinson, formerly of Tom’s Kitchen and The French Laundry. It’s open daily, year-round, from 12 noon (www.roh.org.uk)

Backdrop James Parsons; Mihaela Bodlovic; Peter Cavanagh/Alamy; John Chase

Orange is the new black

PANZER’S DELI AND GROCERY—a 75-year-old St John’s Wood institution and the home of Howard Jacobson’s favourite bagel (The capital according to, page 36 )

—has grand plans for Halloween (October 31): a pumpkin grotto, a new range of celebratory products and American sweets, face paintings and complimentary pumpkin pie. Visit www.panzers.co.uk for more information.

Gin company takes on River Thames waste

MERMAID GIN has announced a one-of-a-kind river clean along London’s South Bank.

The Ryde-based spirits brand is encouraging consumers to purchase tickets to the event —which is taking place on October 16, 2pm–5pm —with the promise of complimentary, postclear-up cocktails at the Sea Containers London hotel (www. seacontainerslondon. com). The entire £10 ticket price will be donated to Surfers Against Sewage (www. sas.org.uk).

Visit www.design mynight.com and search for Mermaid.

Museum of London’s new mural

TH E Museum of London (150, London Wall, EC2; w ww.museumoflondon.org. uk) has unveiled a new mural to celebrate key moments from its 45-year history and items from its collection. These include illustrations of items from the Queen’s Silver Jubilee in 1977, the baby blimp of former President Donald Trump and jewellery from the Cheapside Hoard, the world’s largest Elizabethan and Jacobean collection of its kind.

The mural, by artist and poet Willkay (below), is situated at the entrance to the museum and is its swansong before it moves to a new site in West Smithfield and adopts a new name, The London Museum.

Editor Rosie Paterson

Editor-in-chief Mark Hedges

Sub-editors Octavia Pollock, James Fisher

Art Heather Clark, Emma Earnshaw, Ben Harris, Dean Usher

Pictures Lucy Ford, Emily Anderson

Advertising Katie Ruocco 07929 364909

Email firstname.surname@futurenet.com

Backdrop James Parsons; Mihaela Bodlovic; Peter Cavanagh/Alamy; John Chase

£0

What it will cost cleaners, security guards and other contract workers who work for Transport for London (TfL) to travel on the capital’s transport system. The benefit, which will start from April 2023, is currently only available to those staff who are employed directly by TfL

Ghost town

Many out there believe that the capital’s streets, pubs and even hospitals are home to myriad ghosts–a few friendly, some less so. On a walk through some of these supposedly haunted sites, Carla Passino tries to separate fact from fiction

Illustrated by Fred van Deelen

THEsun dances on the red bricks of Covent Garden’s Tube station, piercing the morning’s cloudy veil and putting paid to any hope of sighting William Terriss, the ghost of the Underground. Once a celebrated 19th-century actor, Terriss is a particularly restless spec tre: he haunts not only the Adelphi Theatre, where he was murdered by another thespian, but also, bizarrely, the station. Story has it that he was partial to the pies of a bakery that once stood there and returns to search for them in vain—although he may have now given up on his quest, because he has not been spotted for a few years.

cross-dressing Pantomime Dame, spreads a scent of lavender across the theatre and the behatted Man in Grey, who could be for given for having an axe to grind, having been stabbed to death in the upper circle, limits himself to shushing people. Only Joseph Grimaldi is a little cheekier, as befits the greatest clown of his times: his ghost appar ently loves nothing more than kicking fellow actors when they are on stage.

London has a reputation for being one of the world’s most haunted cities, with Terriss and other phantoms roaming not only the obvious places—such as Highgate Cemetery, N6, Jack the Ripper’s Whitechapel, E1, or the Tower of London, EC3—but also the crowded hubbubs of Covent Garden, WC2, and the City. The Royal Opera House, WC2, is so thick with spectres that it made it to Classic FM’s list of the world’s spookiest concert halls. Among the many presences is a poltergeist that, when the building was undergoing renovation work in 1999, defied security to hurl bricks, bolts and metal pieces —perhaps, as did many local residents, it took issue to the expansion of the opera house.

By comparison, the ghosts of the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane, WC2—one of the world’s most haunted venues (late-night tours take place on October 24–31; www.lwtheatres. co.uk)—are positively tame. Dan Leno, the

Far more chilling are the encounters on Lincoln’s Inn Fields, WC2, once a place of executions. Anthony Babington, who plotted to replace Elizabeth I with Mary Stuart, was only one of the many Catholics who met their gruesome end on the square, which is now the stomping ground for their restless souls. The 16th-century Ship Tavern—dark, with an ancient lantern hanging below a ship in full sails and a history as an 18th-century Masonic Lodge—seems the perfect place for their gatherings, but at least one of its resi dents is a merry ghost. During the Reformation, the Tavern doubled up as a clandestine church: priests celebrated Mass behind the bar and hid in priest holes if spotters sig nalled the arrival of the King’s men. One man of the cloth had a lucky escape and was so inordinately relieved that, to this day, his spectre is said to fill punters with feelings of solace and joy—although that might just as easily be a result of the imbibing as of paranormal influence.

No happy priest—indeed, no former human —haunts the Dolphin Tavern in Red Lion Street, WC1. Instead, when all is quiet, a clock can be heard ticking—except that the pub’s own has been frozen to 10.40pm since September 8, 1915, when a Zeppelin bomb wrecked the Dolphin, killing three people. The old clock was saved from the rubble and placed back on the wall of the rebuilt pub. The hands haven’t moved since —but some say they still make a sound.

Although ghost stories are often a way to make sense of inexplicable events, they

may sometimes stem from deep-rooted fears. The slice of Holborn between Gray’s Inn Road, WC1, and Chancery Lane, WC2, was once occupied by Middle Row, a group of small houses that partially blocked the southern end of the street, and was home to Mrs Adkins, a midwife who died in 1678. About six months after her death, reports began to circulate that her spirit had manifested itself to a poor maidservant ‘and with ghastly Countenance seemed to belch flames of

‘Joseph Grimaldi’s ghost apparently loves nothing more than kicking fellow actors when they are on stage’

On foot

Fire’, according to Great News from MiddleRow in Holbourn: or a True Relation of a Dreadful Ghost, a broadside ballad. The phantom directed the girl to dig under a board in the hearth, where she found the bones of two children: ‘It is conjectured that

they had been Children Illegitimate, or Bastards who to save their Mothers Credits had been Murthered, and buried there’.

Aaron Archer of the University of Essex believes that the story may be linked to 17th-century fears over infanticide and

illegitimacy, and ‘was intended with a moralising tone. Although we will never truly know whether the ghost story came first or whether a narrative was spun that immortalised [it], it is possible that the idea behind the publication was to offer a story focused

LONDON LIFE October 5, 2022 | Country Life | 27 ‘The phantom directed the girl to dig under a board in the hearth, where she found the bones of two children

On foot

on morality’. That said, Lisa Smith, senior lecturer at the University of Essex, adds that Middle Row was a liminal space, ‘being in a physically awkward spot, as well as on the gallows route. The pictures certainly suggest an oddly placed building that would have resulted in darker, narrower roads alongside it. Liminal spaces—places that are betwixt and between, neither one thing or another— are fundamentally unsettling and liminality is often an attribute of “haunted” spaces’.

This theory could explain the eerie repu tation of another awkward space, Bleeding Heart Yard, EC1, a patch of cobblestones hemmed in by converted warehouses where Holborn meets Farringdon. When the sun hides behind the brick buildings and the Scotch Malt Whisky Society is shut, legend has it that a different kind of spirit takes over: it’s the ghost of Lady Elizabeth Hatton, whose heart was found here, still beating, after the Devil killed her and dismembered the body. Sadly—or perhaps fortunately for the lady in question—the tale falls apart on the small detail that she never existed: she is a muddled mix of Lady Alice, wife of Elizabethan politician Sir Christopher Hatton,

and his niece-in-law, Lady Elizabeth, neither of which appears to have been murdered.

If foreboding Bleeding Heart Yard is made for eerie apparitions, little looks less condu cive to hauntings than St Bartholomew’s Hospital, EC1, which, despite its historic North Wing, is now mostly a triumph of contempo rary, light-flooded architecture.

benign presence bringing comfort to the Bedford Fenwick Ward. If a floral scent sud denly pervades the King George V block, it’s Jasmine, a ghost with a taste for perfume.

Perhaps the spectres have been in resi dence since earlier times—founded in 1123, St Bart’s is Britain’s oldest hospital—and have tenaciously clung on despite centuries of demolition and redevelopment. Rumours speak of a nurse in ancient uniform stalking the corridors of W. G. Grace Ward—possibly the victim of a patient—and of a more

At home in historic, haunted London

Altogether, St Bart’s phantoms promise a more pleasant experience than those of the nearby Viaduct Tavern (126, Newgate St, EC1), where a manager found himself locked in the cellar as the lights suddenly went off, before being rescued by his intrepid wife. A Victorian gin palace, the Viaduct suppos edly has many spectres—a ragtag host of former patrons and barmaids—but the poltergeist responsible for most of the antics is Robert, according to the Paranormal Database (www.paranormaldatabase.com), although it is not entirely clear how people would know his name. He appears to have a particular penchant for tormenting staff and contractors: story has it that when fitters once went in to lay a new carpet, one roll was creepily lifted off the ground. Luckily, he doesn’t seem to bother the patrons who sit among the pub’s giant mirrors, marbles and Pre-Raphaelite-style paintings, gin and tonics in hand. Clearly, even ghosts have a healthy respect for a good gin.

Covent Garden, £1.45 million

Only steps away from the Tube station, this second-floor, two-bedroom apart ment enjoys views across the Covent Garden piazza. It has an open-plan living area and the master bedroom has sound-proofed shutters. Savills (020–7578 5100; www.savills.co.uk)

Covent Garden, £2.4 million

Set only steps away from Lincoln’s Inn Fields, this flat occupies the entire fourth floor and has a vast, open-plan kitchen, living and dining area, two bedrooms and access to a communal roof terrace. Knight Frank (020–3869 4758; www.knightfrank.co.uk)

Holborn, £2.5 million

The large roof terrace is a major draw at this penthouse on High Holborn, but the interior adds to the appeal: there’s a huge open-plan living and dining area on the top floor and, downstairs, three beautifully finished bedrooms. Dexters (020–7833 4466; www.dexters.co.uk)

‘If a floral scent suddenly pervades the King George V block, it’s Jasmine, a ghost with a taste for perfume’

The great and the good

Seasonal suggestions

This month, there are multiple blockbuster exhibitions opening in London, including ‘Hieroglyphs: Unlocking Ancient Egypt’ (above) at the British Museum, WC1 (www. britishmuseum.org/exhibitions/ hieroglyphs-unlocking-ancient-egypt), and ‘The EY Exhibition Cezanne’ at Tate Modern, SE1 (www.tate.org.uk/ whats-on/tate-modern/ey-exhibitioncezanne). To celebrate the publication of his memoir Playing Under The Piano, Hugh Bonneville will be sharing stories from his life and career (Downton Abbey, Paddington) at Cadogan Hall, SW1, on October 15. From £27 (www.cadoganhall.com/ whats-on/an-evening-with-hughbonneville).

Here’s looking at red buses

• Red buses are synonymous with the capital, but the colour wasn’t always the default. In the early 1900s, there were multiple rival bus companies. The London General Omnibus Company owned the majority of buses and, in 1907, painted its entire fleet red in order to stand out. It wasn’t until 1933 that the colour was adopted by the then singular network

• Buses (red and otherwise) were preceded by horse buses—the brainchild of George Shillibeer, a coachbuilder and stable keeper, whose first service ran on a popular commuter route between Paddington (then a fairly new and wealthy London suburb) and the Bank of England. Unlike stage coaches, they ran to a timetable and could be hailed from anywhere along the route (without the need to pre-book)

• According to Transport for London (TfL), there are close to 9,000 buses in operation today, criss-crossing the capital on 675 different routes. The buses are operated by private companies under contract to London Buses, part of TfL. All London buses have been ‘low-floor’ and accessible since 2006; 3,854 are hybrid models, 785 run on electric batteries and 22 use hydrogen fuel cells—making it the second-largest sustainable fleet in Europe, behind Moscow in Russia

• Route 18, Sudbury to Euston bus station, is the busiest route, carrying more than six million people in the 2020/2021 financial year (down from more than 15 million people the previous year because of the pandemic)

Shop of the month

The V&A Shop

CROMWELL ROAD, SW7

S TRAIGHT past the frisbee reception desk and Dale Chihuly chandelier, between ‘China’ and ‘Islamic Middle East’, the V&A Shop has a gingerbread-house glow. As is the Beatrix Potter exhibition (which you’ll have passed on the way here), it’s a destination in its own right. ‘The love for the V&A tote bag is unwavering,’ says Sarah Sevier, the museum’s head of retail. ‘Together with books, scarves (William Morris is a perennial favourite), costume jewellery, tea towels, soap and biscuits.’ There’s a James Leman flower installation in the shop at the moment, so customers pick up cross-stitch kits, suffragette Christmas ornaments and English Flora bath salts beneath over-sized dahlias and daisies suspended from the ceiling. Many products are exclusive to the V&A, such as the one-off necklaces and bracelets made by the artist Emma Calvert, who takes inspiration from vintage ribbons. Jo Rodgers

LONDON

Open 10am–5.45pm every day and until 10pm on Friday (www.vam.ac.uk/shop)

Illustration by Polly Crossman; Alamy

A green space

MANY a garden lover will be familiar with the name of Dutch prairie-planting guru Piet Oudolf, but few know that one of his gardens is tucked away from prying eyes, behind City Hall—the Potters Fields Park. The park celebrates the English Delftware industry that thrived here in the

The great and the good

MY PLATE OF VIEW Juliet’s Café and Bar, 1a, Nelsons Row, SW4

The most important meal of the day has been criminally neglected by this column; looking back over the nearly three dozen I’ve filed since 2019, I can see that I haven’t devoted a single one to breakfast. It’s baffling: I really do rank it as one of the greatest pleasures of London life. But although brunch is a social occasion, a weekend breakfast should always—for me, at least—be taken solo and on the early side, watch ing the city waking up.

it on

17th century. Raised lawns run alongside the River Thames; towards the southern end, there are clusters of grasses and perennials —echinacea, persicaria, molinia and pen nisetum. Although spectacular in full flower, their beauty continues long into the autumn and winter as the seedheads form and are allowed to stand, providing forage and habitat for all manner of wildlife.

Natasha Goodfellow is the author of ‘A London Floral’ and ‘A Cotswold Garden Companion’ (www.finchpublishing.co.uk)

London curiosities

BRANCH OUT

THE mighty redwoods (mainly giant redwoods) of Canons Drive, Edgware, HA8, create a remarkable suburban spectacle. Planted in the 19th century to line an avenue leading to a large house in Canons Park (today occupied by the North London Collegiate School), they survived the sale of the land for housing in the 1920s. Now standing in front of detached villas, the setting is as stirring as it is outlandish. Jack Watkins

Juliet’s Café and Bar, just off Clapham High Street, is my new favourite place to do that. It’s tucked away in galleryshop Studio Voltaire, which is the sort of dangerous place you might wander into and emerge from £25 poorer with a jug shaped like a dachshund. Juliet’s has the courtyard, which is shaded by trellises and has a fountain in the middle. Just beyond is stylish, canteen-style indoor seating and a blackboard decorated with the likes of a grilled comté croque madame, cornbread with local honeycomb and poached eggs with chilli butter, yoghurt and merguez. It’s a stellar menu, but that’s no surprise: the original Juliet’s in Tooting is the sister café of Balham’s legendary Milk, one of London’s groundbreaking brunch spots.

I settle on the broad-bean and hal loumi fritters with tomato relish and a poached egg. They would be sunnyday food even in the depths of winter, but combined with a breakfast-pudding (yes) of prunes in armagnac and eaten at leisure outside in the warm breeze, they make you feel as if you’re thou sands of miles away.

As I reluctantly pack up my things, I make a mental note to come back another time slightly later in the day for crispy panisse—chunky Provençal chickpea—with flowering thyme, pecorino with honey and a couple of glasses of pet nat. And perhaps the roast chicken and bread salad, the brined and roasted meat and the chunky sourdough croutons nodding to the iconic dish at Zuni Café in San Francisco, US. I’d recommend breakfast, but, when ever you visit, know this: any meal you have here will be the most important one of the day. Emma Hughes

Psst...

NAIR —the mastermind behind London restaurants such as Bombay Bustle—has launched a new table-linen range called Dandelion Living. The col lection is made from 100% cotton and features hand-drawn floral and abstract motifs (www.bombaybustle.com/s/4/the-bustle-shop)

Illustration

by Polly Crossman; Alamy

POTTERS FIELDS PARK, 189, TOOLEY STREET, SE1

Table for two, per favore

Emma Hughes presents the best international restaurants in London right now

REALLY, you could make the argument that all of London’s restaurants are international. The culinary boundaries are so porous that the hospitality industry is a truly global one. For the purposes of this feature, I’m going to focus on those that showcase the cuisine of a single country (with one notable exception) with reliable aplomb.

Bocca di Lupo W1

Padella, Manteca, Ombra, Artusi… London is exceptionally well served in the pasta stakes these days. But for all-round Italian excellence, it has to be Jacob Kenedy’s Bocca di Lupo. The menu describes itself as ‘a phrasebook in miniature, containing a taste of the 20 main dialects of Italian cuisine’, and each dish is listed with its provenance— so there’s Roman fritti, grilled porcini from Lombardy and cream-of-red-prawn risotto from Liguria. The drinks list, likewise, is temptingly comprehensive, with seven dif ferent negronis to choose from.

www.boccadilupo.com

burgers with a name such as Natural Born Grillers. But Rita’s, which opened on Lexington Street last year after a series of pop-ups and a go at sandwich-making, is the best kind of taste of the US—specifically, California, with nods to Mexico and forays into the South. That means flawless caesar salads, fried chicken rolls humming with piquant sauce, prime cuts and sharing steaks, margaritas and buttermilk pudding with bourbon-laced cherries to round things off.

www.ritasdining.com

Otto’s W1

The Holborn home of one of only two duck presses in London is a glorious Gallic refuge from London life, with its soothing mint walls and chequerboard floor (Otto’s lobster press was the first of its kind and there are only four of them left in the whole world). The burgundy flows, the classic French dishes (steak tartare, whole roast Bresse chicken, souffles) are faultlessly executed and very generously portioned. And the canard à la presse ? Magnifique; worth every penny.

www.ottos-restaurant.com

Rita’s Dining W1

Think American food in London and you’d be forgiven for picturing the Hard Rock Café or a purveyor of pointlessly overloaded

Barrafina Borough SE1

To say that Barrafina serves tapas is a bit like calling the Shard pointy: a diminishing understatement. Since the first Barrafina opened in 2007, this family of restaurants has been redefining Londoners’ understanding of what Spanish food could be (the founders’ vision was shaped by Cal Pep in Barcelona). The newest member, under the railway arches in Borough Market’s Borough Yards, might be the best yet, with flawless service and daily specials that are never less than pulse-quickening. If the mushrooms with cured egg yolk and the caldereta —a sumptuously rich seafood stew with monkfish, lobster and clams—are on the menu, don’t hesitate to order them.

www.barrafina.co.uk

Koya W1

Its Hackney sibling—newer, more casual, serving breakfast noodles and rice bowls— might be getting most of the attention right now, but the original Soho Koya is hard to beat for clever, creative and good-value Japanese cooking. Step through the curtained doorway, pull up a stool at the kitchen counter and slurp freshly made udon, served hot or cold with broth or dipping sauces, plus flawless tempura (sweetcorn; prawn; mixed vegetable) and seasonal blackboard specials, such as crispy quail with bitter melon and plum ketchup. It’s walkins only, so go early or late to avoid the queue.

www.koya.co.uk

Xi’an Impression N7

Although London’s Chinatown is a global landmark (and a guarantee of a good dinner), head north, around the side of the Arsenal stadium, and you’ll find some of the city’s most outstanding Xi’an cooking. Chef Wei Guirong —who at culinary school was one of four women in a group of 1,000 male students— oversees a tiny kitchen and dining room that draws admirers from far and wide to order the belt noodles with numbing chilli oil, the Chinese flatbreads stuffed with minced lamb and the potsticker dumplings with dipping vinegar.

www.xianimpression.co.uk

Above and left: Bocca di Lupo’s menu offers a ‘taste of the main dialects of Italian cuisine’

‘Since the first Barrafina opened in 2007, these restaurants have been redefining Londoners’ understanding of what Spanish food could be’

Bánh Bánh SE15 & SW9

There are two branches of this gorgeous contemporary Vietnamese in south London: one in Peckham, the other in Brixton. Both serve exemplary, steaming bowls of pho, the slow-cooked broth light and fragrant with herbs or humming with scarlet chilli oil. The five Nguyen siblings started the business as a homage to their grandmother, who worked as a chef in Vietnam in the 1940s, and everything is designed for sharing family-style: don’t miss the smoky lemongrass beef in betel leaves, the prawn papaya salad tossed with nuoc cham and hot mint or the coconut pancakes.

www.banhbanh.com

Gymkhana W1

London is an inarguably brilliant place to eat your way around India, from Dosa on Tooting’s ‘curry corridor’ to the garlanded likes of Chutney Mary in St James’s and incredible Kerlana cooking at Thattukada in East Ham. It’s been going for nearly a decade (and has held a Michelin star for almost as long), but wood-panelled Gymkhana remains one of the finest places in the city to feast on northern Indian cuisine. Come for the tandoori lamb chops, stay for the wild-muntjac biryani.

www.gymkhanalondon.com

Ognisko SW7

South Kensington’s grandly bohemian Polish restaurant has been going for decades, and, like Andrew Edmunds or The River Café, it only seems to get better with age. The highceilinged dining room’s air of rackety glamour is confirmed almost as soon as you sit down, when you’re offered a ‘vodka aperitif’, a 100ml carafe, no less. The cooking is all best in class, with perfect blinis, pork-andrice-stuffed spring cabbage, duck-stuffed dumplings in broth, apple fritters, sorbets with (yes) more vodka. A delight from start to finish, especially on a cold day. www.ogniskorestaurant.co.uk

Paradise Cove SW8

A ray of sunshine in the no-man’s-land of Wandsworth Road, this buzzy Caribbean restaurant, formerly called Sugarcane, is an unfailing joy. Everything from the hot sauce to the roti is homemade and the kitchen cuts no corners in its renditions of Caribbean classics, including curry goat cooked in a Dutch pot for four hours, triple-jerk ribs and Trinidadian mac-n-cheese. If you’re a vegan, the crispy jerk okra, plantain burger and coconut-thyme chickpeas are all lick-the-plate good. Puddings are impressively boozy, even before you pair them with a sweet Jamaican sherry.

www.paradisecoveldn.com

Getty; Jonathan Perugia/Shutterstock

Pulse-quickening dishes and flawless service are a feature of Barrafina at Borough Yards

The original Koya restaurant in Soho (above left) is renowned for its clever, creative and good-value Japanese cooking (above right)

‘The wood-panelled Gymkhana remains one of the finest places in the city to feast on northern Indian cuisine’

You’re from Manchester and that back ground is often talked about as an important part of your own ‘storyline’. What brought you to London?

We were taught by our teachers that you had to get away from home, so I left and went to Cambridge, then Australia and various other places. But London was always the goal because there was a sense that if you were ever going to do whatever it was you wanted to do, it had to be there. I finally got my first novel published at 40 and it was then that I thought, it’s time to live in London, so I bought a little flat with my then wife in Clapham Old Town.

Where do you live now?

Lots of my moving around has to do with failed marriages and the like. I live now with my third and final wife in Soho in a glass mezzanine penthouse. It’s flooded with light, my books are everywhere and I can look out over the city. I’ve lived here for 20 years and, in my old age, I finally got what I wanted. Everything is walkable, so I live a wonder fully pedestrian existence.

Do you have a favoured neighbourhood haunt?

I’ve been going to Dean Street Townhouse (69–71, Dean Street, W1) for breakfasts for more than a decade. We’re known there and I often take friends. I have a particular table outside and if I ring up they’ll keep it for me.

THE CAPITAL ACCORDING TO...

Jacobson

Where are you most at home in London, when not at home?

Marylebone. It’s more middle class and less bohemian than Soho, but I enjoy walking there. I’m also mad on St James’s Park because it’s got pelicans. Other than human beings, they’re the creature I love the most. They’re awkward and badly designed, in the way I feel I’m awkward and badly designed.

You’ve spoken about your longstanding mission to find the perfect bagel. How is it progressing and where is currently top of the pile?

Panzer’s in St John’s Wood (13–19, Circus Road, NW8) does a very good bagel. Purists think that bagels shouldn’t have anything

on, but I think you’ve got to have seeds and the poppy-seed bagel from Panzer’s is a great delicacy. The perfect bagel, you see, has to be sufficiently crusty on the outside and soft on the inside. You should always feel it’s still warm from the oven.

You grew up in a particularly Jewish neighbourhood of Manchester, do you have a connection with ‘Jewish London’?

St John’s Wood I do love. I used to visit Harry Morgan deli before it closed. Now I like the Brass Rail in Selfridges (300, Oxford St, W1) for the salt-beef sandwiches. I’m what you might call a ‘stomach Jew’, more interested in the food than the religion. But St John’s Wood reminds me of growing up in Manchester and being sent to buy bagels, chopped liver and challah; the colour of it. There’s also a little park at the Lord’s end of Finchley Road [St John’s Wood Church Gardens] and my wife had a bench dedicated to me there, with a quote from one of my books. I’m terribly sentimental and write about benches a lot.

Any lesser-discovered recommendations?

There’s a little Italian café at Russell Square that I like (Café Tropea, Russell Square, WC1), but I’m not generally an adventurer who digs out things other people haven’t found. For dinner, I’m happier at The Wolseley (160, Piccadilly, W1) or Scott’s (20, Mount Street, W1)—where the people-watching is full of fun. Get the right seat and Scott’s is a prime spot to see the people of Mayfair parading in their finery.

What, for you, does London do better th an anywhere else?

Cyclists annoy me and I’m at war with scooter ists, but it’s terrific that you can have a fight every day of the week, because that vitality is what makes London London. As Dr Johnson said, ‘a man who is tired of London is tired of life’. In short, there’s nothing in heaven or earth that is not here.

Howard Jacobson’s memoir, ‘Mother’s Boy: A Writer’s Beginnings’, is out now (Penguin, £18.99)

Booker Prize-winner Howard Jacobson talks to Harry McKinley about life in Soho and London’s best bagel

‘They’re the creature I love the most. They’re awkward and badly designed’

Image: Robert

Thekey to thebestdoors

Heaton &Partners

Sinceopening theirdoors in 2013,Heaton &Partnershas growntobecomethe preeminentindependent firm of buying agents operatingthroughoutthe southofEngland, includingLondon.Their highly experi encedteamprovidespropertysearch and buying advice to clientswithbudgets from under£1million to morethan£100million. Thecompany hasanunrivalledtrack record

PrimePurchase

Forthe past 20 years, PrimePurchasehas representedbuyersacquiringsomeofthe finest homesand estatesacross London andthe country. Itsfive-strongLondon team,based in Sloane Street, offers adis creet, impartialand professional service. Thecompany only represents buyers and acts in theirbestinterests,using its detailed knowledgeofthe market to impart

considered andsensibleadvice, managing thenegotiation processtoensurethe best possible outcome. PrimePurchase’sLondon team is oneofthe largestand best connectedinthe business,offeringonly ahandful of clientsatany onetime unrivalledaccesstopropertiesavailable both offand on market (020–78812388; www.prime-purchase.com)

andleavesnostone unturned when it comestofinding theperfect property Theteamworks with utmost discretion throughoutthe entire processwithservice excellence at theheart of everything it does.Thisperhaps explains whyformer clientsare thefirm’sbiggest advocates, accordingtofounder Ed Heaton (01635 887340;www.heatonpartners.com)

Having been nominated by Spear’sWealth Magazine as oneofthe capital’stop 10 buyingagentsfor thethird year in arow,Alex Stroud enjoys an unrivalledpositionatthe highestend of theLondonpropertymarket. Having worked on hisown from 2010,last year he joined forces with fellow agentJohnny Fuller to create ‘possiblythe most experi enced, knowledgeable andwell-respected

TheBuyingSolution

OurLondonteamhas in excessof100 years’ experienceinthe primecentral, northand south-west London markets. The team haspurchased some of London’s most prestigiouspropertiesoverthe years, resultinginanenviabletrack record. Itsknowledge andexperienceissecond to none:the team is knownfor buying asignificantamount off-market—often

properties others simply areunaware of Serviceisinits DNAwiththe majority of thebusinesscomingthrough client referrals andvariousindustrycontacts. The Buying Solution operates solely on prop erty acquisitions:itisnot asales broker andtherefore avoidsany potentialconflict of interest with itsclients (020–75912640; www.thebuyingsolution.co.uk)

pairingcurrently operatinginthe central London market’. Thefirmhas been an extraordinarysuccess, having acquired andsolda vast list of properties,mostly off-market.Thisself-describedworkaholic, knownfor hisdiscretion,charm and patience, is legendaryand this hasgiven himthe status of ‘theman to go to’. (07584 038000;www.stroudandfuller.com)

Britain’s toppropertiesdon’t always make it onto theopenmarket, whichiswhy an experiencedbuyingagent with accesstoanextensive contactbookcan make ahugedifference in helpingyou secure theperfect home

Stroud Fuller &Lurot

AWSPrime Property

AWSPrime Property is an expert property consultancybased in Knightsbridge, encompassingsearch, acquisitionand develop ment.Itguidesclients throughthe complex andcompetitive primeLondon market, saving them time,sourcingthe finest and rarest properties,and negotiatingthe best terms. Themajorityofthe acquisitions are conductedentirely off-market,sourced

from thefirm’senviable blackbook.

Founder Alex Woodleigh-Smithcomments: ‘For most of ourclients,their time is simply toovaluabletospend trawling websites and fielding callsfromagents. We properly research each search,previewinganaverageof50propertiesper client.Onlythe very best reachour shortlists.’ (020–7385 7049; www.awsprime.com)

Aykroyd&Co

Hannah Aykroyd is MD of Aykroyd &Co, an independent, boutique property advisory firm focusing solelyonprotectingbuyers’ interests.Withanimpressivetrack record, the team is widely seenas highly capableand trusted. ClientsofAykroyd &Cobenefit from thecompany’s extensivenetwork,ensuring vitalearly access andresulting in nearly 80%ofpropertiesbeing acquired off-market

Rose CapitalPropertyConsultancy

JessicaParkinson,founder of Rose Capital PropertyConsultancy andRICSchartered surveyor,has more than 15 years’ experiencesourcingthe finest properties in London foranelite client list.Specialising in helping families find homes andsecond properties,she only represents buyers and runs atruly bespoke,personalservice, hand-lingasmall numberofclients at any

onetime. Assistingyou everystepofthe way, from assessingyourrequirementsand negotiatingthe best termstoturning the keyfor thefirsttime, Rose Capitalhas atenacious approach that leaves no stone unturned andwill putyou in thebest possible positiontoacquireyourdream property (07841 997100;www.rosecapital propertyconsultancy.com)

Ahugepartofthe offering is undertaking in-depth analysis on pricingand carrying out thorough due diligenceonaproperty, to provideeachclientwiththenecessaryconfidence to committosuchanimportant purchase. Attentiontodetailand understanding the nuancesof aconveyancingprocessensures ahighsuccessratefor everyclient. (020 3034 0078;www.aykroydco.com)

Garrington

Originally foundedin1996asone of the firstpropertyfirms in London acting solely on thebuyers’ behalf,Garrington hasconsiderable experience in surprising clientswithrarepurchasingopportunities.

With abedrock of 26 years’ experience of sourcing andacquiringLondon’sfinest homes, an extensivenetwork of contacts, andone of thelargest teamsof buying

RFR

Recognisedasamarket-leadingproperty advisory firm,the team at RFRhas spent more than adecadefindingand acquiring thefinesthomesinLondon forits impres sive roster of ultra-high-net-worthprivate clients. With an enviable trackrecordfor representing highlysophisticated andmotivatedbuyers, RFRaccessesthe very best properties,which typically arediscreetly

offered forsaleoff market or privately This powercouplebegan theircareers at Macfarlanes, widely regarded as oneofthe world’smostrespectedprivate-clientlaw firms. Onesuspects that it is this back ground that hashoned RFR’sunique perspectivetoservice-deliverywithinthe buying industry (020–38715800; www rfrproperty.com)

agents in thecapital,Garringtonoffers clients asignificantadvantage over competingbuyers. In arapidly changing property market,Garringtonprovides unparalleled expertiseand market insight forclients wantingtomakeclear and confidentpurchasingdecisions (020–70992773; www.garringtonlondon.co.uk)

LAST week saw the launch onto the market of one of Northamptonshire’s landmark country houses, Grade IIlisted Barnwell Manor, with its Grade I-listed castle ruins set in 27 acres of gardens and parkland, half a mile north of Barnwell village, which is separated from the market town of Oundle by the River Nene.

Crispin Holborow of Savills (020–3320 8245) seeks ‘offers in excess of £4.75 million’ for the rambling stone manor house built, according to its listing, for the Montagu family in the late 16th or early 17th century and altered or extended in the mid 18th cen tury, late 18th/early 19th century and late 19th/early 20th century, with remodelling by Sir Albert Richardson in 1938.

1580, when it was built as a dower house by Sir Edward Montagu, whose father ‘profited largely from the Dissolution and rose to be Chief Justice of the King’s Bench in 1539. After some unpleasantness over his support for Lady Jane Grey’s claim to the throne, he retired to Boughton, where he had housed himself in considerable style and where he died in 1557’. The house at Barnwell was enlarged by the 1st Lord Montagu in about 1640. Thereafter, Barnwell’s history merged with that of Boughton.

The Barnwell estate was disentailed in the mid 19th century and sold in 1913 to Horace Czarnikow, whose Polish father founded a successful sugar-broking firm and left a large fortune. Described as ‘a very small man’, Horace bought Barnwell for the hunting with the Pytchley and made extensive repairs and alterations to the house, rebuilding the east front and adding the taller cross-range at the north end.

Writing in C OUNTRY L IFE (September 10 and 17, 1959), Christopher Hussey traces the evolution of the manor house from about

A century later, when the 2nd Duke of Montagu died without male heirs, the estates passed to his daughter, Mary, whose husband took the Montagu name and was created Duke of Montagu. Barnwell Manor was rebuilt at about that time. In 1790, Elizabeth Montagu, who married Henry Douglas-Scott, 3rd Duke of Buccleuch, inherited Boughton and Barnwell.

108 | Country Life | October 5, 2022 He also laid out the garden, which extends east and north with yew hedges and paved paths, with the former, planted in 1921, dividing the lawns into large, sheltered enclosures. For Hussey, ‘one of the most effective introductions was the broad bal ustraded terrace along the east front, with steps to the lawn aligned on the Georgian bow, which succeeds in giving a certain unity to its varied architecture’.

A manor house with ‘illicit’ castle ruins and royal associations stands out in the Northamptonshire market, as does a Cumbrian stronghold

An Englishman’s home is his castle

Property market Penny Churchill

Grade II-listed Barnwell Manor, a landmark property steeped in history, is set in 27 acres in Northamptonshire. Excess £4.75m

When, in 1938, the late Duke of Gloucester bought the Barnwell Castle estate, his wife, Princess Alice, was happy to return to one of the early homes of her Montagu ances tors, which her grandfather, the 6th Duke of Buccleuch, had sold to Horace Czarnikow 25 years previously. The royal couple com missioned the architect Sir Albert Richardson, a president of the Royal Academy and the founder of the Georgian Group, to renovate the manor, which boasts four ornate reception rooms with southerly views of the gardens and parkland, eight principal bedrooms and extensive ancillary accommodation, including two staff apartments and a self-contained groundfloor annexe. Of particular note are the dining

room with its full-width, bow-windowed gable; the sitting room with its 18th-century-style bolection-moulded panelling; the drawing room with 20th-century panelling designed by Richardson; and the dual-aspect library alongside the main entrance hall with its 17th-century panelling and ornate plastered ceiling featuring the Montagu family crest.

Barnwell Manor was the home of the late Duke and Duchess until 1995, when the family moved to Kensington Palace, since when the manor has been tenanted and used as an antiques showroom. It comes with a Grade II-listed stone coach house, which forms three sides of a courtyard with five stables, a hay barn and garaging and workshops, with development potential. Also within the grounds is Grade Ilisted Barnwell Castle, illicitly built in 1266 by Berenger Le Moyne and later returned to the Abbots of Ramsey, who retained it until the Dissolution. The castle is currently on the English Heritage At Risk register and subject to an ongoing scheme of works. Further details are available from the selling agents.

Still in the ‘county of squires and spires’, the sale of Glebe House in the pretty village of Twywell, six miles from Kettering and

The Barnwell Manor sitting room, with its 18th-century-style bolection-moulding panelling

Princess Alice was happy to return to one of the early homes of her Montagu ancestors

The ornate reception rooms are an indication of Barnwell Manor’s royal connections

Property market

Rent a fairy-tale castle in Cumbria

Ryan Eve of Finest Properties in Corbridge (01434 622234) quotes a guide price of £10,000 a month for the long lease of historic, Grade II*-listed Greystoke Castle, which stands in glorious landscaped gardens and grounds near the village of Greystoke, five miles from Penrith, on the edge of the Lake District National Park, just north of Ullswater in the spec tacular North Lakes area.

The first stone structure on the site dates back to 1129, after which the castle grew in importance as part of the Border chain of fortifications. In the mid 1500s, the castle was held by Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk. As a Catholic and Royalist, he attracted the unwanted attention of Oliver Cromwell, who laid waste to the castle. After lying derelict for many years, it was rebuilt by the Howard family to designs by Anthony Salvin between 1838 and 1848, before a devastating fire in 1868 forced another rebuild.

Requisitioned by the army during the Second World War, Greystoke was used

as a tank drivers’ training area and later a prisoner-of-war camp. Much damage was done to the house and grounds and the family spent the rest of the 20th century repairing and restoring the property.

Currently unoccupied, the castle, which boasts six reception rooms and seven bedrooms including an impressive Great

10 miles from Oundle, at a guide price of £2.85m through Savills in Stamford (01780 484694), is a rather less daunting proposition. Described by the agents as ‘a perfectly sized country house set in beautiful gardens’, the handsome Georgian former rectory, which is unlisted, does exactly what it says on the tin.

Impeccably restored by the current owners, whose family home it has been for 25 years, Glebe House stands in about 4½ acres of landscaped gardens, paddocks and woodland on the edge of the village, with views of St Nicholas Church. It offers everything a sporting country family could wish for, including a secluded swimming pool and pool house, tennis court and stables. The classic Georgian house provides light and airy accommodation on three floors, including four reception rooms and a family kitchen/breakfast room, with an elegant principal bedroom suite, five further bedrooms and two bathrooms on the first floor and three double bedrooms, plus two bath/shower rooms, on the floor above.

Hall, is said to offer ‘myriad possibilities’, such as the creation of a splendid venue for weddings and events or even a grand family home. Given the amount of work required to upgrade the accommodation to 21st-century standards, the owners are open to realistic proposals from serious applicants, the agents say.

Handsome Glebe House is a ‘perfectly sized country house’ in Northamptonshire. £2.85m

Glebe House offers everything a sporting country family could wish for

Heatingthatdoesn’t cost theearth

WITH climatechangeposing an ever greater threattothe planet,growing numbers of country-houseownersare lookingatswitching to renewableenergyto reducetheir environmentalimpact. What’s perhaps less obviousisthatcutting down on emissionscan also loweryourenergybill.Air source heat pumpsare an especiallycost effectiveway of making your property more sustainable. Workinglikereverse fridges, pumpsuse airfromthe outsidetogeneratehot waterand heat your housethrough radiators, underfloorpipingorair convectors.They can also heat swimmingpools

‘The rightair-sourceheatpump,’explains BenMorrisofmanufacturerGlobalEnergy Systems, ‘can achieveareduction in carbon emissionsofupto60% compared with acondensinggas boiler—and,asthe electric grid gets cleaner, this figurewill only increase.’

Installation is simple,makingthe pumps idealfor retro-fitting aperiodproperty: ‘There’s no need forintrusive boreholesor geological surveys,’notes Mr Morris. ‘You cansimplyplace theunitoutside, plug it in Forasustainable,cost-effectiveway to heat your countryhouse,GlobalEnergySystems’

air-source heat pumpsare theanswerand forget aboutit.’Maintenance is minimal allittakes is an easy visual inspection—and running costsare significantlylower than thoseofmanyother energy sources. Global Energy Systems’ commercial andresidential pumps, which areall designed andbuilt in the UK andcome with athree-year guarantee, qualifyfor thecur rent Government grant, the Boiler UpgradeScheme(BUS) whichcan give homeowners £5,000 towardsinstalling an AirSource Heat Pump.

d residential are all and built r cur nt nt ) h can ve towards installing

30 y are a great y to f your home today, funding is available, before leg

‘Theyare agreat wayt future-proofyourhometod when fundingisavailable,b eg islation enforces theinstallationoflow carbon technology withoutany incentive,’ says Mr Morris. In particular,air-sourceheat

pumpsare provinganexcellent option for countryhouse owners that arecurrently spending asmall fortuneonunsustainable oilburning boilers. GlobalEnergySystems recentlyinstalled oneatalarge country house in Scotland,where theowner wasspending£8,000 ayearonheat ing. Thecompany designeda hybrid system combiningthe pump,which covers theday-to-day heatingrequire ments, with theexistingboiler, which only kicksintoprovide extrawarmth on very cold days.Thisreduced costs by more than £3,800 ayear, as well as lowering thehouse’s carbon footprint.

ACaernarfon modelheatpump (above)allowed the ownersofthis new-buildhome in Lancashire(left) to save morethan £3,000 compared to fossil fuel heating

countryh in where three pumps were added

Savingswereevenhigherata GradeIIstedcountryhouseinHerefordshire,where ree air-source heat pumpswereadded to an oilburning boiler;between areduction in runningcosts andpayments from the Government’s scheme,the owners savedmore than £7,000 ayear. At aLancashiremanor whereaGlobalEnergySystems’air-source pump wasintegratedwiththe existing oil boiler in 2016,the family foundthe pump covered theirentireheating andhot-water needs, making theboilerall butredundant: ‘I’m extremelypleased,’saysowner Paul Biddlecombe.‘Thesavings so farhavebeen incredible andthe heat pump’s performance is exceedingall expectations.’

Formoreinformation or aquote,contact Global Energy Systems(0333344 4414; www.globalenergysystems.co.uk)

Fora sustainable,cost-effectiveway to heat your countryhouse, GlobalEnergySystems’air-sourceheatpumps arethe answer

Air-source heatpumps reduced this GradeII-listed house’sannualcostsbymorethan £7,000

Properties of the week

Off the record

As every owner knows, the repair and upkeep of listed houses can be costly, requiring specialist skills–here are some that have managed to escape the notice of listing officers

Northamptonshire, £3.25 million

Haselbech House was built in 1908 as a hunting lodge and has been the home of the current owners since 1973. Designed as a classic Edwardian weekend house, it’s ideal for entertaining on a large scale, with 14 bedrooms across the formal side of the house, former staff quarters in the northern wing and a three-bedroom cottage attached to the west façade. The main reception rooms all have attractive moulded ceilings and sycamore parquet flooring. Woodland surrounds the house on three sides, within 13 acres of formal areas that include a sunken topiary, as well as fields and paddocks. The village of Haselbech lies eight miles north of Northampton, which has fast trains to London. Strutt & Parker (01858 438723)

Arabella Youens

Herefordshire, £1.5 million

Pigeon House is a former vicarage in the heart of the village of Old Bodenham, between Hereford and Leominster. It has eight bedrooms and more than 4,400sq ft of accommodation laid out over three floors, with a further coach house that has pre-planning permission for conversion. The predominantly south-facing gardens extend to more than 1½ acres, including a walled area and a Grade II-listed dovecote (the only element of the property that is listed). ‘With such wonderful character and natural good looks, Pigeon House is a sheer delight,’ enthuses selling agent Phil Bates. Savills (01242 548003)

Co Durham, £1 million

Ideal for a Durham or Newcastle commute, this midVictorian manor house in the village of Westgate, a few miles west of Stanhope, has been carefully renovated and extended over the years by the current owners, with six bedrooms, four of which are en suite and two of which have Jack & Jill bathrooms, including one on the ground floor. The village lies in the Weardale Valley and is surrounded by the moorland of the North Pennines AONB. Agents say that Westgate Manor has been run as a B&B and restaurant, but it’s being sold as a family home. Finest Properties (01434 622234)

Berkshire, £1.25 million

This former church in the village of Ecchinswell, near Newbury, has been thoughtfully converted into fourbedroom Old Church House, with a large kitchen/break fast room at its centre, next to which is an equally spacious sitting room. Upstairs, the landing has been converted into a studio or study space alongside three of the bed rooms; the master is on the level above. The garden is mainly lawn with a terrace for outdoor dining and the garage has space for a potential room above that could act as a home office. Hamptons (01635 224133)

North Yorkshire, £600,000

With the dramatic backdrop of Rievaulx Abbey—which is lit up at night—Rose Cottage in Rievaulx is a rare find, says Rachel Macpherson of Carter Jonas in York. ‘The properties that form this picture-perfect community very rarely come on to the market for sale, as a large num ber have been in the ownership of local estates for many years.’

The cottage has three bedrooms— all of which enjoy views of the abbey, as well as the surrounding country side—and a pretty cottage garden. In addition, permission has been granted for a ground-floor side exten sion to be built. Helmsley, three miles away, is the nearest town, with a varied range of shops and amenities. Carter Jonas (01904 937732)