Country Life November 9, 2022: Early Property Pages

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NOVEMBER 9, 2022

Charles III

The King and the countryside

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THE VOICE OF THE COUNTRYSIDE NOVEMBER 9, 2022

Order of merit: the real meaning of medals Shire horses, starlings and A Shropshire Lad

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ONE FAMILY SPECIALISING IN FINE FURNITURE SINCE 1866

A pair of verdigris brass table lamps, each with a crane standing on a turtle, on burl plinth bases, with pleated silk shades. The originals Japanese Meiji period.

£2,135

Width: 10 inches (25.5cm) | Depth: 10 inches (25.5cm) | Height: 33 inches (84cm)

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)

1 REF: POD012287181

Santon, Isle of Man 4 bedrooms | 4 bathrooms | 5 reception rooms | 2 bedroom guest cottage | Equestrian arena | Paddocks | Tennis court Approximately 19 acres | Freehold

Ballarioghyn is a fabulous modern interpretation of a Georgian style mansion house built in 1982, enjoying spectacular distant southerly sea views.

Conveniently located for good access to Douglas Airport, King William's College and Buchan schools.

Guide price £8,000,000 Knight Frank London james.crawford@knightfrank.com 020 3930 2523

Chrystals shane@chrystals.co.im 01624 623778

knightfrank.co.uk Winner of six customer experience awards in 2021

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Showcasing a selection of our properties for sale

Coming soon to London Many of our customers are London buyers ready to swap life in the capital for a home in the country. Until now The London Office in St James’s Place has been the London branch of Michael Graham’s network of offices which stretch across eight counties in England.

HINWICK, BEDFORDSHIRE, Guide price: £7,950,000

We’re excited to announce that we’re preparing to open the doors of a new Michael Graham office on Portobello Road in the London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. This will strengthen the relationship between our regions and London and allow us to help even more customers make their onward journey, whether that’s within the capital or to the country.

MAULDEN, BEDFORDSHIRE, Guide Price: £3,750,000

Portobello Road, Notting Hill SOUTH KILWORTH, LEICESTERSHIRE, Guide price: £2,500,000

Visit michaelgraham.co.uk to book your free market appraisal

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REF : CHO012262499

Ston Easton, Somerset

20 en suite bedrooms | 7 main reception rooms | Billiard room | 3 bedroom gardener's cottage | Coach house | Woodland C1 (Hotel) & C3 (Residential) use | Approximately 28 acres | Freehold

Formerly a country hotel, Ston Easton Park represents a superb opportunity to acquire one of the finest Grade I listed Georgian country houses in the region.

Wells 7 miles | Bath 13 miles | Bristol 14 miles | Bristol International Airport 15 miles

Guide price £5,500,000 Knight Frank London & Bath hamish.humfrey@knightfrank.com 020 4502 7856

charlie.taylor@knightfrank.com 01225 685523

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Glorious Cotswold Manor Edgeworth, Gloucestershire Cirencester: 7 miles, Cheltenham: 12 miles, Kemble Station: 17 miles Grade II* listed Cotswold manor house in a beautiful setting overlooking its own spectacular valley. 5 reception rooms, 9 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms, baronial hall, barrel vaulted dining room, panelled study, cinema/games room, orangery, library, wine cellar, housekeeper’s flat, indoor swimming pool, Coach House, lodge, keeper’s cottage, woodland and fields.

Freehold I Council Tax Band = H

About 56 acres | Guide £20 million

Sebastian Hipwood Savills Cirencester 01285 300 198 sebastian.hipwood@savills.com

Edward Sugden Savills London Country Department 020 3991 3406 esugden@savills.com

Bruce Tolmie-Thomson Knight Frank LLP 020 7861 1070 bruce.tolmie-thomson @knightfrank.com

savills

savills.co.uk

Gloucestershire, Tetbury

An important Grade I Listed Elizabethan Manor House Tetbury: 1.5 miles, Malmesbury: 4 miles, Cirencester: 11 miles, M4 (J17): 9 miles, Kemble Station (London Paddington 70 mins): 9 miles Dining hall | Drawing room | Sitting room | Kitchen/breakfast room | Utility | Cloakroom Cellar | 5 Principal bedrooms | 4 Bathrooms | Secondary bedroom and attics Beautiful walled gardens | Coach House | Listed Barn About 4.8 acres

Over 45 offices across England and Scotland, including prime Central London.

Guide Price £3,250,000

Oliver Custance Baker

Sam Trounson

Country Department 020 7591 2207

Cirencester Office 01285 898 036

oliver.custance.baker@struttandparker.com

sam.trounson@struttandparker.com

/struttandparker

@struttandparker

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Meet Our Experts

Based in Summertown, north Oxford, this week’s expert has accrued a deep knowledge and understanding of the prime market across the Cotswolds and Chilterns

Charles Elsmore-Wickens Head of Cotswolds and Chilterns

It surprises even me to say it but so far, I’ve notched up 23 years in property, the majority of which have been with Savills. It wasn’t part of a grand plan: after graduating and contemplating my next steps, I was encouraged to consider it as a career. It was excellent advice as I immediately loved it and have never looked back.

I’m fortunate enough to look after a region which takes in arguably some of the country’s most attractive countryside, and one of its finest cities. With a tremendous variety of stock and lots of ground to cover it can mean I’m viewing anything from a cottage to a castle in any one day.

Selling and buying a property is one of the most joyous (and often trying), chapters in life and I see my role as a trusted advisor in the process; that’s a huge privilege. I tell clients from the outset that it’s a partnership, and my approach is to give them the best service and advice every time.

To find out more about the market in the Cotswolds and Chilterns, watch my video update here: http://sav.li/meetourexperts Instagram: @savills

FOR SALE | 16 Park Town, Oxford | Guide £2.85 million This Georgian townhouse will suit either a downsizer wishing to live in the city or a family with children at school locally.

Freehold | Council Tax Band = G | EPC = D

Charles Elsmore-Wickens Savills Summertown 01865 692 448 cewickens@savills.com

FOR SALE | Wellshead House, Harwell| Guide £3.45 million A classic Georgian family house, Wellshead offers its next owners easy access to Didcot station and the schools in south Oxfordshire.

Freehold | Council Tax Band = G

FOR SALE | The Manor House, Oxfordshire | Guide £7.5 million For anyone in search of a quintessential village house, this is it. Standing in the middle of Blewbury, it nevertheless has 9 acres of gardens and woodlands as well as a cottage, stables, studio barn, pool, tennis court and party barn.

Freehold | Council Tax Band = C | EPC = E

FOR SALE | Blenheim House, Warbororugh | Guide £2.495 million An excellent family home in a picture-perfect village where much of Midsomer Murders was filmed with a cottage and pool.

Freehold | Council Tax Band = G

FOR SALE | Orwell House, Sutton Courtenay | Guide £4 million This striking house was designed to blend a mix of materials, including thatch, oak, glass and polished concrete—the result is very effective.

Freehold | Council Tax Band = H | EPC = C

Historic Riverside Mansion Rotherhithe, London SE16 Thames Clipper: 0.06 miles, Canary Wharf: 0.5 Miles, City Airport: 4.3 miles Grand Grade II* listed home, arguably one of the finest houses overlooking the River Thames and shortlisted for the ‘Best Conservation of a Georgian House in an Urban Environment’ by the Georgian Group. 2 reception rooms, family kitchen, breakfast room, principal en suite bedroom, 5 further bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, original panelled dining room, study, wine cellar, cupola room and roof terrace with views of The City and Canary Wharf. Freehold I Council Tax Band = H

5,641 sq ft | Guide £3.95 million

Lindsay Cuthill Savills London Country Department 020 3993 8035 lcuthill@savills.com

Chloe Luxon Savills Wapping 020 3991 0356 chloe.luxon@savills.com

savills

savills.co.uk

Pugin Masterpiece Stone, Staffordshire Stafford Station: 6.5 miles, Birmingham: 35 miles, Manchester: 54 miles Striking historic Grade II listed country house with exquisite gardens, ideal for converting into a family home. 3 reception rooms, kitchen, 9 en suite bedrooms, dining room, study, garage and grounds.

The Presbytery; a detached dwelling available by separate negotiation.

Freehold | Council Tax Band = H | EPC = F

About 6.29 acres | Guide £1.65 million Tony Morris-Eyton Savills Telford 01952 924 767 amorris-eyton@savills.com

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savills.co.uk

Exciting Rural Retreat Charwelton, Northamptonshire Daventry: 6 miles, Banbury: 12.5 miles Substantial Grade II listed home in need of renovation. 3 reception rooms, 7 bedrooms (2 en suite), further bathroom, outbuildings, fish ponds, woodland, pastureland, partly walled garden and grounds.

Freehold | Council Tax Band = D | EPC = F

About 18.5 acres | Guide £1.55 million Nick Rudge Savills Banbury 01295 500 270 nrudge@savills.com

Sophie Gannon Savills Banbury 01295 500 417 sgannon@savills.com

savills

savills.co.uk

Superb Modern House Lower Basildon, Reading Streatley: 1.5 miles, Goring: 2 miles, Pangbourne: 2.5 miles Wonderful modern family home with views of the Thames valley. 2 reception rooms, kitchen/dining room, principal en suite bedroom, 3 further bedrooms (1 en suite), family bathroom, playroom/study, utility, garden office, double garage and garden.

Freehold | Council Tax Band = G | EPC = C

About 0.58 acres | Guide £1.375 million Cameron Power Savills Newbury 01635 598 814 cameron.power@savills.com

savills

savills.co.uk

F O R A L L YO U R TO M O R R OWS . . .

CALL 0204 549 8000 OR VISIT AURIENS.COM

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3 Nr Sapperton, Gloucestershire 7 bedrooms | 4 bathrooms | 3 reception rooms | 2 cottages | Stable flat | Garage flat Outbuildings | Bespoke 12 seat cinema | Stabling | Garaging | Tennis court | Swimming pool Lake with jetty | Kitchen garden | Meadows | Paddocks | Agricultural grazing | Woodland Approximately 49.77 acres | Freehold | Council Tax band H

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Rookwoods is a remarkable Grade II listed country home dating back to the 17th century. Set in a quiet and secluded position, the house overlooks the unspoiled Holy Brook Valley, deep in the Cotswold Hills.

Cirencester 7.5 miles | Stroud 6 miles | Kemble station 8 miles (London Paddington from 67 minutes)

Offers in excess of £10,000,000 Knight Frank London & Cirencester bruce.tolmie-thomson@knightfrank.com 020 7861 1070

Savills esugden@savills.com 020 7409 8885

james.walker@knightfrank.com 01285 882007

knightfrank.co.uk

Your partners in property

REF: CIR012212821

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5 Winner of six customer experience awards in 2021

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3 REF: TNW012199253

Chuck Hatch, East Sussex 2 bedrooms | 2 bathrooms | Reception room | Outbuildings | Gardens | Approximately 0.76 acres | EPC E Freehold | Council Tax band F

A pretty and characterful detached home, with various outbuildings, set in a wonderful rural location in the heart of Ashdown Forest.

Hartfield 1.2 miles | Tunbridge Wells 10 miles

Guide price £825,000 Knight Frank Tunbridge Wells holly.sibley@knightfrank.com 01892 772946

knightfrank.co.uk Winner of six customer experience awards in 2021

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3 REF: TNW012273014

Benenden, Kent 4 bedrooms | 3 bathrooms | 2 reception rooms | Gardens | Substantial barn | Outbuildings | Paddocks | Woodland Approximately 15.28 acres | Freehold | Council Tax band F

A wonderful Grade II listed residence, believed to date back to the mid-17th century, with 15 acres set in an exceptional and unique rural location in the heart of Hemsted Forest.

Benenden 2 miles | Staplehurst station 8.2 miles (London Bridge from 51 minutes) | Tunbridge Wells 18 miles

Offers in excess of £1,750,000 Knight Frank Tunbridge Wells simon.biddulph@knightfrank.com 01892 772942

knightfrank.co.uk Winner of six customer experience awards in 2021

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TINGEWICK BUCKINGHAMSHIRE Guide price: £1,650,000

7 Bedrooms | 5 Reception Rooms | 4 Bathrooms | N/A EPC

Dating back to the 17th century this Grade II listed stone manor house sits on a secluded plot of just over an acre next to the church. Immaculate modern interiors total 6,000 sq. ft. and include a garden room with doors to an extensive paved terrace. Mature gardens wrap around the house and the adjoining paddock backs on to open countryside.

Michael Graham Buckingham Luke Jackson 01280 821100 Michael Graham London Bob Bickersteth 0207 839 0888

michaelgraham.co.uk michaelgraham_living

KETTERING, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE Offers in excess of: £1,250,000

6 Bedrooms | 3 Reception Rooms | 3 Bathrooms | F EPC

A 17th century six bedroom spacious country house that sits in a secluded rural setting with panoramic countryside views. The property has been fully renovated and refurbished and offers immaculate modern interiors alongside traditional period features.

Mature gardens and grounds of approximately 2.36 acres surround the house and include a tennis court, streams and ponds.

Michael Graham Northampton Ian Jepson 01604 611011 Michael Graham London Bob Bickersteth 0207 839 0888

michaelgraham.co.uk michaelgraham_living

SOUTH HAY, HAMPSHIRE GUIDE PRICE

£5,000,000 FREEHOLD

[10 bedrooms] [stunning kitchen/dining room] [magnificent 40’ library] A Grade II Listed landmark house occupying a truly tranquil setting within the South Downs National Park with grounds, including paddocks, of 8.2 acres. In addition to the main house, there is a two bedroom annexe and two further annexe areas, outbuildings and garaging. Council Tax Band H 01420 446705

ALTON@HAMPTONS.CO.UK

HAMPTONS.CO.UK

PROSPECT, ST JAMES, BARBADOS £6,300,000 Designed around its elevated beach front position, this elegant 6,500 sq ft six bedroom, six bathroom split-level property enjoys spacious living areas, landscaped gardens with terrace & a private stairway from pool deck to unspoilt beach.

INTERNATIONAL@HAMPTONS.CO.UK +44 (0) 203 9189635

TODI, UMBRIA, ITALY £2,900,000 A thoughtfully refurbished villa, originally built for the Bishop of Todi, in 1763. The estate includes 4 acres of land, swimming pool, guest house, large terrace and garage. 1hr 45 min from Perugia and Rome airports. Ref. CNAQ INTERNATIONAL@HAMPTONS.CO.UK +44 (0) 203 9189635 HAMPTONS.CO.UK

Only With Us property showcase

Ayot Green, Hertfordshire

£1,350,000

Guide price

Wymeswold, Leicestershire

£825,000

Guide price

Perranwell Station, Cornwall

£650,000

Offers over

A stunning Grade II listed three-bedroom character home with a half acre garden and tandem length garage, in an idyllic setting.

Contact: Welwyn Garden City 01707 590886

A classic English country home, lavishly appointed and upgraded to a high standard.

A wonderful property ideal for a family.

Contact: 01664 518924

A detached three-bedroom character cottage with extensive established gardens, sweeping driveway, double garage and parking area.

Contact: Truro office 01872 395947

Middleton Tyas, North Yorkshire

Bonnington, Aldington, £1,050,000 Kent

Ightham, Kent

A deceptively spacious and well-presented, characterful, two double bedroom cottage in sought-after village.

Contact: Leyburn office 01969 738983

Characterful property and profitable holiday cottage. Good size gardens with a workshop, paddocks and a range of stables.

Contact: Ashford office 01233 238793

Shene Cottage is a half ragstone, half tile-hung thatched detached cottage, set in a plot of about 1 acre and offers superb scope for refurbishment.

Contact: Sevenoaks office 01732 658694

Hewish, Somerset

Brabourne Lees, Kent

Diss, Norfolk

£425,000 Guide price

£625,000

Offers in excess of

Grade II listed farmhouse for modernisation, offering a wealth of character features and a range of traditional outbuildings.

Contact: Yeovil office 01935 590898

£1,250,000 Guide price

A delightful Grade II listed family home with annexe and generous gardens in a peaceful rural setting, with good transport links.

Contact: Canterbury office 01227 319798

Verify at www.onthemarket.com/only-with-us/. Agents specify exclusivity.

£1,695,000 Guide price

£685,000 Guide price

On the edge of town with rural views. This home is over three floors with 2,700 sq. ft. offering plenty of bedroom or office space.

Contact: Diss office 01379 441944

All these properties appeared exclusively with us, 24 hours or more before Rightmove or Zoopla.

Crockers Hill, Somerset

£650,000

Guide price

Worlingworth, Suffolk

£900,000

Guide price

Ashreigney, Devon

£650,000

Guide price

A beautiful three-bedroom property with several reception rooms and two bathrooms as well as stables, 1.46 acre paddock and arena.

Contact: Bridgwater office 01278 285917

This stunning unlisted four-bedroom farmhouse has been well-maintained and sits prominently in mature grounds of approx. 0.6 acres.

Contact: Woodbridge office 01394 807906

A well-proportioned period cottage with beamed accommodation and valley views set in a rural, elevated sun trap position.

Contact: Torrington office 01805 447989

Draethen, Gwent

Coates, Gloucestershire

Cowthorpe, North Yorkshire

£750,000

A beautiful three-bedroom detached property, set in superb grounds of around half an acre, enjoying panoramic countryside views.

Contact: Cyncoed office 02922 279138

£1,350,000 Guide price

An impressive six-bedroom Cotswold stone family house in a lovely setting on the edge of a village, with fine views.

Contact: Cirencester office 01285 367138

£850,000

Offers over

A substantial six-bedroom detached family house arranged over three floors, with breathtaking views over countryside to the rear.

Contact: Wetherby office 01937 205882

Create an alert To view these and the finest selection of premium properties, search OnTheMarket Fishguard, Pembrokeshire

£425,000

Offers in region of

A beautiful stone cottage with views of the surrounding fields which has been sensitively restored and tastefully decorated.

Contact: Cardigan office 01239 563951

Northallerton, North Yorkshire

£239,950

Guide price

A charming and characterful double fronted two-bedroom period cottage with detached single garage, overlooking the village green.

Contact: Northallerton office 01609 629861

at CountryLife.co.uk and set up a property

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locatejersey.com/CL1122

Property market

Penny Churchill

Houses that work for you Two listed properties with additional income streams can help you pay your way

F

EW historic houses can be said to pay their way, but a notable exception is Grade II-listed Long Crendon Manor at Long Crendon, three miles west of Haddenham and two miles north-west of Thame, on the Buckinghamshire/Oxfordshire border. Now for sale, for the first time in 45 years, through Ed Sugden of Savills Country Department (07557 337507), who quotes a guide price of £6.95 million, the manor house in its 39 acres of magnificent

gardens, paddocks and pasture overlooking the Thame Valley boasts a number of useful income streams.

It’s still a working small estate with potential for further expansion, with the original stables at Long Crendon housing an artisan bakery, farm shop and licensed café showcasing the best local produce, including pork from the estate’s Gloucestershire Old Spot free-range pigs and Long Crendon Manor cider, which is fermented in the original coaching house

and widely enjoyed in the area’s many excellent hostelries. Long Crendon Manor itself is run as a successful bed and breakfast, listed by Sawday’s, Britain’s Finest and Wolsey Lodges, and is also a prized location for television series and films, which to date include Midsomer Murders, The Woman in Black and My Cousin Rachel.

The manor estate of Long Crendon, or Crendon as it was known in the Middle Ages, was awarded to Walter Giffard, Lord

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Left: Long Crendon Manor stands in 39 acres of grounds in Buckinghamshire. £6.95m.

Above: The large dining room boasts exposed beams and pink-silk-covered shutters then known as Lovedens after a 14th-century owner, was sold by Lord Abingdon, together with the manors of Notley Abbey and the St Christopher Chantry, to the Duke of Marlborough, after which Crendon became the Duke’s demesne farm. According to a letter from E. C. Hohler, dated June 1977 and held in the Buckinghamshire archives, his father bought ‘the house and half a dozen fields round it’ in 1917.

After the First World War, ownership of the estate fell to Holder’s mother, Laline Hohler (later Laline Barry), the daughter of Lady De L’Isle of Dudley and Penshurst, who commissioned the then littleknown young architect Philip Tilden to carry out the restoration of Long Crendon Manor between 1918 and 1922.

It was a mammoth undertaking and, in a letter, her son recalls that ‘in the course of the restoration a lot of old timber from Crendon windmill was bought and reused…

The two embattled beams and the front of the “minstrels gallery” (added by Tilden) come from a house in Kent… The stone fireplace with carved quatrefoils on the east side of the new stack come from Chipping Norton or somewhere near. But the “Screens” are not entirely wrong, one of the arch-pieces for a door in them is original, and the slots for all four arch-pieces are in the posts’.

He continues: ‘The Gatehouse is problematic. I think it is 17th century, more or less romantic and built of bits from Notley… But

one jamb springer of the little door at the S. E. corner is old (13th–14th century) and was in situ: Tilden completed the arch.’

Approached by its ancient archway, Long Crendon Manor wraps three sides around its central courtyard and is, overall, a striking example of medieval architecture. As its current owners point out, ‘later additions, in subsequent centuries, only add to its intriguing and beguiling history’. And beguiling it surely is.

In all, the main house offers some 13,500sq ft of living space on two floors, including, on the ground floor, the impressive Great Hall with its stone-flagged floor, vaulted ceiling, huge medieval fireplace and minstrels’ gallery; a beautifully proportioned drawing room with oak-panelled walls and a large stone fireplace; a large dining room with a cobalt-blue ceiling and pink-silkcovered shutters; and a welcoming library containing a fine example of linen-press panelling around the fireplace, with a painted frieze detail.

From the drawing room, a staircase leads to Laline’s Room, which has oak floorboards, large oak trusses and a fireplace with a large wood-burning stove, plus steps leading up to an en-suite bathroom; Col Barry’s bedroom and dressing room are accessed via both staircases, with a shower room off and a sunken bath. A staircase from the Great Hall leads to two further bedroom suites, four further bedrooms

Long Crendon Manor is a prized location for film and television

of Longueville, for his part in defeating King Harold at the Battle of Hastings. In 1162, the Giffards founded the Augustinian abbey of Notley in the south-east corner of the parish.

The Great Hall of the manor house was a dwelling for the abbots of Notley from about 1187, but, following its suppression in 1538, the abbey itself fell into ruin and was quarried for its stone, some of which later found its way to Long Crendon Manor.

In 1764, Long Crendon Manor and its farm,

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Property market

Above and right: Grade II*-listed The Old Rectory is set in three acres in the hamlet of Hoggeston, Buckinghamshire. £3.35m (one with a bathroom en suite), a family bathroom and a large games/snooker room.

At the end of the corridor, a galleried landing leads to the atmospheric Tower Bedroom that sits over the main entrance arch.

The beautifully maintained gardens and grounds provide a wonderfully theatrical backdrop to Long Crendon Manor. A picturesque, thatched summer house offers views of the valley beyond. A winter house, complete with fireplace, is discreetly tucked away and a maze, with a charming fountain at its centre, a library walk, a croquet lawn, an ancient mulberry tree and a creeper-covered gazebo all add to the enchantment.

Further east, in mid Buckinghamshire’s scenic Vale of Aylesbury, Mark Rimell of Strutt & Parker’s Country Department (020– 7318 5025) is handling the sale of the highly commutable, Grade II*-listed The Old Rectory in the pretty hamlet of Hoggeston, nine miles from Aylesbury, from where the journey to London Marylebone takes less than an hour via the Chiltern Line.

He quotes a guide price of £3.35m for the charming former rectory, built in 1784 and previously owned by the late Toby GraffteySmith, who, as plain Toby Smith, was best known in music circles as the keyboard

player and co-songwriter for the acid jazz group Jamiroquai from 1992 to 2002.

For the past several years, The Old Rectory, set in three acres of wooded gardens and grounds, a stone’s throw from the 3,000-acre Swanbourne estate and the popular Swanbourne House prep school where GraffteySmith was a pupil, has been let to long-term tenants and now needs some updating.

It offers 5,360sq ft of accommodation on three floors, including four reception rooms,

a kitchen/breakfast room, principal and guest bedrooms, plus three further bedrooms and a family bathroom, with a games room, utility and store rooms on the lower ground floor.

Amenities include a lake, a swimming pool and a tennis court, whereas a converted two-bedroom coach house and outbuildings, including a timber-frame cottage/recording studio, provide the opportunity to earn a useful additional income in this sought-after part of Buckinghamshire.

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Properties of the week

James Fisher

Kings, Queens, Lords and Ladies See how the other half live in properties that share their history with nobility Ceredigion, £4 million Constructed in about 1854 to the designs of the famous Shropshire architect Edward Haycock, Penylan Mansion is situated on the outskirts of the small settlement of Llandygwydd, near Cardigan.

One of the finest private estates in Wales, the Grade II*-listed property has been renovated and refurbished over a period of 20 years to the most exacting standards. Reputedly once home to the Queen’s second cousin Lady Audrey Beatrice Morris, the 17-bedroom home and its surrounding 13 acres are fit for royalty. Inside, the countless bedrooms are almost matched by 10 reception rooms, each distinctively decorated. The main staircase hall features a skylight and trompe l’oeil decorated walls; the ground floor is rounded out by a separate courtyard, as well as a gym and swimming-pool complex. Outside, the grounds sit on the north bank of the River Teifi and feature a wealth of outbuildings that are ripe for conversion into further accommodation. Country Living Group (01473 616101)

Kensington, W8, £4.25 million This two-storey freehold home at Pembroke Studios offers a surprising amount of space and light, boasting three bedrooms, a beautiful garden and spacious kitchen/reception room. It is listed Grade II for the exterior, but not the interior, allowing a rare opportunity for further internal alterations. The highlight is the principal bedroom suite on the first floor, which offers views over the garden, as well as a walk-in wardrobe and en-suite bathroom. A plaque commemorates the visit of Pope John Paul II to the property in 1982. Russell Simpson (020–7225 0277)

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Properties of the week Devon, £1.25 million Described by the agents as being part of buildings that were ‘formerly stables to Membland Hall’, Grade II-listed Dovecote House owes its existence to the banker Edward Baring, later Lord Revelstoke who purchased the estate in 1877. Set in the hamlet of Membland, the property is one mile from the waterfront of Newton Ferrers and National Trust-owned coastline of south Devon. The property offers five bedrooms in total, two of which can be separated to form a self-contained annexe, and sits in mature gardens of about two-thirds of an acre. Nearby Newton Ferrers and its twin Noss Mayo offer a range of amenities, including a yacht club. Marchand Petit (01752 873311)

9000

Lancashire, £1.45 million For sale for the first time in more than 350 years, Higher Lee is a Grade II*listed country home of some considerable charm. With six bedrooms, the property offers the ideal mix of peaceful seclusion, set as it is at the base of Lee Fell in the Forest of Bowland AONB, and connectivity, with hyperfast broadband and the county town of Lancaster a 15-minute drive away.

The property is one of only a handful in the area not owned by the Duke of Westminster, giving it the benefit of being marooned in a very private and well-managed estate, and was once owned by the Earl of Sefton, who left it to his land agent when he died without an heir in 1972. As well as six bedrooms in the main house, the property also has a former coach house and six acres of grounds that feature a croquet lawn, ornamental streams and direct access to the surrounding AONB. Davis & Bowring (01524 274445)

Wiltshire, £3.75 million Noted in the Domesday Book, Baycliffe Farm near Warminster has a continuous history of occupation on the site that dates to 1087. Before the Norman Conquest, it appears to have been the property of Tostig Godwinson, Earl of Northumberland and brother of King Harold. The building also featured heavily during the Civil War, sustaining damage when attacked by the Parliamentarians. Now, the stone-and-brick thatched house sits in a tranquil position, surrounded by 108 acres of farmland and pasture, with a wealth of equestrian facilities to boot (it has been operated as a racing stud in recent years). The Grade II-listed main house offers five bedrooms and comes with a pleasing mix of modern comforts and period features. There is plenty of ancillary accommodation throughout the estate, too.

Savills (01962 857441)

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