Country Life October 20, 2021 Early Property Pages by lkhosla

EVERY WEEK

OCTOBER 20, 2021

Good taste: the rise of the chocolate labrador

ISSUE: 42

PRINTED IN THE UK

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COUNTRY SPORTS OCTOBER 20, 2021

Last casts: fishing pools to die for One man and his dog: the art of Gary Bunt Good doers: Alan Titchmarsh’s reliable plants

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ONE FAMILY SPECIALISING IN FINE FURNITURE SINCE 1866

A specially commissioned oil painting, interpreting The Golfers by Charles Lees. The original painted in 1847 by Lees depicts a match being played on the Old Course at the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, St Andrews. The centre of everybody's attention is a decisive moment in a match between Sir David Baird and Sir Ralph Anstruther against Major Hugh Lyon Playfair and John Campbell of Glen Saddel. Lee carefully composed this complex scene, which includes over fifty individual portraits, using photographs of some of the golfers to help him. The canvas has been stretched and mounted in a hand made 3 inch frame with shot, finished to a light antique patina. £4,230 Width: 53¼ inches (135.5cm) | Depth: 2 inches (5.7cm) | Height: 35 inches (89cm)

BESPOKE COMMISSIONS UNDERTAKEN | NATIONWIDE HOME APPROVAL SERVICE

OVER 1,000 ITEMS OF EXCLUSIVE CLASSICAL FURNISHINGS IN STOCK

CALL 01491 641115 | WWW.BRIGHTSOFNETTLEBED.CO.UK nettlebed . oxfordshire . rg9 5dd (open tues - sat)

king's rd . london . sw6 2dx (open mon-fri)

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TURVILLE HEATH, OXFORDSHIRE

n exceptional country estate consisting of one of the Chilterns finest Grade II listed country houses. Situated in a 49 acre parkland setting, the property has an extraordinary guest and swimming pool/spa complex. Also including guest house and multi guest/staff cottages and outbuildings WA L L E D G A R D E N | PA D D O C K S | H A R D T E N N I S C O U R T H E N L E Y- O N -T H A M E S 7 M I L E S | M 4 0 ( J U N C T I O N 4 ) 9 M I L E S | O X F O R D 2 4 M I L E S

Price on application Knight Frank London & Henley paddy.dring@knightfrank.com 020 7861 1061 nick.warner@knightfrank.com 01491 815299 Ref: CHO012000650

knightfrank.co.uk

GAYTON, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE Guide Price: £1,850,000 7 Bedrooms

5 Reception Rooms

4 Bathrooms

D EPC

A detached seven bedroom house with gated driveway parking, a separate double garage, outbuildings and 4.73 acres of gardens and paddock with far reaching countryside views. The property has 4,565 sq. ft. of versatile accommodation and has been remodelled and extended to include a new open plan kitchen/breakfast room with an orangery. The landscaped rear garden is south facing and includes an ornate lake with a summer house and a cantilevered deck overlooking it. There is also just under 2,000 sq. ft. of garages and outbuildings. The village of Gayton offers good transport links including mainline railway stations in Northampton and Milton Keynes with services into London Euston.

Towcester Office | Richard Irlam | 01327 350022 London Office | Bob Bickersteth | 0207 839 0888

14 offices covering 8 counties and Central London

michaelgraham.co.uk

michaelgraham_living

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STEBBING, ESSEX

riors Hall is a wonderful Grade II* listed family house located on the edge of a sought-after village. The property is set amidst beautiful grounds extending to around 10.86 acres, with extensive outbuildings, including a large Grade II listed barn.

Offers in excess of £2,900,000 Knight Frank London & Bishop's Stortford edward.welton@knightfrank.com 020 4502 7216 paddy.pritchard-gordon@knightfrank.com 01279 888501 Ref: BST190102

knightfrank.co.uk

Rare Refurbishment Opportunity Hunton, Kent Maidstone: 6.6 miles, London: 44 miles A superb Grade II* listed country house in need of extensive refurbishment. 3 reception rooms, 7 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, workshops and store rooms, thatched bee house, outbuildings and gardens. About 1.2 acres | Guide £1.35 million Duncan Petrie Savills Cranbrook 01580 848 734 dpetrie@savills.com

Sarah Hunt Savills Cranbrook 01580 848 781 sarah.hunt@savills.com

savills

savills.co.uk

Period Elegance West Meon, Hampshire Petersfield: 7.2 miles, Winchester: 12.9 miles A fine period manor in need of sympathetic refurbishment, situated in the heart of the Meon Valley. 4 reception rooms, 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, swimming pool, garage and part-walled gardens. EPC = E About 1.85 acres | Guide £2 million Steven Moore Savills Winchester 01962 657 512 smoore@savills.com

Camilla Elwell Savills London Country Department 020 3813 5079 camilla.elwell @savills.com

savills

savills.co.uk

West Berkshire, Midgham

Over 50 Offices across England and Scotland, including prime Central London.

Guide Price £6,250,000

Alex Barton

Tom Shuttleworth

Newbury Office 01635 897 832

Country Department 020 7591 2213

alex.barton@struttandparker.com

thomas.shuttleworth@struttandparker.com

/struttandparker

@struttandparker

struttandparker.com

Attractive Country House Winthorpe, Nottinghamshire Newark: 3.5 miles This magnificent family house enjoys grand proportions with wonderful recreational facilities. 5 reception rooms, 9 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, swimming pool, tennis court, stables, triple garage, landscaped gardens and paddock. About 4.28 acres | Guide £995,000 Rupert Fisher Savills Lincoln 01522 718 739 rfisher@savills.com

Michelle Weaver Savills Lincoln 01522 712 582 mweaver@savills.com

savills

savills.co.uk

Superb Listed Family Home East Markham, Nottinghamshire Newark Northgate Station: 15 miles This superb country house occupies a delightful plot with stunning views and benefits from an additional cottage and annexe. 5 reception rooms, 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, cottage, annexe, double garage and landscaped gardens. About 0.7 acres | Guide £1.295 million Clare Bingham Savills Nottingham 0115 778 9656 cbingham @savills.com

Luke Billson Savills Nottingham 0115 778 9695 luke.billson @savills.com

savills

savills.co.uk

Sophisticated Modern Living Plaistow, West Sussex Haslemere: 10 miles, Guildford: 17.7 miles The Lake House is a high-tech, super insulated German-built home, which functions without fossil fuels. 4 reception rooms, 5 en suite bedrooms, bar/games room, tennis court, helipad and barn, rainbow trout lake. Option to re-develop the house and outbuilding (STPP). EPC = C About 20 acres | Guide £4.5 million Paul Finnegan Savills London Country Department 020 3627 8047 pfinnegan @savills.com

James Machell Savills Petworth 01798 888 554 james.machell @savills.com

savills

savills.co.uk

Questions?

Answers.

Offers accepted in the Home Counties reach five-year high With their individual personalities and rural backdrop, the Home Counties are so much more than just commuter hotspots. They constitute one of the most popular residential areas in the UK, with offers accepted in September 2021, 117% higher than the five-year average*. Here is a selection of properties available.

Weybridge, Surrey A stunning contemporary detached house built to a superb specification throughout, located in a popular cul-de-sac. 5 B E D R O O M S | 4 B AT H R O O M S | 3 R E C E P T I O N R O O M S | E P C B

Guide price £2,650,000

andrew.chambers@knightfrank.com 01932 809938

Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire A delightful family home situated on the edge of woodland situated in a popular Chiltern village, with planning permission for an additional dwelling. 4 B E D R O O M S | 2 B AT H R O O M S | 2 R E C E P T I O N R O O M S | E P C D

Guide price £2,250,000

nick.warner@knightfrank.com 01491 815299

Esher, Surrey A charming detached Regency style period home, believed to date back to the early 1800's in the original house with subsequent later additions. 5 B E D R O O M S | 2 B AT H R O O M S | 5 R E C E P T I O N R O O M S | E P C D

Guide price £1,750,000

adam.burlison@knightfrank.com 01372 885688 Source: Knight Frank data

Camberley, Surrey An impressive Grade II listed Arts & Crafts characterful house, listed as one of the original homes of Camberley. 6 B E D R O O M S | 4 B AT H R O O M S | 5 R E C E P T I O N R O O M S | A P P R O X I M AT E LY 0 . 8 5 A C R E S

Guide price £1,895,000

zara.wright@knightfrank.com 01344 989436

Cobham, Surrey An attractive home offering flexible accommodation in a highly sought-after private road moments from Cobham High Street. 7 B E D R O O M S | 5 B AT H R O O M S | 4 R E C E P T I O N R O O M S | E P C D

Guide price £2,850,000

james.harvey@knightfrank.com 01932 800998

Maidenhead, Berkshire This wonderful individual family home is set in glorious grounds approaching an acre, beautifully landscaped and with a high degree of privacy. 4 B E D R O O M S | 2 B AT H R O O M S | 3 R E C E P T I O N R O O M S | A P P R O X I M AT E LY 0 . 9 5 A C R E S | E P C D

Guide price £1,850,000

oliver.beales@knightfrank.com 01494 853619

If you’re thinking of selling your home, or would simply like some advice on the market, get in touch today. We’d love to help you.

Your partners in property for 125 years

knightfrank.co.uk

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BELTINGHAM, NORTHUMBERLAND

handsome Grade II listed Georgian house in a charming setting, surrounded by spectacular countryside in the heart of rural Northumberland. The property provides exceptional family accommodation, together with well-proportioned, formal reception rooms and a gracious dining room, retaining a wealth of period features. 7 B E D R O O M S | 5 B AT H R O O M S | 4 R E C E P T I O N R O O M S | S E L F - C O N TA I N E D A N N E X E M AT U R E G A R D E N | W O O D L A N D | PA D D O C K | A P P R O X I M AT E LY 1 . 8 3 A C R E S | M O R E L A N D AVA I L A B L E NEWCASTLE 31 MILE S | HE XHAM 10 MILE S | CARLISLE 26 MILE S

Guide price £1,150,000 Knight Frank Melrose james.denne@knightfrank.com 01896 888502 Ref: EDN012182609

knightfrank.co.uk

www.humberts.com York office - Tel: 01904 611828 Email - york@humberts.com

WEST LILLING , Near York

York 9 miles, Leeds 37 miles

A TRULY EXCEPTIONAL AND IMPECCABLY APPOINTED BARN CONVERSION WITH PRIVATE ESTABLISHED GROUNDS

Galleried Hall, magnificent open plan Living-Kitchen/Dining area, 2 formal reception rooms, Orangery, superb Master Bedroom wing with Dressing Room/private Orangery, full Guest suite, 3 further bedrooms (all ensuite). Extensive garaging with Home Office. Superb landscaped gardens with illuminated Sun Terrace, hot tub and ornamental pond. Adjoining paddock. Price upon application

ABOUT 2 ACRES

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Property is now on Instagram

A rare opportunity to purchase a farmhouse with approximately 100 Acres, Separate Cottages and Grain Stores A rare opportunity to purchase a farm of approximately 100 acres on the edge of a popular vale of Belvoir village with a long sweeping driveway alongside its own lake with an island. This ﬁve-bedroom, four-bathroom farmhouse which has been in the same family ownership for over 100 years also has two self-contained holiday staff cottages together with an air source heated swimming pool and has ran as a successful holiday let business. There is approximately 4 acres of hard standing which has had commercial use in the past. A range of farm buildings, one being 120 x 60 ft, the second being 120 x 45 ft and a third 30 x 40 ft, which would suit conversion to indoor arena/American style stabling if to be used for equestrian purposes. Alternatively, these properties lend themselves for permitted development into further residential dwellings subject to planning. The farmland has entitlement payments and is well drained and has a history of good cropping, well-hedged and with an area of wildlife sanctuary in a former railway siding. Guide Price £2,600,000

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For more information on this property or to book a viewing please get in touch: OAKHAM: 01572 757979 | UPPINGHAM: 01572 821935 | MELTON MOWBRAY: 01664 491610 STAMFORD: 01780 484555 PETERBOROUGH TRAIN STATION MEET & GREET: 01733 788888 GRANTHAM TRAIN STATION MEET & GREET: 01476 855618 ofﬁce@mooresestateagents.com | www.mooresestateagents.com

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CHURT, SURREY

KIMBLEWICK, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE GUIDE PRICE £1,800,000 FREEHOLD

A fascinating house with exposed timbers and period features with five bedrooms, four bathrooms, three receptions, c. 0.56 acre gardens, a summerhouse and views over an adjoining field. EPC E

An attractive five bedroom country house style family home set in 3.6 acres of gardens and paddocks, with a stable block and magnificent views across the vale to the hills beyond. EPC D

GUIDE PRICE £1,300,000 FREEHOLD

Hamptons Great Missenden 01494 857812

Hamptons Farnham 01252 757213

ASCOT, BERKSHIRE GUIDE PRICE £1,600,000 FREEHOLD

TREDINGTON, GLOUCESTERSHIRE GUIDE PRICE £1,100,000 FREEHOLD

A distinctive spacious period home adjoining open fields and offering five bedrooms, four receptions, a detached c. 1,000 sq ft studio, summer house and a swimming pool. EPC E

An outstanding Grade II Listed five bedroom, four reception room detached house on a plot extending to 0.50 acres in a popular village just seven miles to the west of Cheltenham.

Hamptons Sunningdale 01344 985941

Hamptons Cheltenham 01242 801990 HAMPTONS.CO.UK

MARLOW, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE GUIDE PRICE £4,250,000 FREEHOLD Main part of a period residence offering spacious accommodation with high ceilings and balconies to the front providing fabulous views of the River Thames all set in 1.56 acres gardens and grounds. EPC E 6 bedrooms, annexe/home office, wine cellar. Hamptons Marlow 01628 878936

ST. LEONARDS, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE GUIDE PRICE £1,650,000 FREEHOLD An elegant period property sitting in just over ¾ acre of gardens located in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the Chiltern Hills with the benefit of a self-contained annexe for guest accommodation. EPC E 4 bedrooms, 3 receptions, double garage Hamptons Great Missenden 01494 857812 HAMPTONS.CO.UK

CRADDOCK, CULLOMPTON

CHESHIRE, PRESTBURY

Family home with indoor pool | EPC D £1,650,000 guide | Taunton: 01823 325144

Five bedroom house with views | EPC C £2,245,000 guide | Alderley Edge: 01625 540340

SOUTH MANCHESTER, BOWDON

SUFFOLK, WORLINGTON

Incredible Victorian villa with leisure | EPC C £3,450,000 guide | Hale: 01619 288881

Beautifully extended family house in 3 acres | EPC E £1,250,000 guide | Newmarket: 01638 662231

SURREY, WESTCOTT

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, LITTLE BRINGTON

Charming Grade II Listed period cottage £1,195,000 guide | Dorking: 01306 887560

Stunning country home with 39.4 acres | EPC E £2,650,000 guide | Northampton: 01604 632991

PRO PERTY EXPERTS S IN CE 1910

jackson-stops.co.uk

NORTH YORKSHIRE, SCARBOROUGH

SUFFOLK, NR LAVENHAM

Substantial detached house in large gardens | EPC C £750,000 guide | Yorkshire: 01904 625033

Unique barn conversion in an idyllic rural setting | EPC E £1,350,000 guide | Ipswich: 01473 218218

Jackson-Stops are seeing on average 25 buyers for each property on our books.

NORTH DEVON, CHITTLEHAMPTON Beautiful detached country residence | EPC F £850,000 guide North Devon: 01271 325153

If you are considering selling your property, book a market appraisal to discover the true potential of your property.

WEST SUSSEX, STOUGHTON Glorious South Downs Park location £1,999,500 guide Chichester: 01243 786316

WINCHESTER, HAMPSHIRE

LONDON, PIMLICO

Landmark renovated Grade II* Listed townhouse £3,400,000 guide | Winchester: 01962 844299

Double interconnected home with 3,750 sq. ft | EPC D Price on application | Pimlico: 020 7828 4050

PRO PERTY EXPERTS S IN CE 1910

jackson-stops.co.uk

SAVE THE DATE O LY MP IA LO N DO N

2 – 7 NOVEMBER 2021

PRIVATE PREVIEW 1 NOVEMBER Discove er extraordinary pieces from the modern and eclectic to the traditional and classic, for creating stylish interiors and inspiring collections.

Every piece for sale is vetted by experts to ensure you can buy with conﬁdencce.

bada.org

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britain’s leading dealers the finest antiques, art and design

14/10/2021 08:42

DAVID TRESS Landscape as Experience

Big Summer. Barleyﬁeld and Sea, 2019 mixed media on paper

84 x 119 cms

331⁄8 x 467⁄8 ins £14,500

DAVID TRESS’ lifelong commitment to landscape painting enables him to connect not only with his own memories of each place but also with the deep past of the land. He has walked and sketched the Welsh hills and coastline near his home town of Haverfordwest for forty years. His landscapes have a sensuous immediacy, but, rather than being a ﬂeeting impression, they are immensely earthy: a place forged by natural forces and charged with a sense of geological and historical time.

Prices from £2,850 to £14,500

Online and on view at The Studio throughout October

The Studio, Lord’s Wood, Marlow, Bucks SL7 2QS Please ring to arrange an appointment 01628 486565

www.messums.com

Property market

Penny Churchill

The renovation game It is a work of art to restore a house after decades of neglect, but so worth the effort, as these three estates prove

CCORDING to Charlie Evans of independent property advisers CKD (07721 410238), the top end of the market is seeing increasing numbers of sales fall through after a price has been agreed. Therefore, if you’re a vendor, ‘it’s vital to ensure that all the legal aspects of a property sale are in order before you open the door to the first viewer’. He cites the occasion, earlier this year, when his firm was selling a significant property off market and negotiated ‘a fantastic offer at well over the asking price’. The offer was accepted and contracts exchanged within 24 hours. Soon after exchange, the buyer called to say that he had made a mistake and regretted buying it—but the contract was watertight and the deal stood. The same property was later re-marketed with another agent and sold for 30% less. ‘If ever there was an example of the importance of preparation, it is this,’ says Mr Evans. It’s also a prime example of the old adage, caveat emptor. The importance of preparation is no less relevant when it comes to renovating a historic house, as Simon and Amanda Hall well knew, when, six years ago, they embarked on the restoration and remodelling of Grade II-listed Baughurst House, near Kingsclere, Hampshire, having already renovated several previous family homes. Following the completion of this, their most ambitious project to date, they are now looking to move further west, hence the sale of the pristine Baughurst House estate through Savills (020–7409 8885) at a guide price of £15 million. The present Baughurst House was built in 1847 to replace an earlier house dating from 1698. During the 17th century, it was owned by the Potter-Harris family of Quakers and was the centre of an important Quaker

Above and below: Recently refurbished Baughurst House in Hampshire offers 117 acres, 10,900sq ft of accommodation and a range of outbuildings ripe for development. £15m

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Find the best properties at countrylife.co.uk

Grade II-listed Ashurst Manor in Kent is set in 96 acres of gardens and parkland and was described by Pevsner as ‘quite a handsome composition’. £10m

community until the early 18th century. During the 1870s and 1880s, the east-facing wing was enlarged; the stables, barn and other outbuildings also date from this period. The single-storey, flat-roofed billiard room dates from the Edwardian era. However, the estate boundaries, ponds, streams and landscape have remained largely unchanged since the early tithe-map records were made in the 1840s. Baughurst House sits in 117 acres of gardens, parkland, pasture and woodland on the edge of the North Wessex Downs AONB, close to the Hampshire/West Berkshire border, three miles from Kingsclere and 8½ miles from the commuter hub of Basingstoke. The excellent choice of schools to be found in the area, allied to swift access to London by road and rail, were key factors in the Hall family’s decision to buy the estate, despite the fact that the house was ‘an absolute wreck, where everything was

falling apart, having been left untouched for 50 or 60 years,’ Mrs Hall reveals. Years of experience made her take a long, hard look at the main house before embarking on a number of important alterations to the layout and design. These included relocating the front entrance, rewiring, re-plumbing and re-roofing of the entire building, remodelling the accommodation, and extensions to the ground and first floors.

From then on, everything about the house was a voyage of discovery She avoided the classic nightmare of living with builders by initially converting the coach house, where the family lived as work continued unimpeded in the main house. Experts who helped to move things along at various stages of the project included Tony Salmon of Cirencester-based architects Yiangou and garden designers Jameson Stamp.

The result is a beautifully designed, freeflowing country house of rare quality, with 10,900sq ft of accommodation on three floors, including reception and piano halls, three main reception rooms, an orangery, two studies, a kitchen/breakfast room and various domestic offices on the ground floor; a spacious master-bedroom suite and four further en-suite bedrooms on the first floor; plus a bedroom/sitting room, a bedroom and a shower room on the second floor. Other amenities include a pair of semi-detached cottages, party barn, swimming pool, tennis court, petanque pitch and a range of traditional outbuildings with development potential. Down in the garden of England, proximity to the City, good schools and fast train services have made Kent a key contender in the current ‘race for space’. Robert Jacobs of Savills in Tunbridge Wells (01892 507000) quotes a guide price of £10m for secluded Grade II-listed Ashurst Manor, set in 96 acres of gardens and parkland near the pretty village of Fordcombe, in the High Weald AONB, four miles from ‘the Wells’, and seven miles from Tonbridge. Described by Pevsner as ‘quite a handsome composition’, the imposing, 10,176sq ft 97

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Property market

Chart Place was once described by Vita Sackville-West as having ‘truly the most superb view’ over the Weald in Kent. £2.95m

stuccoed country house, which dates from the early 1800s, has been, since 2006, the cherished family home of the current owner, who now wishes to downsize. Originally built for William Fowler Jones, a Sussex JP, Ashurst Park was owned by the FieldMarsham family from the 1920s to the 1950s, and by Lord Cornwallis, Lord Lieutenant of Kent, from 1970 until his death in 1982. Although Ashurst Manor is a large house, its current layout and use of space works well for family occupation, with three reception rooms, a games room, kitchen/breakfast room, media room, gym and various utilities on the ground floor; four main bedrooms and four bathrooms on the first floor; and two further bedrooms, a bathroom and a living room on the top floor. Staff accommodation is provided in a three-bedroom duplex on the first and second floors. Terraces to the rear of the house lead to a three-bay pavilion, garage block and outbuildings. Extensive gardens and grounds, designed mainly as parkland for ease of maintenance, conceal a sophisticated irrigation system covering the front and rear lawns, and a large lake supports an abundance of wildlife. Still in Kent, Strutt & Parker in Sevenoaks (01732 459900) and Savills in Cranbrook

(01580 720161) are joint agents in the sale, at a guide price of £2.95m, of charming Grade II-listed Chart Place, with five acres of gardens and paddock at Chart Sutton, four miles from Maidstone. Upon seeing the house advertised in COUNTRY L IFE in the 1950s, Vita Sackville-West wrote to her friend Alvilda Lees-Milne: ‘As you will see… it is neither romantic nor picturesque nor earwiggy; the rooms are neither dark nor poky… It faces south and the view is incomparable… You look over uninterrupted miles of the Weald… truly the most superb view. The drawing room is a lovely room. It was flooded with sun when I was there today.’ It was probably the same room and the same view that captivated Shirley Day and her late husband when they went to view Chart Place in 1982, fell in love with it and bought it that year, although the house hadn’t been refurbished since 1927. Mrs Day knows that for a fact, because, when they started to remove the tattered wallpaper from the stairs, they found the name of the previous decorator and the date: 1927. From then on, everything about the house was a voyage of discovery, from the curtains lined with army blankets left by wartime evacuees to the kitchen garden buried

beneath undergrowth and weeds; from the Roman soldier’s cloak pin found in the woods by a boy with a metal detector to a rusty iron pillar—all that remained of the veranda that was taken away as part of the war effort. Mrs Day recalls how these elements, and many others, helped the couple to re-create the house as it was in its heyday. According to its Historic England listing, Chart Place was built in 1708 around a 16thcentury or earlier core by Sir Christopher Desbouverie, a Huguenot refugee who made his fortune in London, and re-faced in the early and mid 19th century. The main house offers more than 9,200sq ft of light and airy living space on three floors, including four reception rooms, a study, kitchen/breakfast room, six bedrooms and four bathrooms, plus an attic guest suite in the former servants’ quarters. To the north of the house, an attached cottage provides further accommodation, in addition to which a coach house provides storage and stabling with a flat above. Nearby, the rejuvenated plantsman’s gardens include a wooded dell, a splendid walled garden and a folly—reminders of the gardens that enchanted Sackville-West more than 70 years ago.

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She’ll need her own place.

She’ll need a new school. She’ll need her own room.

Hamptons.co.uk/experts

Properties of the week

Annunciata Elwes

You can leave your hat on... A glorious thatch topping makes a house all the prettier Buckinghamshire, £2.75 million Stylishly redesigned with pale colours and painted shutters, the modern interior of five-bedroom Chestnut Cottage (with two en-suite bedrooms) blends harmoniously with its exposed oak beams, vaulted ceilings and roomy hearths. One of the properties on Bluey’s Farm, within the Chiltern Hills AONB and about three miles from Marlow, the house is at the centre of three acres that include banked lawns, a sizeable terrace, one-bedroom guesthouse and paddock. Hamptons (01628 260324) Northamptonshire, £550,000 An adorable and well-kept little Grade IIlisted cottage set on about one-third of an acre in the village of Grafton Regis, six miles from Towcester, The Cabin has plenty of character, with exposed beams and purlins standing out from crisp, white paint and two bedrooms with A-frame roofs. The inglenook fireplace with woodburning stove and bread oven should come into its own as the nights draw in and the garden’s fruit trees include a black mulberry. There is potential to extend, too, as planning and listedbuilding consent for a single-storey addition was granted in 2006 (now lapsed). Michael Graham (01327 350022) 100

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Properties of the week Somerset, £610,000 Agents describe the mini thatched roof over the porch at Zinch Cottage as a ‘bonnet’, which we rather like. Dating back to the early 16th century, it’s one of the oldest cottages in the actively friendly village of Stogumber, which is not a word invented by Roald Dahl, but a charming place on the eastern edge of Exmoor with glorious views to the church and the Quantock Hills. It has three bedrooms, a south-facing garden with roses and mature apple trees, clay-tiled flooring, plenty of cosy firesides, a timberframe double carport and converted piggery. Taunton is about half an hour’s drive. Humberts (01823 288484)

Local heroes The old-fashioned hunt servant Illustration by Emma van Zeller

9000

Nimrod (named after the legendary Ledbury huntsman, not the Enigma Variation) is one of life’s natural diplomats. His joint-masters are, variously, a buffoon, a knowledgeable lady master and her nephew Charles, who is the amateur huntsman—Nimrod’s main job is not to show him up. This is tricky when you’re not only slimmer, with shinier buttons and boots, possess a natural seat on a horse and the ability to blow a horn like John Peel, but, crucially, are with hounds 24/7; they adore you, the pack turning behind you in one fluid movement, as if covered by the proverbial pocket handkerchief. Nimrod is, however, a model of politeness and kindly encouragement because hunting’s survival depends on the next generation. He dreads retirement— he’s never taken a holiday unless you count puppy-show judging— but the lady master has promised him a cottage and he’ll visit neighbouring packs lest the sight of his hounds makes him weep. KG

Essex, £1.15 million An abundance of exposed timber, a glass balustrade and an enormous brick chimney are noticeable features at Rose Cottage, which has been beautifully refurbished by the current owners and has four bedrooms, three bathrooms and four reception rooms. Overlooking the village green at Widdington, this charming property once contained a bakery and a mangle room and was the inspiration for the Lilliput Lane Cottage known as The Rocking Chair. Audley End, from where trains run to Liverpool Street in under an hour, is about five miles away, as is the market town of Saffron Walden. Cheffins (01223 214214)

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