WMN on Sunday - Best of the West Luxury Property 22 Feb 2015

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Benjamin Franklin

Property Best of the West Luxury

westernmorningnews.co.uk

Cornish Gem

Digging deep lays claim to best West views See back page

The one I’d buy

Best of the week’s homes for sale Pages 2-3

Saddle up! Take

Our house

the reins at equestrian estates

It’s more than just a home

Pages 4-5

Pages 6-7

WMN-E01-S4

A house is not a home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as the body

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Agents: Lillicrap Chilcott, Truro, 01872 273473 www.lillicrapchilcott.com

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Agents: Abode Property Agents, Hayle 01736 756681, www.abodepropertyagents.co.uk

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avethan is a wonderful small Cornish estate in Blisland.

It’s centred around an ancient Manor House with three stone holiday cottages (Tom, Dick and Harry), a heated outdoor pool, and 35 acres including a river and leat, parkland, pasture and woodland. Blisland has an ancient Norman church of great atmosphere and is on the threshold of Bodmin Moor, yet minutes from the A30.

The house’s origins are believed to be 15th century or earlier, with remodelling in subsequent centuries. We’re guessing the Victorians or Edwardians were probably responsible for the fanciful arch.

Still, we love it.

Agents: Savills, Truro 01872 395 943,www.savills.com

Agents: Webbers, Minehead 01643 706917, www.webbers.co.uk ●

The estimated income figures above are net of VAT and agency fees, but not running costs. For

more advice on buying holiday let property, call 01647 434071 or visit www.helpfulholidays.co.uk

Imagine you’re four years old. How much fun could you have in this

hall, roaring up and down the hardwood floors on a trike, or playing tag with your sister?

This is one of the contemporary additions to The Old Rectory in St Ervan near Padstow. In recent years the property has undergone a top-to-toe renovation by people who either are designers or who hired a really good one. The main building is a Grade II listed Victorian home with seven bedrooms and eight bathrooms, set in about three acres of stunning gardens in a hamlet near the North Cornwall coast. Wait till you see the snazzy eclectic interior – lots of the colour scheme is purple and green. Look it up, seriously.

Agents: Lillicrap Chilcott, Truro 01872 273 473, www.lillicrapchilcott.com OK, so The Sunny Cliff in Salcombe is actually a hotel, and every one of its bedrooms has been lovingly decorated. The hotel enjoys stunning

panoramic views from all its rooms, balconies, and decked sun terrace.

It’s set in tiered gardens framed by a specimen macracarpa tree.

There’s an outdoor heated swimming pool, five private moorings, off-road parking and a garage.

Agents: Marchand Petit, Salcombe 01548 389 961, www.marchandpetit.co.uk Four-bedroom Mew Stone East is also in Salcombe, and has unbelievable views up the estuary.

What caught our eye though was the contemporary new build’s nocturnal silhouette. Look at the way that triangular sail-shaped roof line focuses the surrounding decks and foliage, and how the theme of three is picked up in the lighting scheme. Now wouldn’t that be nice to come home to?

Agents: Knight Frank, Exeter 01392 423 111, www.knightfrank.com

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Agents: Bradleys, Budleigh Salterton 01395 442201, www.bradleys-estate-agents.co.uk

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o hour of life is wasted that is spent in the saddle, averred Winston Churchill, and horse lovers would wholeheartedly agree.

The Westcountry boasts some lovely riding country, from the rugged moors to the beautiful coasts. If horses are your passion, there are also some wonderful homes for sale, which will accommodate both you and your four-legged friends in style.

For this feature, we’ve concentrated on some of the more comprehensive properties: with indoor and outdoor schools and plenty of stabling. Read and dream about your expanding equestrian empire.

If it’s just a simple paddock and a field shelter that you want, though, there are certainly many beautiful homes in Devon and Cornwall that can accommodate. Our advice is to start with where you’d like to ride, and contact a local estate agent – they’d be happy to help.

Meanwhile, how about these:

\PM OZIVOM MY]M[\ZQIV KMV\ZM4 WSMPIUX\WV James Baker from Strutt and Parker describes this property as the “creme de la creme” of equestrian properties in the South West. Certainly you’d be doing it in very big style – amateurs need not apply.

This established competition centre is set up for numbers. It has a 60mx25m indoor arena with seating for 500, with an adjoining covered 35mx35m warm-up area.

There’s a restaurant and bar area, tack shop, and lecture room.

Horses can enjoy a choice of 50 stables, a covered horse walker, pastures and fields, and a cross country course with two “Hick-

matic views over Dartmoor and Exmoor. A good sized timber building hosts a two-bay barn with six stables, one of which is currently used as a feed room.

To the northwest of the house is a stone barn with stone and stable – there’s also a traditional cart shed, if you’re into driving. The property has 13.5 acres of land with fields, hedgerows and mature trees.

Price: £995,000 Agents: Jackson-Stops & Staff, Exeter 01392 214 222, www.jackson-stops.co.uk; and Savills, Exeter 01392 455 755, www.savills.com

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stead banks” and a clubhouse.

The house has six bedrooms, four bathrooms, and four reception rooms, with an office and conservatory.

The whole thing is close to 100 acres but can be broken into two lots. £1.9 million for both lots.

Agents: Strutt & Parker, Exeter 01392 215631, www.struttandparker.com

[W]\P KZMIJMZ NIZU4 OQLTMQOP VMIZ KPIONWZL As far as riding goes, it doesn’t get much better than beautiful Dartmoor. This area is also home to a wide and passionate community of horse riders, so you’d be in good company.

The house at South Creaber is a listed farmhouse of traditional Dartmoor construction, made of

granite and part rendered under a slate roof. Inside are well-proportioned rooms with character features such as granite floors and a wonderful fireplace in the dining room. It has six bedrooms with the master en-suite.

The gardens include lawns and a kitchen garden, and have colourful borders, an ornamental pond and terraced seating areas with dra-

[\ TMWVIZL[4 XWT[WV4 VMIZ TI]VKM[\WV St Leonards Equitation Centre was established by the current owners 37 years ago, and has since provided tuition all ages from beginners to Olympic medallists.

It’s a well-respected centre that hosts British Dressage events annually and has an international sized dressage arena, a second sand arena and turnout, jumping and grazing paddocks. The stable yard has 26 boxes, tack room and feed stores.

The attractive stone house has three to four bedrooms. In addition, there are four stone cottages currently used as holiday lets or for riding residential courses. There’s also a heated above-ground swimming pool, sauna and jacuzzi. Help with the bills comes from a block of south-facing solar panels, which currently provide free electricity for the whole complex.

Price: £1.5 million.

Agents: Kivells, Launceston 01566 776 886, www.kivells.com

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his is the nicest house we have lived in, says Jan McCarthy.

“It’s a beautiful property in a great location, it’s flexible and it has everything you want.

“It’s secluded but not isolated, and it sits in its own land. The community is welcoming and active. There’s great dog walking, with so many beauty spots nearby. We’ve really enjoyed being here.”

Jan and her husband Chris, both in their early sixties, have lived in Marwell House in Ringmore near Kingsbridge for seven years. Moving there from Surrey was returning to Jan’s roots – she had grown up near Plymouth, where her father worked.

They chose Marwell because it ticked all the boxes – location, appearance, and history, without the potential inconvenience of being listed. Marwell House was built around 1840 as a smart farmhouse. It is set in three acres including gardens, two paddocks, stabling and an area of woodland with delightful views over the countryside towards the sea.

You approach it up a gravelled driveway with double stone pillars and a timber barred gate. The drive leads to the house, and is bounded by stone walls with beautifully planted shrub and flower borders.

The entrance porch and inner lobby set the scene, with picture windows looking to the garden, and a beautiful arched window which looks through to the kitchen/breakfast room.

This room, lovingly re-decorated by Jan and Chris, is a real heart of the home. It has an oil-fired Aga with tile

surround, and Farrow and Ball-painted floor and wall units.

There’s a twin Belfast sink set in a granite surface, a Smeg two-ring hob, and space for a dishwasher and American fridge/freezer.

The sitting room is well proportioned; there are windows on two sides with lovely views. A wood burning stove is on a slate hearth, and the display alcove next to the chimney breast makes a charming feature.

The conservatory is bright and warm, with stunning views and French windows to the garden – a perfect sun trap.

Currently used as a music room, the dining room has lovely views and gracious high ceilings.

There’s a study and garden room with a pleasant open outlook, vaulted ceiling and glazed French door – a lovely place to work or enjoy a hobby.

The rear lobby with stone tiled floor-

ing has a walk-in larder with a slate slab and a wine store.

On the first floor are three of the lovely bedrooms, all en-suite. The master bedroom is beautifully light with views to the sea, as well as built-in wardrobes and shelves, and a ceiling fan. The en-suite is an excellent wet room with walk-in double shower. All the bedrooms enjoy lovely views, and the family bathroom is beautifully finished, with feature

lighting and a fully tiled rainfall shower.

On the second floor are two more bedrooms and an L-shaped, open plan room with partly exposed roof trusses. This could be reinstated as an upstairs kitchen, and would make a great getaway spot for teens.

“We’ve redecorated the house top to bottom, as well as replacing the bathroom fittings and redoing the kitchen,” says Jan. “Everyone who has lived here has put their mark on it.”

There’s one last amazing feature – a full height, full width cellar.

“You could do so much – you could put in a swimming pool, or a games room, or whatever you wanted,” says Jan. “It’s a great space.”

Outside, she and Chris have put a lot of work into the gardens and grounds – clearing brambles, re-setting paths, building up borders and introducing grow-your-own.

“We’ve put in a soft fruit cage and planted cooking and eating apples, damsons, and other fruit trees,” says Jan. There are raised vegetable beds and a greenhouse with power and lighting – a gardener’s dream.

The property is also set up for horses. There is a timber stable block with four loose boxes plus tack and feed rooms, with electricity, lighting and outside taps. There are also two fenced and interconnected paddocks, with a field gate to the road. Jan and Chris did not keep horses, but instead leased the grazing to a local farmer.

Now this gracious Victorian house with modern touches is ready for a new chapter in its history.

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his property is a real gem – and well it should be, since it was built for Captain Francis Oats, the turn-of-the-century chairman of jewellery giant De Beers.

Porthledden is a magnificent country estate in Cape Cornwall, St Just.

Its cliff-top position is breathtaking, with some of the most spectacular coastal views in the south west.

To one side of the Cape lies Priest’s Cove, a traditional fishing spot with colourful lobster boats, a slipway, and a manmade salt water swimming pool. On the other side is scenic Porthledden Bay. Francis Oats (1848-1918) was a Cornish mining captain who shot to success in South Africa, where he became a close ally of Cecil Rhodes.

Though he had a significant stake in South African gold and diamond mines, he also held shares in Levant, Cape Cornwall and Kenidjack mines in West Cornwall, where he later built his prestige home.

Though he clearly wasn’t afraid of

making good use of his copious wealth, Francis also championed the welfare of the Cornish miners who followed him in droves to South Africa. He ensured De Beers paid for a home visit for each ex-pat miner every year, and pushed through the introduction of water hydrants to suppress the silicon dust produced by the heavy mining drills.

Porthledden was completed in 1909, but he later died in 1918. In the 1920s and 30s the house became a hotel, with a pioneering landing strip. It has also been a gentleman’s club, an evacuee school for girls during the Second World War, and a wedding venue. In 2003 the house got a Grade II listing, and was purchased by new owners keen to embark on a decade-long restoration project.

The 21-bedroom mansion was stripped back to its granite shell, with all 200 windows, lintels and internal surfaces removed.

It was then put back together by local Cornish and south west craftsmen, but with a few modifications

which left the house with 13 larger bedrooms, most with en-suite bathrooms, and other larger rooms such as the spacious kitchen/dining area.

Under the direction of the architectural team who look after the Duchy properties in West Cornwall, the restoration was approached as a marine project, to combat the effects

of the salt-laden coastal air. The only new metals used in the reconstruction were non-ferrous, such as bronze and marine grade stainless steel.

All of the new granite used for flooring, walls and terraces is from the same source as the original stone, De Lank quarry on Bodmin Moor.

The property has also been

thoughtfully redecorated, retaining the original sense of grandeur, and yet bringing it into the 21st Century.

It now has 10 bedrooms, seven bathrooms, and three reception rooms off a 24ft x 24ft reception hall. There is also a conservatory and 38ft family kitchen.

Help with the bills comes from geo-thermal heat pumps, and there are walled gardens perfect for growing your own produce.

We’re on an equestrian theme this week and we’re sure you’ll agree that it’s hard to beat these fields with a view: horses can enjoy three paddocks, a school, and stable block at Porthledden.

Riding along the magnificent coastal path with the wind in your hair, you’ll feel yourself in the company of the daring Cornishman who conquered the South African mines to build his fortune.

Price: £3 million Agents:Savills: contact Jonathan Cunliffe on 01872 243 200, jcunliffe@savills.com