Moor Hall
Suffolk, £1.675m
Fenn Wright
Capability Brown’s mother used to live in Moor Hall and rumour has it that the landscape architect may have had a part in landscaping its five acres of gardens. This dreamy 17th-century home on the Suffolk-Essex border has flagstone and brick floors, inglenook and Georgian-style fireplaces and high ceilings throughout. There are even beams in the ceiling and walls in (almost) every room. While much of the 400-year-old house is full of original details, nobody could say it is stuck in the last century. You’d just have to take a dip in the heated indoor swimming pool and jacuzzi to see what we mean. Followed by the sauna. That’ll do us nicely.
Old Surrey Hall
West Sussex, £1.695m
Hamptons
Formerly a maternity hospital during World War II, this charming and distinctive period home dates back to the 16th-century. It’s all rather breath-taking. There are exposed beams, an open brick fireplace and a breakfast room balcony overlooking the idyllic three-acre grounds. The vegetable garden and two stables add to the charm. Upstairs there are six bedrooms with the master being particularly special. It is reached through timbered walls and is within the original oast house. Oh, and did we mention it’s near to Ashdown Forest, home to A.A Milne’s Winnie the Pooh. Dreamy, huh?
Carreg Llwyd Place
Rhayader, £260,000
James Dean
It’s unusual to stumble upon a spacious and imposing property with such a low price tag. This former Victorian Workhouse, just outside the market town of Rhayader, offers vast living accommodation over 250 square metres. It has six bedrooms, all with en-suites. The reception room has exposed stonework and there is even enough space for a full-size snooker table. With a little imaginative redecoration, this could make an ideal family home or a country retreat. Imagine the post-lockdown house parties in this whopper.
Morley Manor
West Sussex, £6.95m
Strutt And Parker
Who wouldn’t want Morley Manor, a sprawling Grade II listed house of medieval origins with pristine gardens to die for? Imagine lazy days, locked down – or not – in this West Sussex gem that looks over the South Downs. It dates from the 17th-century or earlier and has been restored, enlarged and partly rebuilt over the years. The house itself is sumptuously refurbished but it is the equestrian facilities that are the most extraordinary. No surprise seeing as Morley is the home of former Olympian and international dressage rider Vickie Winfield-Thompson. The stable courtyard has 11 stables, a heated rug room, a horse wash-down bay and a heated tack room. Tally ho.
Torgyle Chapel
Inverness, £40,000
Bellingram
Will you work from home once Covid is a distant memory? If 2020 taught us anything, it’s that many office workers can do their jobs away from the rat race. If you crave a break from the hurly-burly of city life, feast your eyes upon this beautiful stone-built derelict former chapel near Inverness in Scotland. Surrounded by mixed scots pine and birch woodland, the stone building is in a good-sized plot away from the public road. Can you see the potential? This pretty property will set you back less than the price of a cramped flat in London.
By Annabel Jack
December 2020
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