The village of Winterborne Stickland is sited in a chalkland valley on the edge of the Blackmore Vale, sandwiched between Blandford Forum and Milton Abbas, where the views are invariably glorious and far-reaching. It is a fitting setting for the equally pretty Grade II-listed thatched Mill House, which itself is set in more than three-quarters of an acre, some of it sweeping lawns. It's for sale at £835,000.

Buying Mill House will be like purchasing a slice of history, because there was a mill listed at Stickland in the Domesday survey, probably on the same site as this 2,300sq ft period house.

A little more recently, in the 1500s, the core of this cottage was built and the agent comments: ‘As you might imagine with a house that is more than 400 years old, there have been alterations and additions and you can read the history by looking at the mix of stone, tile and timber floors, huge beams, oak panelling and wonderful fireplaces.’

Mill House is laid out on a sort of sideways-T flooplan, with a huge drawing room — an unusual find in such a quaint cottage — plus sitting room, dining room, kitchen-diner and boot room on the ground floor.

The first floor has all four bedrooms, which share a single family bathroom — though there's a further shower room downstairs.

Outside, there's also a barn and potting shed — also thatched, naturally — bringing the total floorspace to over 2,750sq ft.

The gardens of three-quarters of an acre are a joy, and while the kitchen garden looks like it might need some extra care, the lawns, mature trees and the little stream all create a perfect bucolic feel.

The whole place is in astonishing condition for such an old house. It was extensively restored in the 1990s, with some maintenance continued by the current owners, who are moving on after 15 years. They are surely sad to go.

Mill House is for sale at £835,000 via Jackson-Stops — see more details.

I’d never heard of Ford before this week. I mean, I’d heard of Ford, the car company, of course. And I once caught a train from Ford station, in West Sussex. But I’d never heard of the Gloucestershire hamlet of Ford. And now I can’t think about much else.

The reason for me coming across this charming spot — full of beautiful cottages built from golden Cotswolds stone, with an award-winning pub and a proper red telephone box — is that one of the best houses in the village has come on to the market. It’s called Ford Manor — and it’s enchanting. It’s the sort of place they’d put on the cover of Lonely Planet: The Cotswolds, should that book ever come to exist. Savills are the agents, and they list it for sale at £2 million.

It’s name suggests that this home has been the local manor house for centuries, but that’s not actually the case. Dating to the 18^th century, it was originally three separate cottages, but in the 1930s they were combined in to one to make a single, larger home that is now Grade II-listed.

Far from being an issue, the conversion from three homes into one actually seems to have helped the flow. Take the gorgeous, vaulted kitchen-diner as an example: it's effectively a separate building that’s flooded with light from Velux windows, and linked to the rest of the house via a passageway. French doors open directly onto a south-facing terrace. It’s bliss.

In the main part of the house, you’re in a classic Cotswolds cottage. Built in local stone under a traditional pitched roof, there are period features throughout: flagstone floors, ancient beams, mullioned windows with leaded panes, and original fireplaces in the living room, dining room and study.

There are three bedrooms and a family bathroom on the first floor, and another bathroom and bedroom on the second floor. The master bedroom has an en-suite bathroom, and also a feature I don't ever recall seeing in a Cotswolds cottage before: it's own separate staircase leading up to a second-floor dressing room.

The gardens — as the pictures here show — aren’t huge (two-thirds of an acre) but they just as idyllic as the rest of the place: terraces, lawns, and flower beds, ringed by mature trees to give you plenty of privacy.

And there’s another bonus within the grounds: an entirely separate garden room that’s set up as a self-contained annexe, with its own kitchen and shower room. It’s perfect for guests, multi-generational living, or use as a very fine home office.

In short, there’s a lot of property here — almost 4,000sq ft, once you take into account that garden annexe and a couple of storage areas in an outbuilding that the owners have dubbed ‘The Pavilion’.

But it’s not the space, the suite with upstairs dressing room or the garden bolt-hole that’s the big draw here: it’s the prospect of living in a home with an ‘atmosphere of understated character and gentle refinement’, as the agents put it. What a joy.

Ford Manor is for sale via Savills at £2 million — see more pictures and details.

The search for the perfect country cottage is the property market's answer to the quest for the Holy Grail. Should it be thatched or tiled? Is it okay to be spacious so long as it's charming, or does it need to be a dinky little two or three-bedroom place? And how about the garden; a picture of perfection, or slightly overgrown?

There's no one size fits all, but perhaps the closest is the cottage featured in the 2006 film The Holiday, a movie almost universally panned by serious critics, and seemingly beloved by pretty much everyone else. The film's plot is as flimsy as the celluloid it was filmed on — Cameron Diaz goes to stay in Kate Winslet's cottage, and falls in love with Jude Law — but the true star of the show is the cottage itself, which is the very picture of country charm.

The only problem is that the cottage doesn't exist, and never did. Like the cardboard cut-out towns of Golden Era cowboy films, it was purely a façade built in a field in the village of Shere, not far from Guildford, and the whole thing was torn down after filming finished. And as they dismantled it, the closest we'll ever get to a perfect cottage went with it.

Or so we thought, because Chantry Cottage, in a Cotswolds village half-way between Cheltenham and Cirencester looks, if anything, even more perfect.

And so you'd hope, with an asking price of £1.7 million for a three-bedroom home set in a third of an acre of land.

For context, a few miles away, for the same sort of price, you could buy this four-bedroom house which comes with a separate three-bedroom cottage, and a swimming pool, plus three acres, a barn and several more outbuildings. Or this 11-bedroom home in two acres of land, and almost 6,000sq ft — which is three and a half times more space than you'd get at Chantry Cottage.

And while Chantry Cottage does have three bedrooms, one is very tiny indeed (around 9ft 3in by 7ft 1in). On a price-per-square foot basis, and excluding shells with planning permission such as this beach hut, it's the most expensive cottage we could find on the market in Britain today.

So what's the story here?

Quite simply, Chantry Cottage isn't so much being sold as a home, as a destination. So perfect is it that it's been a hugely popular (and profitable) holiday home that's been let out via the Unique Homestays website, where it was marketed as 'Under The Yew Tree'. With similarly-sized cottages in the area being rented out for £2,000-a-week and more, the potential income is huge; £70,000-£75,000 a year, according to Unique Homestays. With mortgage rates now dipping below 4% for the first time in years, all the sums begin to add up.

Crunching numbers is so unromantic though, unlike this 14th century home itself, which lies in a setting that looks like it's been torn straight from the pages of Cider With Rosie. Chantry Cottage is ringed by a dry stone wall, partially covered by hopelessly romantic creepers, and surrounded by secluded gardens.

Inside, it has been decorated very simply but stylishly, kitted out with classic mid-to-late 20th century furniture that gives it a dose of retro chic. There's a bathroom with a sink carved from a single piece of stone, next to a free-standing bathtub and a glass-box shower cubicle. And outside, the simple garden furniture beneath the centuries-old trees looks like a set from an EM Forster TV adaptation.

It's beautiful and charming, and looks every inch the sort of escape from the world where Cameron Diaz could indeed fall in love with Jude Law. And that's just as well, since you'd most likely have to be a Hollywood A-lister to be able to justify spending £1.7 million on a house that's cute as a button.

Chantry Cottage is for sale at £1.7 million via Savills — see more details.

'It’s the heart of the kitchen. I love the warmth and the wonderful welcome. If I had to live without one, I’d loathe it.' Not our words, but those of Mary Berry — sorry, Dame Mary Berry — who is a devotee of the Aga, the quintessential ingredient that every English country kitchen needs.

Yes, yes, other stoves are available. Everhot make wonderful ones, and The Boss swears by his. (N.B. By 'The Boss' we're referring to Country Life's editor-in-chief Mark Hedges, rather than Bruce Springsteen, but we're pretty sure New Jersey's rock laureate would probably also like them if he gave them a try.) On top of that their original purpose as a source of heat for an entire abode has been lost in the days of central heating and radiators.

(Quite why the invention of a Swedish lighthouse architect came to be so associated with countryside homes on these shores is a whole other matter — one which Martin Fone explained a couple of years ago.)

Yet despite all those caveats, there's still something absolutely irresistible about seeing a proper old Aga in the kitchen of a farmhouse with ancient beams and stone floors — and the Aga at Perry Mill Farm, in the Worcestershire village of Peopleton, is as irresistible as it gets. The Aga is for sale at £795,000, and for that they'll even throw in the rest of the property at no extra charge.

Joking aside, the rest of Perry Mill Farm is just as beautiful as its kitchen. This Grade II-listed Tudor farmhouse — which once doubled as the village Post Office in Peopleton, near Pershore — is a beautifully restored, four-bedroom house at a price which would barely stretch to a suburban semi if you lived up the M5 in Birmingham.

Period features are everywhere in this house, including in the dining room, which has exposed timbers and a large inglenook fireplace that will definitely keep those chills at bay on frosty winter evenings.

It's spacious too, with a 19ft triple-aspect sitting room that's big enough to swallow a grand piano.

And for all its period charm, this is a place that is set up for the 21st century living. The gardens are landscaped a gravelled driveway provides plenty of space for car parking, there's super-fast broadband, good road and rail links nearby, excellent schools, and even a decent pub a short stroll away.

Perry Mill Farm is for sale via Morgan Aps and Finest Properties — see more details.

Some cottages are pretty. Some are quaint. But every so often you come across one which brings a tear to the eye, and that's what we have today in the shape of Manor House at Old Manor Gardens, in Devon. This traditional thatched cottage, with roof hewn from Devon reed, is a wonderful example of the picture-perfect thatched cottage. It's on the market with Knight Frank, with an asking price of £875,000.

That sum buys you a home tucked neatly away in its own mature walled garden in the village of Colyford — venue of the famous Goose Fayre — and only a seven-minute drive from the shingle/sand Seaton Beach, on the south coast of Devon.

Cottages like these are often pretty but a little too small for family life, but not in this case. It's a four-bedroom, stone-built Grade II-listed cottage with almost 3,500sq ft of living space.

Downstairs is a sitting room — one of three reception rooms — with a large inglenook fireplace and woodburner, the perfect spot for cosy winter nights in.

There's also a study — currently used as a gym — and a large hallway as well as a huge kitchen/dining room that's almost 27ft long, perfect for family gatherings or weekends with friends. There is also a separate utility room and a boot room.

Upstairs, there are three double bedrooms on the first floor, and another on the second floor. Two are en-suite, the other two share a family bathroom. All have lovely views over the walled gardens.

As you've probably guessed from the name — once formed part of a much larger manor house that was eventually divided; the cottage is actually semi-detached, though the layout and secluded gardens mean that isn't too much of a compromise here.

Manor House, Old Manor Gardens is for sale at £875,000 via Knight Frank — see more details.

Cumbria — £5,500,000

There are plenty of rare properties for sale on this website, but perhaps none rare than this Grade I-listed freehold Norman castle in Cumbria.

Where to start. How about 23 bedrooms, 19 bathrooms, a gym, hot tub, tennis court, three cottages and a historical lineage of owners that includes Richard II and Lady Anne Clifford. Once in a lifetime.

For sale with Knight Frank. See more pictures and details for this property.

Essex — £5,900,000

Lake View near Epping is one of five contemporary homes nestled in the private Gaynes Park Estate. And this home is a modern delight, dressed in glass, with superb views over the surrounding countryside.

With five bedrooms, 1.2 acres of gardens and more than 10,000sq ft of living space, there is plenty of space to entertain and enjoy oneself in this contemporary beauty.

For sale with Savills. See more pictures and details for this property.

Buckinghamshire — £9,500,000

This beautiful Georgian residence, originally built in 1771, is set in the charming village of Hedgerley, some 25 miles from London.

Spanning almost four acres of gardens and grounds, it's a galaxy of amenities and luxury, with seven bedrooms, eight reception rooms, swimming pool, bespoke wine cellar and tennis court.

For sale with The Agency Group. See more pictures and details for this property.

Hampshire — £2,000,000

A Grade II-liste tithe barn and farmhouse should be music to anyone's ears, especially one as well presented as Butlers Farm in St Mary Bourne.

We love the red details, the thatch, and the fact that it has four bedrooms and 11 acres in the glorious Bourne Valley

For sale with Strutt & Parker. See more pictures and details for this property.

Buckinghamshire — £1,250,000

Good things come in small(er) pacakages, such as this glorious farmhouse of five bedrooms in Thornbourough.

While the interiors might need a little TLC, the gardens are quite simply extraordinary.

For sale with Michael Graham. See more pictures and details for this property.

What do you do once you’re a billionaire?

If you were to judge by column inches, the most common answer seems to be flying to space, stir up culture wars, meddle in politics or buying once-great sporting institutions. Newspaper headlines always deal with the outliers, though: most billionaires are quite happily snapping up Scottish castles, staying in the world’s best hotels (without worrying about the £3,000-a-night room rates), and struggling to use their means to make the world a better place. Many are still doing what made them wealthy and successful in the first place, even at an age when their contemporaries have long-since retired, since for them it’s about the joy of playing the game, not the scoreline.

But as L. P. Hartley wrote, ‘the past is a foreign country; they do things differently there,’ which brings us to one of the most famed billionaires of the 20^th century: the oil magnate Jean Paul Getty, a US-born tycoon who spent the last 30 years of his life in England, on an estate where a cottage he owned is up for sale at £1.95 million.

Born in 1892, Getty’s wealth — which peaked at around £20 billion, in today’s terms — is no rags-to-riches tale. The son of a lawyer who hit oil with a speculative land purchase, he grew up as a millionaire, educated at Berkeley and Oxford, travelled around pre-First World War Europe in Grand Tour style, and became friends with the future King Edward VIII. On returning to the US, his father helped him get his own start in the oil bus, and he grew an empire of over 200 companies. By the 1950s, he was generally considered to be the world’s richest man, as well as a polymath and connoisseur who spoke half a dozen languages, and could read both Latin and Ancient Greek.

It's fair to say that J. Paul Getty 'leaned in' to his wealth fame, as we’d put it today. He wrote newspaper articles and books with titles such as How to be Rich and It's Tough to Be Billionaire. Much of the advice in those works was pretty much the opposite of the Bill Gates path of using his wealth to take on the problems of the world: ‘If I were convinced that by giving away my fortune I could make a real contribution toward solving the problems of world poverty, I'd give away 99.5 percent of all I have immediately,’ Getty wrote in a 1965 in a Saturday Evening Post article entitled The World Is Mean to Millionaires, (as cited in his fascinating New York Times obituary), ‘but a hard‐eyed appraisal of the situation convinces me this is not the case.’

His belief that donating money creates an unhealthy dependency, ultimately doing more harm than good, is up for debate. What isn't in doubt, though, is that Getty was ferociously stingy even when not dealing with the problems of the global population.

Notoriously, he refused to pay the kidnappers who’d taken his grandson hostage in 1973. After being sent John Paul Getty III’s ear, he eventually contributed $2.2 million towards the $3m ransom, forcing his son John Paul Getty II to borrow money to cover the rest. Why $2.2 million? It was the maximum amount that would be tax deductible.

Even putting that aside, stories of his every day parsimony are the stuff of legend. He haggled on everything and abhorred anything he saw as waste, to the point that when answering letters he’d often scribble a response in the margin of the original missive, to save using a new sheet of paper. He even installed a pay phone in his own home, as he believed house guests were taking advantage of him by making calls while staying there.

The home in question was Sutton Place, a magnificent Tudor mansion set on a small estate on the outskirts of Guildford that Getty bought from the Duke of Sutherland (he apparently paid £60,000 for it in 1959, half what the Duke is said to have paid a four decades earlier). Though he also had homes around the world (notably Italy, California and New York) it was Sutton Place that was his home, and he filled it with things he loved — primarily paintings and women. He was married five times, and had dozens of mistresses right up until his death in his 80s. (‘It is hard to decide which Getty enjoyed more, penny-pinching or bottom-pinching,’ wrote Bevis Hillier in a piece in the Los Angeles Times).

Many of Getty’s female companions were short-lived affairs, but some ended up being housed in one of the cottages in the grounds of Sutton Place — and one of the most beautiful of those cottages is up for sale at the moment. Chestnut Cottage is an irresistible thatched cottage that is the stuff of fairytales, a dinky, two-bedroom home that looks as it has escaped from the lid of a chocolate box.

It'd take you longer to eat the chocolates than it would to look around Chestnut Cottage: downstairs, there’s a kitchen-diner plus a lounge; upstairs, two bedrooms placed on opposite sides of the landing, both of which have en-suite bathrooms. But it’s just wonderfully pretty and full of character — and the true joy of the place is beyond the front door, for the cottage is set in just under five acres of its own grounds.

We can’t help wondering how many properties in this well-heeled slice of Surrey have five acres and two bedrooms — it’s quite possibly unique. Then again, that seems fitting of a storied house on a storied estate. And frankly, if you don’t need more living space than this, it’s a simply fantastical little home — and that goes whether you’re a billionaire, or somebody who wants a big garden without the hassle of too many rooms to sweep and toilets to clean.

Chestnut Cottage is for sale via Strutt & Parker at £1.95 million — see more details.

Mid-Wales — £450,000

A grand Georgian house of 3,691 sq ft, set over four floors and with eight bedrooms, at under £500,000? This house proves it can be done.

As the pictures show, the house — once the home of the poet R. S. Thomas — needs an awful lot of work doing. And this is a very remote spot indeed, in the heart of Montgomeryshire, with the nearest town of any size being Welshpool.

That said, the agents note that ultra-fast broadband is here, so you can work happily from home, then head out into your huge garden — ringed by sequioa and yew trees — settled down by your stretch of the river where you can enjoy the included fishing rights and catch some dinner.

For sale with Halls. See more pictures of this property.

Norfolk — £395,000

A Grade II-listed home in the countryside south of Norfolk, this house is full of character features and beautifully decorated throughout.

It's deceptively huge as well: eight bedrooms and well over 3,000 sq ft of space.

Outside there's not much in the way of a garden, but there is an outdoor terrace. It's also not a place to come for bucolic seclusion, but it's ideal if you want everything close by: this house is right in the centre of the village.

For sale with Minors & Brady. See more pictures of this property.

Yorkshire — £350,000

A traditional stone-built farmhouse in Askrigg — about as central as it's possible to be within the Yorkshire Dales.

There are plenty of original features on show, from the exposed beams to the Aga in the kitchen, while the house sits in roughly an acre of land.

The biggest draw, though, is an utterly idyllic and secluded location looking out across a compeltely unspoilt valley.

For sale with J. R. Hopper. See more pictures of this property.

Snowdonia — £355,000

Why buy a house when you can buy an entire new life? This stone-built, nine bedroom home in Penmachno offers exactly that.

The Eagles Hotel is currently set up and run as a pub and a basic hotel/youth hostel popular with the many walkers, outdoor adventurers and mountaineers who come to this part of Wales, with two bars, eight guest rooms, kitchen facilities and other things you'd probably never have thought of, from canoe storage to a dedicated drying room.

There's huge potential here to make your own mark, and all at the sort of money you'd pay for a small flat in south London.

For sale with Iwan M Williams. See more pictures of this property.

Devon — £415,000

Beautifully presented and full of charcter, this thatched, three-bedroom cottage dates back to the 17th century.

It's tucked in away in a quiet, rural spot, but is still just about on the outskirts of Barnstaple, meaning that you've got easy access to shops, restaurants and road and rail links, while the wide open sands of the North Devon coast are just a few minutes down the A39.

A large, south-facing garden completes the property. This really is a charming countryside home.

For sale with Stags. See more pictures of this property.

Moray — £430,000

An 1830s farmhouse a few miles from Elgin, this six-bedroom detached home sits in a large plot with a wonderfully private garden.

It's a complete blank canvas as it stands now, with a little work to be done but nothing too scary.

As well as the main older part of the house, there are also extensions dating to the 1960s, including a huge garden room that's perfect as an entertaining space.

For sale with Galbraith. See more pictures of this property.

Kent — £355,000

Don't get too excited by the main image here: it's a CGI mock-up of what this as-yet-unconverted rural barn near Staplehurst could look like once it's all done. (Also ignore the fact that the agent has cheekily added a vintage Aston Martin on to the imaginary driveway.)

What you can definitely get excited about is the fact that this is a magnificently pretty setting, full permission is already in place for the conversion, and the house — once done — will even be in the Cranbrook School catchment area.

The planned house has almost 2,400sq ft of space and 1.15 acres of land, to include a paddock. All this, and a railway station just a mile away.

For sale with BTF Partnership. See more pictures of this property.

Cornwall — £365,000

Picture-perfect thatched cottage on the Roseland Peninsula, within a few minutes of the sea.

Just two bedrooms, but a lovely country kitchen, open plan living area and large garden make it feel bigger.

Really, what more could you want?

For sale with H Tiddy. See more pictures of this property.

Snowdonia — £325,000

For those who don't mind spending months simply learning how to spell their new address (it's 'Tyn Y Ffridd, Llanymawddwy, Machynlleth') this double-fronted, three-bedroom house in a truly gorgeous location in the mountains is utterly beguiling.

Inside, it's certainly cosy — by which we mean 'small and cosy' — but it's a beautiful, traditional Welsh home full of character and original features.

For sale with Walter Lloyd Jones & Co. See more pictures of this property.

London and the Home Counties are full of wonderful places to celebrate a wedding. Country houses, converted barns, ancient monuments, five-star hotels — you pays your small fortune, you takes your choice.

But for my money (and I mean this quite literally, since it's where my wife and I held our own wedding reception) few can beat Pembroke Lodge. Tucked away in an 11-acre enclave within Richmond Park, this delightful, wisteria-clad Georgian building on the outskirts of London has beautiful gardens, wonderful views and endless charm.

Understandably, it's become very popular, meaning that hundreds of couples each year, plus all their guests, get to walk the pretty lawns and paths around the building itself, both before, during and after the wedding breakfast itself. And almost all those guests have probably noticed an utterly charming cottage tucked away nearby, spotting the thatched roof peeping above the trees, or catching a glimpse through to the gardens.

I'd always assumed that the cottage would have been owned by the Royal Park itself, perhaps a grace-and-favour residence for the head keeper of grounds or similar. But it turns out that Pembroke Cottage it actually a private home — one which is about as close as you could get to a picture-perfect country cottage while still keeping within the M25 — and right now, it's up for sale via Knight Frank at £5 million.

Pembroke Cottage was built in the late 19th century, originally as the gatehouse to Pembroke Lodge itself. Twenty years ago it wasn't in good shape, but it had a major refurbishment and redevelopment, sympathetically extending and improving the old place.

That dragged this fabulous old building into the 21st century, while keeping many of the original beams, windows and other features that you can see on this page.

The centrepieces of the house as it is today are the kitchen-diner and the huge, vaulted reception room with large picture windows that look out over the garden — and the gardens really are worth looking out over.

There's almost half an acre of space here, and despite the public access it has plenty of privacy, being ringed by mature trees and shrubs. Those aforementioned peeked glimpses are all that the wedding guests and other users of Richmond Park will get.

The house is a little under 3,000sq ft, set over three floors, with three bedrooms and four bathrooms — though if you need more sleeping space, it's worth noting that there are two studies on the floorplan which could be used for other reasons.

Moving between the floors is lovely, thanks to a spiral staircase that's flooded with natural light from the dome above.

Did we mention the balconies yet? Or the granite tops in the kitchen, or the Aga, spacious bathrooms and patio space? Well, consider them mentioned, but if you've any sort of romance in your soul you've probably already fallen for this gorgeous home.

And if you have the romance in your sould, but not the £5 million in your bank account? At least there's a lovely spot a couple of minutes' walk away where you might like to get married.

Pembroke Cottage is for sale via Knight Frank at £5 million — see more details and pictures.

London's Pleasant Pastures: Uncovering the fascinating history of the city's Royal Parks and the animals who live within them

From evidence of prehistoric life in Greenwich Park to shire horses in Richmond Park, there’s more to London’s Royal Parks

Credit: Alamy Stock Photo

Why it’s time for the Royal Family to turn Buckingham Palace Gardens into a public park

How Nature made a comeback in London's parks during the year of Covid-19

For art critic John McEwen, the enforced constraints of the pandemic have engendered a greater appreciation of London's great parks

Cottages don’t get much more chocolate box than Faerie Cottage, a thatched home in West Overton, Wiltshire, not far from the popular market town of Marlborough. This tastefully-decorated three-bedroom cottage is for sale via Hamptons at £695,000.

Given how pretty the place is, it’s little wonder that this enchanting home once came second in an article in The Times which attempted to list the ‘top 20 cosiest cottages in Britain’. 

As an aside... how on earth do they judge these things? Not least because the number one pick, Cove Cottage in Sennen Cove, while very lovely indeed, isn't quite what we'd expect of the word 'cosy'.

Anyway, there's no denying that Faerie Cottage it rightfully high in the list, and unsurprisingly has found its way into all sorts of home and lifestyle magazines over the years. And now here it is in Country Life.

Built during the 17th century, the cottage is full of attractive period features, including exposed beams and shuttered windows.

One quirk of this home is that it doesn’t actually feature a hallway or landing. Instead, the ground and first floors comprise a series of interconnecting rooms.

The kitchen lies at the heart of the cottage. It boasts a popular Belfast sink, integrated appliances, and plenty of cream cupboards to stash away unsightly kitchenware so you can take your pics for Instagram without clutter in the background.

While the house is small it finds space for a well-equipped scullery and cloak/shower room off to one side of the kitchen, a sought-after room for any busy family.

On the other side of the kitchen is a cosy sitting room, with a wood-burning stove housed in the original brick fireplace and a neat window seat. Who wouldn’t want to curl up here to read a good book or enjoy the views of the garden?

Two sets of staircases lead directly to bedrooms at either end of the cottage. Meanwhile, a bathroom with an enviable standalone bath and a third bedroom are sandwiched in the middle.

The cottage sits within a pretty garden bursting with plants. There’s also a patio, perfect for alfresco dining, situated between two original outbuildings.

The village of West Overton is a popular spot in the Upper Kennet Valley, a part of Wiltshire which, while still an idyllic rural setting, is still commuter belt territory. There are regular trains from nearby Pewsey to London Paddington, and junctions 14 or 15 of the M4 motorway are close too. Bath, Salisbury and Newbury are all within a 30-mile radius.

The cottage is currently on the market via Hamptons for £695,000 — see more pictures or enquire with the agent for further details. 

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Best country houses for sale this week

An irresistible West Country cottage and a magnificent Cumbrian country house make our pick of the finest country houses for

Devon — £1,187,500

For history buffs seeking a new home with a proliferation of original features, Trillow, a Grade II-listed farmhouse with far-reaching views and set in about 8½ acres, is likely to fit the bill.

This thatched five-bedroom property dates from the early 16th century and has the likes of exposed timber beams, flagstone floors, impressive fireplaces and — the pièce de résistance — an original plank-and-muntin screen (in the sitting room).

However, it certainly doesn’t resemble the 1500s in terms of comfort levels, as these nods to the past are mixed with underfloor heating for cosy days and nights when the temperatures drop outside, modern fittings — including in the well-equipped kitchen with its farmhouse-style units, oak worktops and oil-fired Aga — and understated décor that is on point for the 2020s. Trillow is sited in a tranquil location, close to a peaceful country lane, but the village of Whitestone is only a mile away and the cathedral city of Exeter, with its shops, schools and university, a mere three-mile drive.

For sale via Strutt & Parker — see more details and pictures.

Cornwall — £500,000

Just half a mile from Lizard village, almost at the southern tip of the British mainland, is this classic chocolate-box cottage. It's a two-bedroom place that is Grade II-listed, but don't let that concern you for it's been extremely well-renovated and is ready for new occupants.

For sale via Laskowski & Co — see more details and pictures.

Devon — £575,000

The Duchy of Cornwall’s Bow Creek is an estuary of the Harbourne River that flows into the River Dart—and it is as idyllic as it sounds. Grade II-listed Quay Cottage is situated within close proximity of this creek, offering river views and, for those who love boating, time on the water, for the creek is navigable by small boats for a few hours either side of high tide.

On dry land, the location, the hamlet of Tuckenhay, is only four miles from Totnes and six miles from Dartmouth. When not messing about in boats, the new owners will be able to appreciate the exposed oak trusses within their spacious first-floor reception room, the ground-floor dining room with its inglenook fireplace and the fitted kitchen, plus the three bedrooms, two of which are on the ground floor; the largest one is on the first floor. Quay Cottage was rethatched in 2024.

For sale via Marchand Petit — see more details and pictures.

Gloucestershire — £495,000

Some class Gloucestershire as sitting within the confines of the ‘West Country’, given a generous interpretation of the map, so Asphodel Cottage, in the village of Tarlton, surely counts. Recently sympathetically and tastefully renovated by the current owners, this detached property that dates from about 1624 (when James I was coming to the end of his reign) offers oodles of charm and sought-after features, including an inglenook fireplace, vaulted ceilings and myriad exposed beams.

The ground floor consists of the open-plan kitchen/sitting room; there is a bedroom with adjoining bathroom on the first floor; and, beyond the confines of the cottage, there is an 11ft by 13ft garden store. Anyone sitting in the south-facing rear garden will enjoy views over the Bathurst estate.

For sale via Butler Sherborn — see more details and pictures.

Devon — £775,000

The beautiful Blackdown Hills National Landscape offers viewpoints and valleys and woodlands and waterfalls — and Wrens, a thatched Grade II-listed property with four bedrooms that sits on its edge in the hamlet of Beacon. This glorious countryside can be enjoyed from the raised paved terrace on the south side of this pink-walled house or from the well-managed gardens, which feature lawns, ornamental shrubs, trees and raised beds.

Accommodation on the ground floor consists of a kitchen/breakfast room where there is a four-oven Aga and an exposed beam and ceiling timbers, adjoining dining room, sitting room (with brick fireplace with woodburner) and office.

Upstairs, there are four bedrooms, all of which offer spectacular views to the south.

For sale via Knight Frank — see more details and pictures.

Dorset — £725,000

Wheat reed-thatched Jack’s Cottage in Tarrant Monkton, near Blandford Forum, was originally a pair of farmworkers’ cottages, made of lime-rendered cob and brick. Now, it is a detached three-bedroom family home that has been brought firmly into the 21st century.

Notable features include two fireplaces, latched oak doors, exposed timbers and a copper rolltop bath. Eyecatching rooms on the ground floor are the beamed sitting room and dining hall, plus the kitchen/breakfast room.

The gardens are made up of lawns, borders and a terrace for entertaining.

For sale via Winkworth — see more details and pictures.

In the village of Stradishall — roughly 24 miles east of Cambridge — is Weavers: A delightful thatched village home bursting with charm and cosy period features.

With four bedrooms , the Grade II listed property arrives onto the market via Jackson-Stops with a guide price of £799, 950.

The property, which has been in the same ownership for the last 20 years, sits behind a wooden picket fence on the village high street, proudly showcasing its sweet timber and thatched exterior.

Inside, you’ll find a wealth of period features that have seamlessly transitioned into modern day living. The result? A historic home with everlasting charm.

The ground floor space is largely formed of thick oak floors and dark overhead beams, interjected by touches of exposed brick here and there.

The sitting room is by far the largest room in the house, and as well as showcasing all the aforementioned features, also benefits from dual-aspect windows, making it the perfect place to curl up with a good book and glass of red in the cooler months, or throw open the French doors to let in the summer air during warmer months.

With space for a couple of sofas, squishy armchairs, a piano and a cello, this seems like the obvious room in which to entertain guests.

The dining room follows in a similar vein, as does the wonderful country-style kitchen, off of which is the family room and a good sized study — again, with doors out to the garden and plenty of natural light.

There are two staircases leading up to the first floor where you’ll find four double bedrooms and a family bathroom.

Outside there’s a double garage and a private enclosed garden to the rear with a series of paved terraced areas, lawns, flower beds, a pond and two sheds.

Beyond the picket fence, the village of Stradishall has a local village church and is not too far from Wickhambrook which offers a good range of local amenities, including a primary school, health centre, pub, village store/post office and community centre.

Newmarket and Bury St Edmunds are also not too far away, both offering a wide range of amenities, shopping facilities, restaurants, hotels and a golf club. Equally, Cambridge is easily accessible by car.

Weavers is currently on the market via Jackson-Stops with a guide price of £799,950 — see more pictures or enquire with the agent for further details.

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Best country houses for sale this week

An irresistible West Country cottage and a magnificent Cumbrian country house make our pick of the finest country houses for

We here at Country Life enjoy a conversion—what could be more sustainable and eccentric than taking an old space and turning it into something new?

The Old Hall in Elmley Castle is one such instance, where the owner acquired a 14th-century Grade II-listed village hall and created a spacious three-bedroom, semi-detached home.

The transformed property is now on the market via Hamptons with a guide price of £595,000.

Set on the village’s Main Street, externally, the property looks almost identical to how it may have when it was first built, but, inside, clever architecture has opened up the large spaces to create a home that feels excitingly modern, but looks very much in touch with its storied roots.

The highlight must surely be the open-plan kitchen/dining/sitting room on the ground floor, which combines beautifully with a first-floor mezzanine from which the bedrooms are accessed.

Spanning three floors in total, the property offers two bedrooms, with a potential third bedroom in the mezzanine (as it is currently set up).

Large mullioned windows throughout mean the entire property is flooded with light and the village of Elmley Castle offers a wealth of amenities, including a pub, a parish church, school and, most importantly, cricket club.

Lying at the base of the Bredon Hill, Elmley Castle is ideally situated to reach surrounding towns, including Pershore, Evesham and Worcester, yet still rural enough to enjoy all the pleasures of the surrounding countryside.

The Old Hall is currently on the market via Hamptons with a guide price of £595,000 — see more pictures or enquire with the agent for further details. 

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Best country houses for sale this week

An irresistible West Country cottage and a magnificent Cumbrian country house make our pick of the finest country houses for

A tiered garden is one of life’s great pleasures and a fine example can be found at Mundy’s Cottage, on the outskirts of Stour Provost. From the top terrace, you can sit and enjoy views that spread out over the Blackmore Vale and towards the River Stour—heaven.

The property — currently on the market via Jackson-Stops with a guide price of £395,000 —is a Grade II-listed cottage that sits on the edge of this popular north Dorset village.

Peace and quiet is the theme here, with the house situated on a no-through road and screened from three sides by woodland.

Consisting of two bedrooms and two reception rooms, the property is cosy, but well-tended, and provides a mix of period features, such as exposed beams, brick and wood panelling, together with a modern kitchen.

The thatched roof was overhauled and re-ridged as recently as 2021.

Stour Provost is a popular village in north Dorset comprising of many period properties, a village church, primary school and village hall.

Nearby Gillingham has a mainline train station that runs to London Waterloo and in Shaftesbury, you’ll find a number of cafes, restaurants, independent shops, an arts centre, health centre and a small hospital.

The A303, that links to the South West and London, is just eight miles from the property, and Sherborne, Bath and Salisbury are all within easy reach by road.

Mundy's Cottage is currently on the market via Jackson-Stops with a guide price of £395,000 — see more pictures or enquire with the agent for further details. 

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Best country houses for sale this week

An irresistible West Country cottage and a magnificent Cumbrian country house make our pick of the finest country houses for

When you ask young people today what they really want in life, you might be surprised to hear that it’s not ‘avocado on toast’ or ‘Netflix’, but rather a galleried landing in an unlisted 16th-century house.

Amazingly, Willowbrook House — for sale at £1.75m — offers exactly that, as well as five bedrooms, four bathrooms and an acre of gardens on the edge of the village of Creaton.

The home’s lack of a listing means that it has been comprehensively renovated and restored during the owner’s tenure.

There is a wealth of period features (not least the landing) in a property that also offers Chesney fireplaces, modern bathrooms and a vast kitchen/breakfast area — the ideal spot for entertaining.

Outside, the gardens are sharp enough to set your watch to and also offer a swimming pool and annexe/pool house.

Creaton itself is the sort of delightful little place that have people referring to Northamptonshire as 'the new Cotswolds', a thriving community of around 500 people with a village green, 13th century church and a primary school, as well as a pub and a shop with a post office counter. Northampton is about 20 minutes' drive away to the south.

Willowbrook is for sale at £1.75m — see more pictures and details here. 

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Best country houses for sale this week

An irresistible West Country cottage and a magnificent Cumbrian country house make our pick of the finest country houses for

Spectacular Scottish castles and estates for sale

A look at the finest castles, country houses and estates for sale in Scotland today.

Dating from the 16th century, but extended in the 1990s, Briar Cottage — for sale at £895,000 — now offers some 2,200sq ft of living space in Kings Worthy, a village just north of Winchester.

With four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a cellar and two reception rooms, the property has serious potential as a spacious family home — and we mean spacious, as you'll see from the ease with which the living room swallows a grand piano. It's also ripe for refurbishment, and looks ideal for those looking to take a step into the countryside without straying too far from civilisation.

That said... while you could refurbish the place completely, it'd be a shame to lose any of the character. Ancient beams, stone floors, a proper old-school Aga in the kitchen. Briar Cottage may be a little ramshackle but seems full of joy just as it is; we can't help but hope whoever picks this lovely home treads carefully.

Outside, the garden is mostly set to lawn, but also boasts mature fruit trees and a small vegetable garden.

Kings Worthy itself has a wealth of amenities and Winchester is within walking distance — the cathedral and station are both a little over two miles away, so think three quarters of an hour stroll into town.

If you're going further afield on four wheels then the A34 and M3 are both close by, yet if you head out of the door you can be strolling along the banks of the Ricer Itchen in a matter of moments. With that in mind, Briars Cottage offers the best of both worlds.

Briar Cottage is for sale at £895,000 via Knight Frank — see more details and pictures.

When it comes to the ideal thatched cottage, Dormers — for sale at £1.6m — ticks all the boxes. Actual thatched dormers? Tick. Exposed beams inside and outside? Tick. Mullioned windows with casements? Tick.

Dormers, which is listed Grade II and dates from the 15th century, has seen a wealth of original features retained and offers plenty of space as well as character.

There are six bedrooms and six acres of gardens and grounds, which include a tennis court, stables and swimming pool.

It's also within easy reach of London. Dormers is situated on the outskirts of the village of Charlwood, just north of Crawley, with the many amenities that it provides — not least Gatwick Airport, which is very close by indeed.

Dormers is for sale via Hamptons at £1.6m — see more details and pictures.

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Best country houses for sale this week

An irresistible West Country cottage and a magnificent Cumbrian country house make our pick of the finest country houses for

In the rolling countryside of north Oxfordshire, Grade II-listed The Manor House at Chipping Norton has ‘the wonderful homely feel of a house your parents might have lived in for 30 years,’ says David Henderson of Savills in Stow-on-the-Wold.

On the market for 'offers in excess of £3.5 million,' the exquisite small manor house, according to its Historic England listing, evolved ‘around an early-16th-century core with later additions and much restoration and alteration in the 19th century’.

For the past 10 years or more, the manor’s globe-trotting owner and ‘serial collector’, Tony Hill, has painstakingly restored and modernised the quirky, 3,700sq ft house set in three-quarters of an acre of totally private gardens in the heart of the town, with guidance and advice from Cheshire-based Nigel Daly Architectural Design.

Built of Cotswold stone under a slate roof, the greater part of which was replaced ten years ago, the house has been completely rewired and replumbed. Original leaded light windows have been restored and replicated.

Lime-rendered internal walls, solid oak and stone-flagged floors, oak beams and huge oak A-framed trusses and natural materials — old and new — have been used creatively throughout. All stone-flagged ground and lower-ground floor rooms have underfloor heating and all outer walls are fully insulated.

The attention to detail is remarkable throughout. Approached by a gravel drive under an enormous cedar of Lebanon, the flag-stoned entrance hall leads directly into the bespoke fitted kitchen, with its four-door gas Aga, honed slate worktops, tall windows overlooking the front garden and French doors leading to the colourful south terrace.

Stone steps from the hall lead to the light-filled main drawing room with its oriel window and window seat, where bespoke bookcases made from reclaimed elm boards surround the open fireplace. Another flight of stone stairs leads from the inner hall to the dining room with its vaulted ceiling and impressive carved stone fireplace. A large games/media room is used as a home cinema, office and party room.

New 17th-century-style oak stairs lead to the first floor and the delightful principal bedroom suite with its vaulted ceilings and triple-aspect views of the garden and the hills beyond. There are four further bedrooms (three with en-suite bathrooms) on the first floor, with a guest bedroom and bathroom on the floor above.

Completing this picture of a country house in town, the garden hides a discreetly placed swimming pool with a pool house and a ‘den’ above.

The Manor House at Chipping Norton is for sale via Savills for offers over £3.5 million — see more pictures or enquire with the agent for further details.

The Country Life guide to the Cotswolds: Where to go, what to see, where to stay and what to eat

Straddling five counties, the Cotswolds is arguably England's most famous region outside of London. Here’s our guide to what to

Where to live in the Cotswolds: A guide to choosing the perfect spot

Where in the Cotswolds should you move to? The answer will depend on what is more important to you and

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Best country houses for sale this week

An irresistible West Country cottage and a magnificent Cumbrian country house make our pick of the finest country houses for

If Little Cottage were set in a fairytale (which judging by its charming facade and interiors, it could well be) it would most certainly be the type of home where bird song rang through the trees in the garden and wonderful baking smells floated from the kitchen.

You don't need to imagine a fairytale though to truly appreciate the charm and delightful features that help make up this two bed property on the outskirts of the village of Inkpen in Berkshire, which is surrounded by picturesque rolling countryside.

Believed to date from the 18th century, the Grade II listed cottage is seeking a lucky new owner, currently on the market via Strutt and Parker at a guide price of £550,000.

Each room has touches of period features — wooden ceiling beams being a common theme throughout, and its own quaint style, which together creates an immeasurable amount of delightful character and the perfect level of cottage cosiness.

In the kitchen a central two door Aga sits within a brick enclosure under a wooden beamed roof, whilst French doors lead out to the south facing terrace and garden. Adjoining the kitchen is the sitting room — again, with wooden beams plus a large bay window that overlooks the garden.

The only slight hinderance to the property is the fact that the single bathroom is located on the ground floor, just off from the sitting room. A small price to pay for the joy of living in such a sweet house.

The two double bedrooms are located upstairs, both with sloped ceilings and views out over the garden.

Bu it's not just the inside of Little Cottage that make it so special. The classic cottage garden surrounding the house is bursting with an array of trees, flowers and shrubs, with plenty of seating areas from which you can take in and enjoy the peaceful surroundings.

If you're looking for a country cottage idyll, you'd be hard pressed to find one quite as cute as Little Cottage.

Little Cottage is currently on the market via Strutt and Parker at a guide price of £550,000 — see more pictures, or enquire with the agent for further details.

Inkpen: What you need to know

Location: Inkpen is located in the North Wessex Area of Natural Beauty, approximately four miles from Hungerford and just three miles from Kintbury, where there is a railway station which provides links into London Paddington.

Atmosphere: The village benefits from a thriving local community with good facilities including a popular primary school and gastro-pub. Nearby Kintbury is home to a village shop, doctors surgery, bakery and several pubs.

Things to do: The surrounding North Wessex Area of Natural Beauty is home to many walks and trails, plus the larger towns of Hungerford, Marlborough and Newbury have a wider range of shopping and recreational facilities, restaurants, great pubs and cafes.

Schools: There are a selection of excellent schools in the area including Cheam, Elstree, Malborough College and Downe House, plus the local village primary — Inkpen Primary School.

See more property for sale in the area.

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Best country houses for sale this week

An irresistible West Country cottage and a magnificent Cumbrian country house make our pick of the finest country houses for

Agents describe the mini thatched roof over the porch at Zinch Cottage as a ‘bonnet’, which we rather like.

The cottage — and its bonnet — find themselves on the market via Humberts at a guide price of £610,000.

Dating back to the early 16th century, it’s one of the oldest cottages in the popular village of Stogumber — and no, it's not a word invented by Roald Dahl, is instead but a charming place on the eastern edge of Exmoor, with glorious views over the Brendon and Quantock Hills.

Inside are three bedrooms, all with ample built in wardrobe space and views over the south-facing garden with its roses and mature apple trees.

Pretty pathways lead across the garden and lawn in the back, along the old stone walls to reach the front garden, where a sun terrace is the perfect place to take in the surrounding vistas.

Passing under a rose archway leads to the rose and herb garden, where further seating can be found. Now we're not saying you have to sit here with a glass of wine to watch the sunset...but it certainly wouldn't do any harm.

A timber-frame double carport and converted piggery complete the outdoor space.

The inside accommodation is composed of clay-tiled flooring, plenty of cosy firesides. The inglenook fireplace with Bressummer beam and wood burning fire is a particular highlight.

The kitchen is well-equipped with a two-door electric Aga and and passing through the boot room through an old door opens up to the sunny terrace in the front of the house.

Taunton is about half an hour’s drive, but we don't really know why you'd ever want to leave.

Zinch Cottage is currently on the market at a guide price of £610,000 via Humberts — see more pictures, or enquire with the agent for further details. 

Stogumber: What you need to know

Location: In West Somerset, surrounded by the Quantock and Brendon Hills, approximately 14 miles from Taunton, where mainline rail services provide links to London and the north.

Atmosphere: Stogumber is a picturesque, highly sought-after village that benefits from a thriving community. It has a primary school, village shop, post office, pub, cricket club and church.

Things to do: Explore the surrounding Quantock and Brendon Hills or head into Taunton where there is a range of shopping, leisure and recreational facilities.

Schools: Crowcombe and Stogumber Primary School is the local primary, whilst Taunton School, The Castle School, Wellington School and Kings College are all great secondary choices.

See more property for sale in the area.

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Best country houses for sale this week

An irresistible West Country cottage and a magnificent Cumbrian country house make our pick of the finest country houses for

An abundance of exposed timber, a glass balustrade and an enormous brick chimney are noticeable features at Rose Cottage, which is currently on the market via Pestell & Co at a guide price of £1.15 million.

The property has been beautifully refurbished by the current owners and has four bedrooms, three bathrooms and four reception rooms.

The most prominent area within the house is undoubtedly the double-height reception hallway, with its vaulted ceiling and show-stopping inglenook fireplace with a double-sided log burner.

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 called 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.

Rose Cottage is currently on the market via Pestell & Co at a guide price of £1.15 million — see more pictures, or enquire with the agent for further details. 

Widdington: What you need to know

Location: Two miles from Newport and five miles from Saffron Walden, where trains run from Audley End to London Liverpool Street. Stansted Airport is also conveniently located nearby.

Atmosphere: The picturesque village has a friendly community centred around an 18th century village green. The well-renowned Fleur De Lys is situated within the village and draws in visitors.

Things to do: Head into the market town of Saffron Walden over the weekend to shop the independent farmer-style market stalls, offering wonderful fresh produce, flowers and home goods. Mini Miss Bread (tucked away a few street behind the market) sells wonderful fresh sourdough and is well worth a visit...as long as you can conquer the queues outside! The Refill Barn also offers excellent zero-waste shopping in and around the area for the eco-conscious.

Schools: Newport Primary School, Bishop's Stortford College, The Perse School and The Leys are all well-regarded schools in the area.

See more property for sale in the area.

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Best country houses for sale this week

An irresistible West Country cottage and a magnificent Cumbrian country house make our pick of the finest country houses for

Grade II listed, the cottage — as rightly described by the agents — 'seamlessly blends modern and period features,' and is currently on the market via Knight Frank for the tidy sum of £1 million. 

Externally, the property is constructed of Cotswold stone under a partly thatched roof, so you wouldn't be wrong in thinking that inside are features like flagstone floors, gorgeously dramatic ceiling timbers and exposed beams — including an especially charming Bressumer beam in the exposed stone inglenook fireplace with a woodburning stove.

In 1999, an extension was added to the rear of the property to create a larger master suite. This was further extended in 2020 with the addition of a kitchen/dining room extension that makes the most out of the access and views over the garden.

There is a natural shift between the old and new parts of the house — but one that feels natural, rather than disjointed. The transition from the cosier sitting and drawing room makes way to the open plan kitchen/dining room that is flooded with natural light due to the large sliding glass doors that make up two sides of the extension.

From here, access out onto the terrace (which is perfect for barbecues and pizzas, made in the rather large, rather impressive built-in pizza oven) and garden beyond creates a seamless indoor/outdoor living environment.

On the first floor are three bedrooms including the master suite with balcony overlooking the garden, and the remaining bedroom is found on the second floor.

The house benefits from a quiet rural location at the end of a no-through lane and surrounding the house is a lavender garden to the front (protected by a low Cotswold stone wall), and to the rear — lawns, herbaceous boarders, a pergola and vegetable garden complete the idyll.

Lancotta House is currently for sale via Knight Frank for £1 million — see more pictures, or enquire with the agent for further details.

Standlake: What you need to know

Location: Standlake is located approximately 5 miles from Whitney and approximately 7 miles from Oxford. Trains from Oxford Parkway and Didcot Parkway provide fast connections to London.

Atmosphere: The rural yet popular village is home to a church, primary school, pub — The Black Horse, the well-regarded Oxford Downs cricket club and tennis club, and a postoffice. The village is well connected to nearby local towns for further amenities.

Things to do: There are lovely scenic walks around the village thanks to the River Windrush flowing through it. There are also numerous lakes — perfect for water sports and anglers. Nearby Whitney has a weekly market and the university city of Oxford is located nearby and is the perfect place to explore slowly, whether via the river, or in one of the many historic pubs, excellent restaurants or bustling bars.

Schools: Standlake Church of England Primary School and Stanton Harcourt C of E Primary School both received ‘good’ ratings from Ofsted and Mulberry Bush School was rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted and are all within a 2 mile radius. Secondary schools include Headington School in Oxford and Magdalen College School, Radley and St Edwards.

See more property for sale in the area.

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Best country houses for sale this week

An irresistible West Country cottage and a magnificent Cumbrian country house make our pick of the finest country houses for

There are places in Britain that showcase effortlessly charming architecture. And there are spots where the beauty of the countryside and views will bring a tear to the eye.

Few spots, however, marry the two quite as perfectly as Gold Hill, in Shaftesbury, once described in Country Life by Jason Goodwin as the 'absurdly picturesque Gold Hill, a steep ribbon of medieval houses overlooking the Blackmore Vale.'

It became perhaps the most famous rural street in the country as if 1973, when a young director called Ridley Scott (yes, that Ridley Scott) used it as the location for a television advert for Hovis bread.

https://youtu.be/6Mq59ykPnAE?t=11

The advert tapped in to an extraordinary seam of nostalgia for the passing of the age; it has since been endlessly reworked, spoofed, and then (perhaps the ultimate accolade) restored in 2019 by no less an institution than the BFI.

The idea of living in such an idyllic spot, then, is a tempting one; and all the more so when you hear that the property in question is a three-bedroom detached cottage that's up for auction with a guide price of just £150,000.

So much for the good news. The bad news is... well, pretty much everything else, for there's no getting away from it: 16 Gold Hill is in a sorry state, needing pretty much everything doing. The work has been started, including (apparently) some work on an extension, according to the agents Symonds & Sampson.

As it stands, the property has three reception rooms and a kitchen downstairs, two bedrooms on the first floor, and a further bedroom on the second floor. They don't specify where the bathroom(s) are, and somewhat worryingly there's nothing marked on the floorplan; perhaps there's simply an outdoor lavvy, for that authentic 1920s feel.

Any work that does need doing will have to take into account the fact that the house is Grade II-listed. And while it's located on Gold Hill, it's not on the famous cobbled stretch, but instead on a less picturesque tarmacced bit around the corner.

Then again, one of the homes on the cobbled section went on the market earlier this year for £650,000, so you're making quite a saving. And you'll have far fewer tourists taking pictures of your house, which (as any resident of a similarly picturesque village will tell you) can get a little wearing at busy times.

16 Gold Hill is up for auction through Symonds & Sampson on 22 October — see more details and pictures. 

It's hard not to fall in love with The Cabin just from the photos alone. I can almost smell the jam being cooked over the Aga in the kitchen, or hear the sound of a crackling fire from the Inglenook fireplace as it lights up the cosy living room; muddy wellies piled up outside the back door after a walk through the country lanes.

Currently on the market with Michael Graham for offers in excess of £550,000, The Cabin is a cute as they come.

It is the type of property one would imagine to live within the pages of a children's story book, or the setting for a Christmas rom-com much like in The Holiday.

It is a quintessential chocolate box house, with exposed beams decorating every ceiling, with cosy — yet light filled rooms that are true to its style, without feeling stuffy or dated.

Grade II listed, the property is composed of stone under a thatched roof, with exposed floor boards in the bedrooms and bathrooms. The upstairs accommodation is made up of two double bedrooms and a family sized bathroom.

Downstairs is a kitchen/breakfast room with an oil fired Aga plus electric hob; a sitting room with an Inglenook fireplace and bread oven; a dining room — which has a stable door that leads out onto the garden, and a utility room and cloakroom.

Although compact, the cottage comes with 0.34 acres of lawned gardens and fruit trees – including Mulberry. There is also a single garage located to the rear of the property.

The Cabin is currently on the market via Michael Graham for offers in excess of £550,000 — see more pictures, or enquire with the agent for further details.

Grafton Regis: What you need to know

Location: The village lies between Northampton (10 miles) and Milton Keynes (just under 10 miles). There are mainline rail services from both towns. Towcester is also approximately 6 miles away.

Atmosphere: The small country village is home to a church, village hall and pub. There are bus services which connect it to the surrounding area and nearby Towcester has a number of shops, including a large supermarket.

Things to do: Although the village is small, it it well positioned with easy access to Northampton and Milton Keynes which are home to a large array of shops, restaurants, medical and leisure facilities. Slightly closer is the smaller town of Towcester which has a selection of shops and leisure facilities.

Schools: The local schools are Elizabeth Woodville School, Yardley Gobion Church of England School and Cambian Potterspury Lodge School. Northampton High School in Hardingstone, Northampton School for Boys and Stowe School are secondary options located slightly further away.

See more property for sale in the area.

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Best country houses for sale this week

An irresistible West Country cottage and a magnificent Cumbrian country house make our pick of the finest country houses for

Set in the heart of Long Crendon — a village made famous as the setting for the popular television detective drama Midsomer Murders — is Well Cottage.

Described by the agents as 'one of the oldest and most recognisable houses in the high street', the charming thatched cottage is currently on the market via Knight Frank at a guide price of £950,000.

The property has everything you would expect a Grade II listed thatched cottage from the 17th century to have — a wonderfully picturesque, Wisteria-clad façade, exposed beams in almost every room, parquet wooden flooring, leaded windows, large stone fireplaces and plenty of charm.

As you may also expect with a property like this, there is always scope for some updating and renovation work — mostly in the bathrooms and kitchen, which always tend to be the rooms that show the most tell-tale signs of ageing.

Entering the house you come into a large hallway, with a doorway that leads off to a spacious living room with dual aspect windows and a fireplace. There is also a separate dining room — also with a large feature fireplace — accessed from the hall.

The kitchen/breakfast room is situated towards the rear of the house and looks out over the west-facing garden. Completing the downstairs living space is a utility room and bathroom, leading off from the kitchen.

Upstairs are three bedrooms which would be ideal for the Three Bears — there's one small, one medium and one large — plus a family bathroom. The quirky, slightly wonky walls and decorative beams all help add to the charm that the property exudes.

The gardens are formed of a small, enclosed garden to the front of the property, and the mature rear garden, which features a patio area that's the perfect place to enjoy the late evening sun.

Well Cottage is currently on the market via Knight Frank at a guide price of £950,000 — see more pictures, or enquire with the agent for further details.

Long Crendon: What you need to know

Location: West Buckinghamshire. Haddenham is 3 miles away, with rail services that link to London Marylebone. The village of Thame in Oxfordshire is also 2 miles away.

Atmosphere: Think quintessential English village with plenty of charm and excellent pubs/restaurants thrown in. The village is well-known as the setting for the programme Midsomer Murders and has some excellent amenities, including several shops, a butchers, GP surgery, post office, library, dentist, the celebrated XT brewery, two pubs plus the award-winning Angel restaurant. The Mole and Chicken gastropub is also located less than a mile away. Quite the lineup!

Things to do: Visit the XT brewery and the local, well-renowned pubs. Thame Museum and the National Trust's Long Crendon Courthouse are also interesting visits.

Schools: Long Crendon Primary School is rated 'outstanding' by Ofsted, and there are further excellent secondary options within the surrounding area, including Lord William's Upper School and Magdalen College School in Oxfordshire.

See more property for sale in the area.

Credit: Strutt and Parker

Best country houses for sale this week

An irresistible West Country cottage and a magnificent Cumbrian country house make our pick of the finest country houses for

Nestled in the Cotswolds countryside just outside the village of Langford on the Oxfordshire/Gloucestershire border is Lockey House — an exquisite property currently on the market via Knight Frank for £2.25 million. 

The house was built in 1719 by John Lockey and is composed of Limestone under a stone roof, with a tasteful five-bay Georgian facade with stone surround sash windows proudly mounted on the front of the property, creating a sense of grandeur whilst preserving its 18th Century beginnings.

Inside is equally impressive, as the property has been restored to an impeccably high standard that would suit any taste. The entrance hall greets you with elegant flagstone floors (beautiful though unforgiving to slippery fingers), dado panelling and a large 18th Century staircase which leads upstairs.

Leading off from the main entrance hallway are the three reception rooms, which are all well-appointed with plenty of natural light, tall ceilings, open fireplaces and working shutters.

Each room offers a different feel, with a formal sitting room and open fireplace, dining room with a wood burner and a more informal, cosy sitting room with a large, open fire.

Moving further through the downstairs space takes us to the kitchen/breakfast room which is located next to the garden, from which an adjoining boot room and larder/pantry area are located. This room — like the rest of the house, is beautifully finished, with a large Aga and a marble island.

The six bedrooms are located over the top two floors, with a large, principal suite, complete with rustic exposed floorboards and a large roll-top bath.

In the courtyard, the cottage has been extended to create a double garage and two further bedrooms which provides ample of accommodation space.

The garden, as you may have guessed, is also spectacular and has a beautiful summer house tucked into the corner, making it the perfect secluded spot for a home office — with unspoilt views over the fields. Rose bushes decorate the stone wall which frames the garden and offers shelter to the terrace area and the additional barbecue and fire pit spot.

Lockey House is currently on the market via Knight Frank at an asking price of £2.25 million — see more pictures or enquire with the agent for more details. 

Langford: What you need to know

Location: Langford is located in West Oxfordshire, about five miles from Lechlade in Gloucestershire. The nearest rail station is Swindon, which has links to London Paddington in less than an hour. Nearby Oxford Parkway also offers services to London Marylebone.

Atmosphere: This vibrant, quintessential Cotswolds village is sprawling with pretty Cotswolds stone cottages and farmhouses. It is an Area of Natural Outstanding Beauty and was recorded in the Doomsday survey of 1086.

Things to do: The village boasts its own cricket club, tennis club and popular pub — The Bell.

Schools: There are numerous excellent schools in the area including St Hugh's School, Cokethorpe School and Radley College, plus further options in Oxford for both primary and secondary.

See more property for sale in the area.

Credit: Strutt and Parker

Best country houses for sale this week

An irresistible West Country cottage and a magnificent Cumbrian country house make our pick of the finest country houses for

Within the oft-forgotten appendage of the Cotswolds AONB is the magnificent School Cottage in the Warwickshire village of Long Compton. It’s for sale via Knight Frank at £1.65 million.

Situated on a private no-through road, the Cotswold-stone property offers a wealth of character, including original flagstone flooring, fireplaces and exposed timbers, as well as a modern kitchen and some five reception rooms.

There are five double bedrooms on the first floor, plus a family bathroom and a separate shower room; there’s also a separate en-suite bedroom downstairs, though in these times of home working that could just as well be used as a home office space.

The outside space is a real draw. There’s a substantial garden, mostly laid to lawn with a range of beds, mature shrubs and trees, is ideal for entertaining and enjoying the summer nights and surrounding countryside. Admittedly, those feel a long way away right now, but… well, the nights are now getting shorter, and before you know it there will be blossom on the trees.

Long Compton itself is a lovely, classic Cotswold village: there’s a pub a shop, a primary school and a church; the larger town of Chipping Norton is four miles away, and Shipston-on-Stour is six miles. And you don’t need to worry about the quality of the other amenities that are nearby (hint, it rhymes with ‘baylesford’) [For the uninitiated, James is talking about Daylesford Farm Shop — Ed].

[School Cottage is for sale via Knight Frank at £1.65 million — see more details and pictures.]

Of course, if you have £1.65 million to spend you have some lovely other options, even in this sought-after neck of the Cotswolds. So what else did we see nearby?

If you're happy to compromise on a central village location, but want more space and seclusion, then Strutt & Parker are selling Cherington Mill at £1.695 million, complete with stables and almost eight acres.

And if you don't have £1.65 million? This classic chocolate box cottage elsewhere in the village is far smaller, just as cute, and £475,000. It's also for sale via Knight Frank.

Credit: Strutt and Parker

Best country houses for sale this week

An irresistible West Country cottage and a magnificent Cumbrian country house make our pick of the finest country houses for

Credit: Alamy

Seven golden rules for selling a country house

With coronavirus now seemingly past its peak in Britain, we're tentatively beginning to look ahead to how life will get

Yes, yes — no sniggering in the back there. Cockington is indeed the sort of village where a large number of postcards are probably sold to the easily-amused and their friends. And while the saying 'all publicity is good publicity' has clearly been rendered hopelessly out of date by the social media generation, there's probably something to be said for a quirky USP that puts you on the map. Especially when that USP is literally printed on the map.

Attracting a visitor, of course, is one thing — keeping them amused is another, but luckily Cockington delivers on far more than just its amusing name. It's 'effectively a country village within a town, hidden away in a deep valley, yet just a mile from the centre of Torquay,' according to agents Jackson-Stops, with its lovely old high street of quirky shops, welcoming pubs and thatched houses.

Rose Cottage Tea Gardens is one of the staples of Cockington village life and very much lives up to the definition of a picture-postcard setting. The sort of place, in other words, that people dream of when they think about moving to the country and running a lifestyle business. And at an asking price of £995,000, we’d imagine there will be no shortage of people looking to swap suburban lives for the different pace of Devon.

The main accommodation is Rose Cottage itself, a thatched dwelling listed Grade II, which offers four bedrooms and two reception rooms under its beautiful sloped roof.

Inside, the house is an ideal mix of the period and the contemporary, with a new kitchen proving a particular highlight.

As well as the cottage itself, the 1½ acres of gardens and grounds are a joy to behold, with a stream, pond, and lawns so manicured you could set your watch to them.

The Tea Gardens are fully licensed and can cater for 185 visitors. Although the gardens are included, the pianist who plays during opening hours sadly is not.

Rose Cottage and Tea Gardens are for sale via Jackson-Stops at £995,000 — see more pictures and details.

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Country Life's guide to Salcombe

We recommend heading to the seaside town of Salcombe, on Devon’s south coast.

A modern-day castle in grounds created by a disciple of Lutyens, accessed by an electric portcullis

Lincombe Keep was designed to blend into its unique surroundings, in turn designed to make the most of the spectacular

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Dorset — £1.1 million

The opportunity to live in the woods at the end of the lane is a rare one, but Dogshole in Higher Houghton provides the perfect place for those looking for a large dose of peace and solitude. With white-washed walls and a thatched roof, Dogshole is something of a typical longhouse, but it’s believed to have been built in the 17th century as three separate farm cottages that have been merged into one family home.

The property offers four bedrooms and three large reception rooms, as well as 19 acres of grounds, including paddocks, bluebell woodlands and a lawned area with rose beds and climbers.

The owners have spent the past 12 years conserving and modernising the property, retaining features such as inglenook fireplaces and beams, and adding a new boiler and Rayburn. The roof was rethatched in 2013. If it all sounds a bit too secluded, the busy of village of Winterborne Stickland is a very short drive away.

For sale with Jackson-Stops. See more pictures and details about this property.

Gloucestershire — £900,000

Grade II-listed The Cottage in Wyck Rissington is the Ronseal of the property market — it does exactly what it says on the tin. This three-bedroom Cotswold cottage was originally built in the 19th century, but has received further extensions.

It has also been modernised and refurbished, although period features, such as exposed beams and the triple-aspect drawing room, were kept.

A small garden lies at the front, but the best place to enjoy this country cottage would be the lawned area to the rear, with space for alfresco dining, a summerhouse and store, plus well-planted borders and mature trees.

For sale with Savills. See more pictures and details about this property.

Warwickshire — £385,000

As has been previously discussed on these pages, great things come in small packages, and one such example is the delightful Fir Cottage in the heart of Ettington.

Perfect for those looking to escape the city, or to downsize, and with no stamp duty payable, this two-bedroom cottage boasts everything any cottage lover could ever need, such as a spacious sitting room with exposed timberwork and fireplace, a study that would suit a home office and a small snug with another fireplace that leads to the kitchen/dining room.

Outside, a small, but well-stocked garden offers more than enough space to read, garden and relax, and the amenities of Ettington itself, such as a coffee shop, sports facilities, pre- and primary schools and hotel, are all within walking distance.

For sale with Knight Frank. See more pictures and details about this property.

Chelsea — £4.95 million

A cottage doesn’t have to be in the countryside, as Swan Cottage in Chelsea proves quite convincingly. History and culture are imbibed in the very fibre of the property, which started life as the Swan Inn and was mentioned in Pepys’s diaries.

In the 20th century, Vivien Leigh stayed in the three-bedroom home, after her divorce from Laurence Olivier, and Rex Harrison and Kay Kendall lived here in 1958 when preparing for the debut of My Fair Lady.

With a position overlooking Chelsea Physic Garden, it would be extremely easy to forget you are in the nation’s capital and, should you be chasing a bit more privacy, the cottage comes with a charming and well-planted garden of its own. It’s hard to pin down a precise definition of rus in urbe, but Swan Cottage comes pretty close.

For sale with John D Wood. See more pictures and details about this property.

Credit: Strutt and Parker

Best country houses for sale this week

An irresistible West Country cottage and a magnificent Cumbrian country house make our pick of the finest country houses for

Credit: Alamy

Seven golden rules for selling a country house

With coronavirus now seemingly past its peak in Britain, we're tentatively beginning to look ahead to how life will get

In these days of flexible working, country-house buyers are more motivated by finding the right house, rather than being locked into a specific location.

However, one area where the old adage of ‘location, location, location’ still holds firm is the Cotswolds. In this respect, according to Lindsay Cuthill of Savills, the area is out of step with the rest of the country.

‘The currency of the Cotswolds is much stronger than any other identifiable area,’ he believes.

‘The whole region can be split into key marketplaces, depending on the type of buyer.’

With big-draw destinations and improving access to London, a significant value gap is opening up within the north and south Cotswolds, forcing buyers to choose one over the other. Arabella Youens examines the merits of both.

Price

The A40, which runs through the Cotswolds AONB, from Witney at its eastern edge to Cheltenham to the west, marks something of a dividing point between values of north and south. Research carried out for Country Life by Knight Frank reveals that the average price of the top 10% of sales in 2017 was £936,690 south of the A40, rising to £1.112 million to the north.

‘Let’s not forget geography,’ warns Bruce Tolmie-Thomson, Knight Frank’s new regional head.

‘The north Cotswolds is that much closer to London and that access will always make the area a bit more expensive.’

However, it is at the very top end of the market that the difference is most marked. A seven-bedroom house with stables and 50 acres will cost between £4 million and £6 million in the Cirencester-to-Tetbury countryside, estimates Jonathan Bramwell of The Buying Solution.

‘But in classic “Daylesford country” – the triangle between Stow-on-the-Wold, Chipping Norton and Burford – that rises to between £6 million and £10 million.’

Verdict: For better value, head south

Buyers

When Lady Bamford opened a farm shop on her Daylesford estate in 2002, it caught the imagination of Londoners. The area was already on the map for ‘Notting Hillbillies’ – hedgefunders and City financiers who had knocked Chelsea off its hotspot in the late 1990s and for whom a straight shot down the A40/M40 was no problem.

‘Prior to this, the north Cotswold market was dominated by City money,’ says Mr Bramwell. ‘Then came the media, sporting and other buyers and the average age dropped dramatically.’

Flames of interest were fanned during the time of David Cameron’s so-called Chipping Norton set, but when Nick Jones opened Soho Farmhouse, with its strict ‘creatives only’ membership profile, in August 2015, the Cotswold-cool ethos was set in stone.

The south Cotswolds has long had its own glamour magnet in the polo set that congregate around Cirencester and Beaufort. Today, it’s generally accepted that those with a more equestrian leaning, as well as those looking for a primary residence rather than a weekend home, will be drawn south.

For James Walker of Savills, the south is ‘rather more understated and self-effacing, and possibly less obvious as an initial Cotswolds destination’. The substantial price difference is tempting, too. ‘They’re finding better value and they can easily drive up to Soho Farmhouse or Daylesford,’ adds Mr Tolmie-Thomson.

Verdict: For endless opportunities to name-drop at dinner parties, the north.

Character

The classic Cotswolds cocktail of beautifully preserved villages in warm, honey-coloured sandstone, with views over undulating hills, is more often found to the north. But these charms have not gone unnoticed by the day-trippers somewhat invading the tranquillity of the likes of Burford, Broadway and Chipping Campden. Which is, perhaps, why Lonely Planet named the south Cotswolds one of the best-kept secrets in Europe back in 2014.

Less manicured, the south has a more rugged topography, with deep valleys, harebell-covered fields and steep, wooded hills, and yet still a clutch of pretty market towns, including Cirencester, Minchinhampton and Tetbury.

Verdict: For being far from the madding crowd of tourists, the south.

Culture

Here, the advantages to the two areas even out. Those based in the north can drop down to Oxford with all its theatres, museums, galleries and first-class intellectual minds.

Meanwhile, Cheltenham, which is often dubbed the ‘cultural centre of the Cotswolds’, has an array of festivals and events, which range from music to literature, film, food and drink and more, is accessible from both. Work has recently begun on a £700,000 facelift of the town centre, the first phase of which is expected to be completed this year.

Finally, those based in the very south can enjoy the delights of Bath.

Verdict: With so much on the doorstep of both regions, it’s a dead heat.

Schools

In the north, it’s no doubt that Oxford’s clutch of world-renowned schools, chief among them the Dragon, Summer Fields and Oxford High School, has propelled prices in the city as well as the surrounding countryside. Co-ed prep Kitebrook, near Moreton-in-Marsh, is firmly on buyers’ maps, as well as Tudor Hall near Banbury.

Two standout prep schools, Beaudesert Prep School and Pinewood, sit in the south of the region, and Cheltenham boasts three independents: Cheltenham College, Cheltenham Ladies’ College and Dean Close, among plenty of good State options.

Verdict: Oxford’s schools are hard to beat, but its rush-hour traffic is famously nightmarish. Cheltenham, accessible from both north and south, offers a good mix of schools and fewer congestion headaches.

London commute

Once, there wasn’t much wriggle room between catching a train at Kemble in the south or Kingham in the north, as both delivered passengers into Paddington. However, now that the line from Banbury to Marylebone has improved, with a faster and more regular service – the best complete the journey in an hour – there’s another reason to tip the balance towards the north.

There’s also the added benefit of the M40, adds Mr Bramwell. ‘It’s always been regarded as a more desirable link out of London than the M4.’

Verdict: The north. Anything to avoid the M4’s upgrade to a smart motorway (not scheduled to be completed until March 2022).

A romantic cottage in the heart of the Cotswolds at the price of a small city flat

A heart-stoppingly romantic cottage in the Cotswolds has come to the market at a price which will make city dwellers

The Cotswolds manor house rumoured to be Prince Harry and Meghan's new home

Luckington Court has returned to the market after 70 years.

Credit: Jackson-Stops & Staff

A delightful 18th century home set in 36 acres of glorious Cotswolds countryside

Lower Moor Manor drips with character, thanks to exposed beams and flagstone floors – but the house itself is just

Credit: Castle House, Deddington

A 17th century castle that offers life in the heart of a lovely Cotswolds village

A delightful little castle has come to the market in the Cotswolds – but unusually it's for rent rather than for

Describing an English home as a ‘quintessential cottage’ gives it quite a high bar to clear. However, like Dick Fosbury himself, Pear Tree Cottage in Devon leaps over with ease. It's on the market through Marchand Petit at £1.15m.

The number of boxes this delightful home ticks is quite wonderful. There’s a thatched roof, period features such as open fireplaces and exposed beams, and a gorgeous setting within walking distance of Bantham beach and Thurlestone golf links.

Inside, the property has been recently renovated to the highest standard, an example of which being the bespoke kitchen with its granite worktops and Aga.

However, the pièce-de-résistance is the garden room, which overlooks beautifully landscaped gardens.

The room is a recent addition, and boasts a floor-to-ceiling curved glass wall, with bi-folding doors.

What’s that you say? You’re still not satisfied? Well, there’s also a separate annexe offering a workshop, triple-bay garage, and living accommodation — all accessed, quite brilliantly, by a little wooden bridge.

And then there are the gardens, wonderfully landscaped to give a feeling that you're looking out over your very own private valley. Which is exactly what you have here: there is a stream at the bottom, and the whole thing is exquisitely private.

The cottage is actually in a hamlet called West Buckland, an unspoilt place just inland from the coast and enjoying peace and tranquillity, away from main road traffic and protected from the prevailing wind.

Nearby are the larger coastal villages of Thurlestone and Bantham. The former is famed for its 18-hole links golf course but also has some fine beaches, a village pub, shop, church and a hotel which offers country club-type membership to non-residents — it has squash courts, a swimming pool and even its own 9-hole golf course.

The other nearby village, Bantham, is one of the prettiest villages in the South Hams, sitting at the mouth of the River Avon and protected by sand dunes and vast expanses of golden beach.

Pear Tree Cottage is for sale via Marchand Petit at £1.15 million — see more details and pictures.

Eight irresistible thatched cottages for sale, from under £450,000

The romantic appeal of an English country cottage with a thatched roof never fades, as these wonderful homes show.

All prospective housebuyers, no matter what their budgets, have to compromise. Even those with wealth to rival Croesus have to decide what balance of charm, history, location and space they're looking for in a house — unless, of course, they're willing to give up the romantic dream of a centuries-old home and build something new. It's a compromise either way.

Rarely are the trade-offs more obvious than with the traditional English country cottage, however. Our wonderful countryside is peppered with chocolate box cottages so pretty and charming that they'll make you sigh every time you pull the car up outside, but they generally share a problem: size.

Cottages were originally built as workers' homes and are invariably very modest in size. In modern terms they're ideal for couples whose offpsring have either yet to materialise or have left the nest. For families, however, they're often too small to be practical.

Every so often, however, a place comes along which offers charm and space — and that's absolutely the case with the Grade II-listed Willow & Marshgate, in the village of Breamore, a few miles south of Salisbury, which is for sale via Winkworth at £1.195 million.

The reason for its healthy size (almost 3,500 sq ft in total, which must make it one of the biggest thatched cottages in England) is because Willow & Marshgate was once four workers’ cottages, dating back to the 17th century.

The house was sold by the Breamore Estate into private ownership at the end of the 20th century and has been refurbished in recent years.

The work has been done to a very good standard inside, both in the three reception rooms and elsewhere — this is very much a move-straight-in house. There are top-of-the-range appliances and fittings, including include a Clearview wood-burning stove in the sitting room, a Rayburn range in the kitchen and — best of all — a cupboard by Dalbergia hidden behind a secret door which disguises it as a bookcase.

The property offers five bedrooms and three bathrooms, and there are quirks thanks to its history: there as two utility rooms, for example, as well as three staircases. And while none of the bedrooms is en-suite, several have their own dressing rooms — for some, that will a deal-breaker, but for others... well, we did say that all housebuyers have to compromise.

One thing you won't have to compromise on is the bucolic setting. There are lovely gardens of just under an acre and a half and views over the Breamore water meadows, while there's a fine village pub and an active community hall.

Willow & Marshgate is for sale via Winkworth at £1.195 million — see more details and pictures.

The spot on the chalky hills of Wiltshire and Dorset named as one of the finest places in the world for stargazing

The Cranborne Chase Nature Reserve was awarded the prestigious International Dark-Sky Reserve title after efforts to minimise light pollution ensured

Credit: Strutt and Parker

Best country houses for sale this week

An irresistible West Country cottage and a magnificent Cumbrian country house make our pick of the finest country houses for

Giving things a name is a curious affair. Deciding what moniker your child should have, for example, assumes a great importance since, like it or not, a name is a label for life by which people can (and will) judge.

At the other end of the spectrum there are the ludicrous efforts gone to by manufacturers of paint and producers of fried potato snacks. What elephant ever breathed a shade of grey? Has a packet of smoky bacon crisps even been in the same postcode as a rasher of bacon, smoked or otherwise?

Thus it’s always refreshing to find something — anything — which is given a perfectly simple and apt name. All of which leads us to Cottage on the Green, which — to quote Shakespeare, or was it Marlowe? — does exactly what it says on the tin.

This chocolate box cottage — on sale at a startling reasonable-sounding £499,000 via Jackson-Stops — is situated in the heart of the village of Tollard Royal, a few miles to the south-west of Salisbury and the north of Bournemouth, in the heart of the Cranborne Chase AONB.

The house is listed as a three-bedroom place, though there’s an extra room downstairs presently used as a study which could as easily be used as a box-room accessible without the need of stairs.

There are two main reception rooms, plus a conservatory off to one side of the dining room, and three bedrooms plus a bathroom upstairs.

The drawing room also serves as the hallway from which the rest of the house is accessed, and it’s full of character, with ceiling beams and a huge fireplace, with an original bread oven tucked into the corner.

There is also a large kitchen/breakfast room decorated in a more modern style, but with enough space and light to make it a pleasant space.

Wander out of the kitchen door and you’re into the cottage’s resplendent gardens, with lawned areas bordered by colourful shrubs, trees and flowers.

Arguably best of all is the house’s setting, set back and screened from the main road, overlooking the aforementioned village green.

The green in question features, thankfully, a pond rather than a cricket pitch, so you won’t have to worry about smashed windows during the summer.

For sale at £499,000 via Jackson Stops — see more details and pictures.

Credit: H Tiddy

12 stunning character properties for sale at under £400,000

Thatched homes in Cornwall and West Sussex are among the many highlights of these gorgeous character cottages for sale.

Ten gorgeous thatched cottages for sale across Britain, from under £500,000

Our pick of the best thatched cottages and houses for sale today across England.

Credit: Savills

A gorgeous thatched cottage with granny annexe and its own orchard, just outside the M25 and under £800k

The delightfully-named Rabbits Corner is an idyllic cottage with a superb granny annexe, just outside the M25 — yet for

Adorable cottages in the countryside are normally paired with adorable price points, varying from the low £300,000s, usually up to £800,000. We see so many adorable little hideaways for under £400,000 that we’ve actually rounded the best of them up for you.

So when we see a cute little cottage for over £1 million, we sit up a little straighter and take a look at what exact bang buyers are getting for their buck.

Claybottom Farm, Wigton has been upgraded from country cottage to ‘lakeland residence’ by estate agents Fine & Country via OnTheMarket.com, who have put it on the market at a guide price of £1,100,000.

Said to date from the 1600s, the farmhouse has been beautifully renovated and is charmingly neutral, celebrating natural wood touches with light tones and wonderful scenery with big windows. Underfloor heating abounds throughout the ground floor (except for the living room, for the sake of protecting the original flagstone floor) and a sympathetic glass extension shows off the beauty of the Caldbeck Fells beyond. This sets it apart from many other farmhouses, which so often fall victim to their smaller rooms and lower ceilings.

With four bedrooms, twelve acres of land and equestrian facilities (a stone, two-story barn with stables, a track room, and stores), Claybottom Farm’s placement in this particular price bracket becomes a little clearer. Idyllically placed in the northern region of the Lake District National Park in the quaint hamlet of Nether Row, one could hardly ask for a more picturesque setting.

Landscaped gardens lie beyond the house, including a large kitchen garden, a beautiful terrace (perfect for an evening drink in the summer months) and even a Mediterranean orangery. Although one could live a perfectly rounded life within the land’s borders, the Fells wait just beyond, with promises of horse riding, hiking, biking and the like.

For those not quite ready to let go of the outside world, the nearby Caldbeck and Hesket Newmarket are both less than two miles away, with schools, shops, pubs, doctor’s surgeries and all the other mundane things which one may need. Whatever your plans, we can’t think of a better place to post your self to best explore North Cumbria.

Claybottom Farm is on the market through agents Fine & Country via OnTheMarket.com at a guide price of £1,100,000. Click here for more information and images.

Some houses you look at and marvel at their grandeur. Others wow you with their location. But once in a while what prompts that sharp intake of breath is the sheer, ridiculous picturesqueness of a home. The sort of home which looks like a chocolate box tin come to life.

And that was the case when we happened across the incomparably pretty Swiss Cottage, in the Wiltshire village of Shrivenham, a few miles from Swindon, which has come to the market with Chancellors via OnTheMarket.com at £575,000.

This absurdly gorgeous little cottage, set in a third of an acre of tree-lined gardens, has a back story that's every bit as romantic as you'd hope. It was built in 1850 by Robert Whitehead, aka Lord Barrington of Beckett Hall, who wanted to recreate the picture-perfect Alpine cottage in which he'd honeymooned with his wife, Frances.

How lovely to hear of an aristocratic marriage of yeteryear which was so obviously steeped in love rather than a desire to earn political or social advantage. It's somewhat less romantic to read that Whitehead was the naval engineer who went on to invent the self-propelled torpedo; but at least he did so while tinkering with things alongside his 12-year-old son, John.

The cottage itself has an unusual design that's bursting with quirky charm; those pointed rooves might look pretty, for example, but it plays havoc with the the head space in the upstairs rooms, which consist of two bedrooms and a bathroom.

The other two bedrooms — one of which is currently used as a reception room — are downstairs, coming off the main room which is dominated by a large, brick-built fireplace.

While it's presented in a perfectly liveable state, there's no getting away from the fact that the place could use a little TLC, though as things stand it's highly likely to get a lot more than that from whoever takes it on. Planning permission has been granted for a linked extension and new building to the rear of the structure, opening up all manner of possibilities for whoever becomes the new owner of this house.

As things stand, the plans detail the creation of a new master bedroom with en-suite bathroom on the ground floor, and a living/dining/kitchen area with an external sunken patio on the lower ground floor. Of course, with permission in place it's generally that much easier to apply for tweaks and changes, but that would be for the new owner to think and worry about. As will the brick outhouse, which will also offer intriguing possibilities.

Either way, this charming little place offers a fabulous chance to own a truly lovely home. The selling agent Ben Lewington describes it as 'one of the most unique properties I have ever come across. It represents an unmissable opportunity to not only own a piece of history, but to create a truly stunning residence.'

Swiss Cottage is for sale with Chancellors via OnTheMarket.com at £575,000 — see more details and pictures.

Eight irresistible thatched cottages for sale, from under £450,000

The romantic appeal of an English country cottage with a thatched roof never fades, as these wonderful homes show.

Wiltshire, £2 million

Donhead St Mary is a sought-after village and Castle House Farm sits on its pretty western edge, close to the Dorset border. Restored and extended, this substantial property now offers light and airy accommodation, yet retains good period features.

It has comfortable reception rooms and six bedrooms; outside, a charming English country garden leads on to 11 acres of pasture.

For sale with Savills. See more pictures and details about this property.

East Sussex, £950,000

Dating back to the 17th century, Stapleys Farm is a charming four-bedroom property, sympathetically updated. Reception rooms include a handsome sitting room, a conservatory and a fitted kitchen; the gardens feature lawns, a wildlife pond and fruit trees.

Arlington is a historic village at the foot of the South Downs with a village hall, pub and well-attended church.

For sale with Rowland Gorringe . See more pictures and details about this property.

Gloucestershire, £475,000

In the heart of the vibrant Cotswold village of Blockley, Birch Cottage offers versatile accommodation spread over three levels, including a double-aspect sitting room and a fantastic mezzanine breakfast/kitchen.

Upstairs are the master suite and two further bedrooms, plus a family bathroom. Blockley itself has a shop and a café, two pubs, an excellent primary school, a church and even a popular gym.

For sale with Knight Frank. See more pictures and details about this property.

Hertfordshire, £600,000

A wonderful thatched property in the hamlet of Newnham – close to Ashwell, named one of Country Life’s top commuter villages.

Pilgrims Cottage has oodles of character; its triple-aspect sitting room retains its original inglenook and the large kitchen has terrific views. It has a separate one-bedroom annexe.

For sale with Strutt & Parker . See more pictures and details about this property.

East Lothian, £850,000

A substantial B-listed former farmhouse dating from 1690, Staneford House is located in Athelstaneford, a much-loved conservation village in East Lothian.

Reception rooms include a double-aspect sitting room, a cheerful kitchen/breakfast room and a handsome dining room, which overlooks the extensive gardens. Upstairs, four bedrooms include an impressive triple-aspect master suite.

For sale with Simpson & Marwick . See more pictures and details about this property.

30 magnificent properties, from picture-perfect cottages to converted windmills

Credit: Jackson-Stops

A picture-perfect Cotswolds farm house, stunningly decorated and remarkably unlisted

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Credit: knight frank

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Credit: Butler Sherborn

A Georgian-style house with a gorgeous walled garden in a picture-perfect Cotswolds village

In an enviable position bordering the picturesque village of Minchinhampton, Woodlands is perfect for any family looking to downsize.

Hampshire — £575,000

Peeping through leaves in its garden filled with shrubs and spring bulbs, plus a timbered summer house adjoining a pod, Dove Cottage (nothing to do with Wordsworth, but feel free to write poetry) enjoys a quiet spot in the centre of North Waltham village.

There are three bedrooms, with potential for a fourth, beneath its thatched roof, as well as exposed beams and a woodburner. Overton is only four miles away, with trains to Waterloo and a pretty high street, and Basingstoke five miles.

For sale with Knight Frank. See more pictures and details about this property.

West Sussex — £1.05 million

It may be thatched, heart-achingly pretty and date from the 15th century, but Rushcutters is unlisted — music to some buyers’ ears. It’s been enlarged, with its character features maintained, plus some fun additions, such as a split-level sitting room and a vaulted dining room and study.

Two of the three bedrooms also have vaulted ceilings and, outside, an extensive decking area with a raised viewing platform connects to an outbuilding currently used as a garage-cum-artist’s studio. The lovely garden contains shrubs, trees, a kitchen garden, fruit orchard, greenhouse, four sheds and an octagonal summer house. In the quiet hamlet of Offham, Arundel is less than two miles away.

For sale with GL & Co . See more pictures and details about this property.

Cambridgeshire — £525,000

Picture-perfect Springbanks sits right on the Bythorn village green next to St Lawrence’s Church, about 12 miles from Huntingdon and 15 from Kettering.

There are four bedrooms, a conservatory/breakfast room and flagstone and oak floors throughout. The gardens have been recently landscaped, incorporating a cast-iron water pump, vegetable patches, a raised lawn area, a terrace and an ornamental pond.

For sale with Peter Lane & Partners. See more pictures and details about this property.

Hampshire — £750,000

The South Downs hamlet of Beauworth, not far from Alresford and Winchester, is the setting for thatched Corner Cottage, which is recommended for its tasteful contemporary touches among historic features, such as an enormous inglenook fireplace and exposed timbers.

A vaulted kitchen extension is filled with light and opens onto the dining room, with views over the gardens and fields. There are two bedrooms upstairs — the master has an en-suite bathroom — with room for a third downstairs.

For sale with Savills. See more pictures and details about this property.

West Sussex — £1.15 million

No apologies for including multiple cottages so close to each other in West Sussex — this place in Amberley is very close to Arundel, as is Rushcutters (above) — when they're both so beautiful.

Pine Cottage is as enticing inside as it is beautiful outside, with a lovely bay window seat from which to enjoy the fine gardens and breathtaking views, plus a dining room with a handsome, inglenook fireplace, exposed timbers and oak parquet flooring.

For sale with Strutt & Parker. See more pictures and details about this property.

Devon — £415,000

Tucked into a hillside, Knowle Cottage is a five-bedroom detached home in the village of Drewsteignton, just a short stroll from the pub and post office.

It's full of genuine, old world character — expect low ceilings, huge beams and thick walls, as well as a pretty garden with views across the valley.

For sale with Fowlers. See more pictures and details about this property.

Hampshire – £1.75 million

Thatched cottages often have one caveat: they tend to be rather small. That's far from the case at this beautiful home in the village of Easton, just outside Winchester, which boasts five bedrooms and over 3,500sq ft of space. It's a beautiful place with light, graceful rooms and a master bedroom with a vine-clad balcony.

Charmingly picture-perfect as it is, you might be surprised to learn that the house was only built in 1945 — in other words, you have old school charm with far fewer headaches. And smaller bills, too: the house is powered by a ground source heat pump.

For sale with Charters. See more pictures and details about this property.

Suffolk – £795,000

Willow Farm might be half a millennium old, but this fine old place is a real family home for the 21st century with four bedrooms, a huge playroom, a workshop and garage with room for four houses.

There is a huge amount of character in this Grade-II listed home, with the charmingly crooked beams in the ceilings and walls, while outside there are huge lawns and a pond.

For sale with Musker McIntyre. See more pictures and details about this property.

The trouble with working at Country Life is that, each day, one inevitbly comes across an aray of absolutely stunning properties which one must subsequently share with the British public.

Sometimes, it's exiting to sing of their accolades; their acres of parkland, proximity to leading golf courses and propensity to house an array of delighted guests. Other times, however, it slightly hurts to wave goodbye to one's dream home and wish it on another happy family.

Church Cottage in Sulhamstead Abbots is such a house, an absolutely stunning 4-bedroom cottage on the outskirts of Berkshire. Quaint and rural, the idyllic thatched home is on the market with Warmingham estate agents via OnTheMarket.com at a guide price of £1.65 million.

Dating back to the mid 1500s, it's no surprise that Church Cottage is Grade II-listed. However, despite its period appearance and far-reaching history, Church Cottage has been both restored and lovingly updated to be a perfectly comfortable modern home.

Clean furnishings and large rooms abound, with the kitchen, breakfast room and family room all open plan. The seperate sitting room is quiet and lovely, and the seperate dining room is just large enough to host a Christmas. A seperate utility room leads off from the kitchen.

If you're an equestrian, you'd be delighted to hear that as well as a swimming pool and pool house, Church Cottage's four and a half acres includes a paddock, stable yard, a gated and railed manège, stables and a tack room. The agricultural wizzes will delight in the kitchen garden, while anyone with a green thumb will keep the formal gardens in shape.

It's ideally located (for some more than others, unless it's also the perfect distance from your parents so that they can babysit, but not drop by unnanounced) close to Reading Station, which will get you into London in just over 20 minutes or out to the seaside in an hour or two.

It's a lovely property, sure to delight any countryside family who enjoy the slow pace of rural life, as well as the odd night out in the city. If, however, in ten years or so you feel the need to upsize, don't hesistate to get in touch. I'd love to take it off your hands.

Church Cottage is on the market through Warmingham via OnTheMarket.com at a guide price of £1.65 million. Click here for more information and pictures. 

Credit: Savills

A fine farmhouse in a heartbreakingly pretty spot on the Isle of Arran has come up for sale

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Credit: Alamy

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A cottage where chocolate-box charm meets an idyllic seaside setting

A picture-perfect fishermans cottage perched at the end of a pier, far away from the heat and bustle of city

Credit: Jackson-Stops

A picture-perfect cottage for sale in a delightful village near the coast in the North York Moors

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Surprisingly-unlisted fairytale cottage in Berkshire with quaint gardens and a fantastic location

Mistletoe Cottage is picture-perfect, with lovely period features, a wonderful Home County location and a price tag many would find

Credit: Jackson-Stops

An idyllic thatched cottage where you can run your own Devonshire tea garden

Amid steams and waterfalls, Rose Cottage boasts a stunning tea garden perfect for hosting a few friends – or 185

Credit: knight frank

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A picture-perfect Cotswolds farm house, stunningly decorated and remarkably unlisted

Hampen Lodge offers beautiful vistas and a quiet, idyllic lifestyle, with a range of sporting opportunities and close proximity to

As the temperature shows no side of dropping this summer and it's predicted that London's climate will resemble Barcelona's over the next thirty years, it may be time to think a little outside the box and look to greener pastures with a healthy dose of coastal winds.

It's unsurprising, given its location and quaint charm, that Quay Cottage in Porlock Weir used to be a fisherman's cottage. Sitting at the end of a charming row of houses, Quay Cottage is the closest to the water, thatched next to a row of tiled roofs with a garden at the front and the back.

Currently on the market with Greenslade Taylor Hunt looking for offers over £475,000, the house shouts holiday destination, with direct access to an adorable pebble beach on the Bristol Channel, as well as another beach on the other side of the house. Views stretch out to the Channel, the Harbour and the Weir – the perfect place for a family with a love of the ocean and its many varied sporting pursuits.

With a location so gorgeous, it's a good thing that Quay Cottage has more windows than you would expect from a traditional English cottage. The main downstairs bedroom has the kind of large sliding doors one would find in a beachside riviera home, looking out to a sweet couryard. The upstairs bedrooms have far-reaching views.

The little country kitchen is beautifully tiled and leads out to the modest dining room, with sliding doors to the outside. The cosy living room sits at the entrance to the property, ready to greet guests as they come in. The gardens also contain a small studio and a timber summerhouse.

The hamlet of Porlock Weir sits in the Exmoor National Park, a short drive from the coastal down of Minehead. It's not a place to live if you want easy connections to the rest of the country, but then again, it's a place you'll never want to leave.

Quay Cottage is on the market through Greenslade Taylor Hunt for offers over £475,000. For more information and images, please click here. 

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Credit: H Tiddy

12 stunning character properties for sale at under £400,000

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Straight out of a fairytale, the appropriately-named Mistletoe Cottage sits in its surroundings as if grown from them. On the market through Knight Frank at £945,000, this idyllic property is set on almost an acre of land in rural Berkshire.

Surprisingly unlisted, Mistletoe Cottage is full of wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling character. The kitchen is a wonderfully inviting room with bespoke fittings, a classic country AGA and an eating space, with french doors opening up onto the garden.

Joining the kitchen on the lower floor are three further reception areas, including a dining room for more-formal dinners, a lovely snug and a large sitting room. The house has a further downstairs room, currently in use as a study.

Up the stairs lie five bedrooms – a master and four smaller (but still well-proportioned) rooms. There is only one upstairs bathroom, shared by the master suite and the other large room, but one of the lower floor bathrooms has a bath and the unlisted nature of the property leaves room for new owners to make improvements, should they find this arrangement unsuitable.

All of the rooms are charmingly decorated in a fashion which makes use of the wealth of natural wood which appears throughout the property in exposed beams and support columns.

The far-reaching views available on one side of the property (the other three sides are bordered by mature trees) make up for the relatively modest-sized garden, offering swathes of Berkshire countryside as far as the eye can see.

Encompassing the property on all sides, the humble garden is much like the cottage itself; full of surprises. Sporting a substantial vegetable garden as well as a fruit garden, charming lawn and both and orchard and a pond, there is little room to imagine anything better suited to the grounds than what already exists.

Several outbuildings are currently used as a pot house and a storage, but have the flexibility to be transformed into a study space or even a home gym. There is potential for the plot to be further developed on one side with the addition of another house, subject to permissions being obtained.

Positioned in the sought-after hamlet of Inkpen, a network of quiet country lanes connect the property to the M4 and A34 beyond. The nearby market towns of Newbury and Hungerford as well as the village of Kintbury all boast mainline stations.

Mistletoe Cottage is on the market with Knight Frank at a guide price of £945,000. For more information and pictures, click here.

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Credit: Knight Frank

Stunning Grade II-listed character property in Berkshire, half an hour from central London by the new Elizabeth line

With the Crossrail predicted to open later this year, homes in Berkshire are more attractive to city commuters than ever.

Suffolk – £450,000

A quaint little village made famous by Gainsborough, Constable and the BBC’s Lovejoy, Long Melford also boasts an accomplished former resident: Admiral William Hanwell, who commanded vessels against Napoleon in the early 1800s, and this home – Hanwell House – has a Blue Plaque to show for it.

A Grade II-listed Georgian property, it has high ceilings, three bedrooms and a courtyard garden. The market town of Sudbury is only two miles away and Bury St Edmunds is 12 miles to the north.

For sale with Carter Jonas. See more pictures and details about this property.

Norfolk – £400,000

The Old Beams is a Grade II-listed 16th-century cottage that has a lovely west-facing garden with a natural pond.

It's set in the low-density village of Forncett St Peter, not far from Wymondham, and which has three churches, an well-regarded primary school and a pub.

For sale with Jackson-Stops. See more pictures and details about this property.

Warwickshire – £499,950

Period features about at this picture-perfect, three-bedroom cottage with inglenook fireplace, thatched roof and several wood-burning stoves.

The cottage is in Stoneleigh, five miles from Leamington Spa and Kenilworth, and backs on to a meadow.

For sale with Wiglesworth. See more pictures and details about this property.

Somerset – £395,000

On an elevated spot, just opposite the beginning of a footpath in the village of Crowcombe, near Taunton, that leads up onto the Quantock Hills, picture-perfect Grade II-listed Dairy Cottage has two bedrooms, open fireplaces and an Aga.

The south-facing gardens are on two levels, with raised flowerbeds and a crescent-shaped terrace.

For sale with Jackson-Stops. See more pictures and details about this property.

Oxfordshire – £495,000

In the village of Marcham, about two miles west of Abingdon and 10 miles from Oxford, lies this picturesque, stone-built thatched cottage.

It has two main bedrooms with a third that's currently used as a study, plus two separate receptions and beautiful gardens adjacent to the grounds of Denman in Marcham Village.

For sale with Thomas Merrifield. See more pictures and details about this property.

Devon – £275,000

The proportions of Flowerpot Cottage are deceptively large, say agents, with two bedrooms, a dining room with stone floors, wood-burning stoves and an inglenook fireplace with a bread oven.

It’s one of the oldest cottages in Yealmpton, which has a primary school, two pubs and two churches and is surrounded by miles of footpaths, including in the inviting Yealm valley.

For sale with Marchand Petit. See more pictures and details about this property.

Credit: H Tiddy

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Credit: Strutt and Parker

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Buckinghamshire – £800,000

A country cottage for those who want to think big, this 17th century home in the village of Moulsoe has six bedrooms, three reception rooms and even a triple garage.

This tiny village has a church and a pub, while the towns of Newport Pagnell and Milton Keynes aren't too far away – nor is the M1, which offers easy access to London and beyond.

For sale with Michael Graham. See more pictures and details about this property.

Devon – £800,000

A listed, granite-built cottage in Dartmoor set within half an acre, and full of period touches: beamed ceilings, original windows and huge inglenook fires are to be found.

Yet a huge amount of work has been done updating and adding to this home, with a pair of outbuildings now serving as a home office and 'media barn' respectively.

For sale with Jackson-Stops. See more pictures and details about this property.

North Yorkshire – £425,000

Is there a more wonderful village name in Britain than Ugglebarnby? If there is we've yet to hear it, and the village itself doesn't disappoint with its beautiful setting near Whitby, and within the North Yorks Moors National Park.

It has been modernised, but plenty of original features remain: beamed ceilings, deep recessed windows and a kitchen with Aga set in to an old, brick-built fireplace.

For sale with Astin's. See more pictures and details about this property.

Suffolk – £475,000

A delightful, thatched cottage in the Suffolk village of Great Waldingfield, three miles or so from Sudbury.

It's a three bedroom, three reception room home dating back to the 17th century and set in dreamlike gardens. Some updating is needed, but there's real scope to add value since planning permission has been obtained for internal changes as well as the construction of a timber cart lodge within the grounds.

For sale with Humberts. See more pictures and details about this property.

Surrey – £730,000

Brand new to the market, Plough Corner Cottage is a Grade II-listed timber-framed property in Cobham, dating back to the 17th century. Beautifully presented, the house features low-beamed ceilings and an inglenook fireplace.

With a generous 1,400sq ft of internal space, accommodation includes three bedrooms, two reception rooms and a conservatory extension. The garden, which encircles the house, offers impressive views out to the west.

For sale with Sotheby's International Realty. See more pictures and details about this property.

Picture-perfect village houses within the North York Moors National Park as rare as hens’ teeth these days, so the launch onto the market of Grade II*-listed Pond House at Aislaby, three miles from the coast at Whitby, is bound to cause a stir in this delightful part of ‘God’s own country’.

Nick Talbot of Jackson-Stops in York quotes a guide price of ‘offers over £695,000’ for the exquisitely symmetrical, 18th-century house built of ashlar stone from the historic Aislaby Quarry, which supplied blockstones in the 17th and 18th centuries for harbours such as Whitby, Margate and Ramsgate, as well as the Strand Bridge in London.

The house provides some 2,900sq ft of living space in all, including a pleasant entrance hall and two main reception rooms.

There is also a garden room/music room, a light and cheerful breakfast-kitchen, six bedrooms and two bathrooms.

The setting of Pond House makes it an oasis of tranquillity. Its walled front garden with south-facing aspect offers a high degree of privacy, with another large garden to the rear leading off into fields to the rear.

According to its current owner, Rita Fuller, who, with her late husband, bought Pond House in a fairly neglected state in 1980, the property has a history as colourful in its way as the garden they created there during their 38-year tenure.

The house is believed to have been built between 1782 and 1789, probably by one Francis Breckon, who subsequently rented it to a Miss Rebecca Boulby. At some point, Rebecca’s daughter Ann had a liaison with Breckon’s son, John, and subsequently gave birth to three illegitimate daughters, who, years later, embarked on a lengthy court case.

Their claim to ownership of Pond House was successful, due to the fact that their mother hadn’t received a penny of maintenance from their father throughout their 20-year relationship.

Other colourful occupants include two unmarried lady cousins of Sir John Harrowing, who owned Pond House in the 1920s. The ladies had a manservant called Kit, who lived on the top floor of the house and was known to enjoy the occasional tipple.

One day, having somewhat over-indulged, he fell through the bannisters down to the ground floor, but, luckily, was able to pick himself up and stagger off unharmed, much to the relief of his employers, who thought he’d probably been killed.

Pond House is for sale via Jackson-Stops at £695,00 – see more pictures and details.

Credit: Strutt and Parker

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It’s not often that you find a home and profession all rolled into one but we've seen a few cross our desks in recent months. We’ve had vineyards from all around the world, beautiful country hotels perfect for family living or running as a business, and now we've added a new potential career to our collection: a thriving tea garden complete with a restaurant that can cater for 185 tea-lovers.

Mini waterfalls, a footbridge, a lake and a clear stream pepper the playfully picturesque 1.4-acre grounds around Grade II-listed Rose Cottage, currently on the market at a guide price £995,000 with Jackson-Stops.

In the centre of Cockington village, a mere mile from Torquay, the delightful cottage is in fine fettle. A fireplace with wood burner greets one walking into the sitting room where doors lead out into the garden, a rolling 1.4 acres teeming with delightful features.

A bedroom with a dressing room sits at the top of the house, charmingly worked into Rose Cottage’s unusually quirky, historic architecture.

The first floor boats three further bedrooms and another bathroom, while a dining room and idyllic country kitchen join the sitting room on the ground floor.

While these attributes alone make this property worthy of consideration, the tea garden is what sets Rose Cottage apart from other country houses currently on the market.

Decked terraces and covered dining areas spread out from the house into the surrounding tree-lined gardens, sporting their own dedicated kitchen, bathrooms and serving area.

The cottage has become quite famous for its cream teas and live piano music, entertaining the residents of the quiet village for the last twenty years.

With summer around the corner we cannot think of a more idyllic place to enjoy a few scones – just make sure you put on the cream first, then the jam. This is Devon, not Cornwall!

Rose Cottage is on the market with Jackson-Stops for a guide price of £995,000. See more pictures here.

Credit: H Tiddy

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Essex – £750,000

This absolutely gorgeous cottage dating back to the 17th century isn't just charming and full of character: it also comes with an acre of land, including a wonderful garden and some woodland.

It's a three-bedroom home near Brentwood that's had a two-storey extension to give much more space than the original building would have had. There is now a a kitchen/breakfast room, utility room and a second staircase leading to a generous master bedroom suite which overlooks the rear gardens.

If you need yet more outdoor space, it's worth knowing that this home is across the road from a nature reserve.

For sale with Savills. See more pictures and details about this property.

Middlesex – £625,000

Some wonderfully clever architecture in this detached, three-bedroom cottage in Northwood has made great use of the space, with the open plan downstairs living room arranged around a stylish staircase.

Located not far from Northwood, the house is over the road from the golf course and walking distance to the station.

For sale with Gibbs Gillespie. See more pictures and details about this property.

Surrey – £500,000

Coming in under the half-million mark is this period home in the centre of Caterham, just inside the M25, with a fine living room that has beamed ceilings and an enormous inglenook fireplace.

There's also a large garden and off-street parking – the compromise being that you're on the main road through the town.

For sale with Cubitt & West. See more pictures and details about this property.

Essex – £600,000

Before you ask, no, you don't get the whole place. But £600,000 does buy the three-bedroom mews house attached to one side of Elizabethan Hill Hall, in Theydon Mount, which was built in 2001 in conjunction with English Heritage.

The large living room has a mezzanine level – used as office/cinema room in the past – and there's a private courtyard as well as access to Hill Hall's grounds with its lawns, lakes and tennis courts.

For sale with Millers Portfolio Homes. See more pictures and details about this property.

Surrey – £669,000

If it's outdoor space you're after, this converted barn near Coulsdon has a large garden and direct access on to Farthing Downs, particularly pretty part of this corner of Surrey.

As well as the main open-plan living space there are three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a double garage.

For sale with Richard Saunders & Co. See more pictures and details about this property.

Credit: Strutt and Parker

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A decade ago, an invitation to a rural bolthole often meant you had to face the prospect of a temperamental boiler, a faint aroma of rising damp and creaking corridors.

However, thanks to the hiking of Stamp Duty, many homeowners who, a decade ago, would have bought a large country house are opting for something more modest and investing the money saved in tax on creature comforts normally associated with boutique hotels or swanky London apartments. Welcome to the world of the 'super cottage'.

In estate-agent speak, this is known as a ‘pyramid house’: larger on the bottom than it is on top. Room for entertaining is fundamental, but expectations are rather different as to what they might have been a generation ago.

‘Owners certainly want to entertain, but not the hot-and-cold running staff required to achieve it,’ says Lindsay Cuthill of Savills.

‘Ideally, guests can be accommodated in a garden annexe or come for dinner, lunch or brunch, but stay somewhere nearby.’

Cotswold-based interior designer Pippa Paton has worked on her fair share of these houses, bringing her well-honed eye for spatial planning to reorganising layouts that were never originally designed with the key concepts of ‘circulation space’ or ‘en-suite’ in mind.

‘Typically, cottages and smaller village houses are made up of a few rooms that lead off a modest entrance hall,’ says Pippa.

‘Rooms need to be opened up to achieve the open-plan kitchen and a dining room large enough to seat 10–12.’

‘I can’t remember the last time I did a house without underfloor heating’

Barn conversions work well for this type of client: ‘With vaulted ceilings and wonderful entertaining space downstairs and not much upstairs, they suit country-house owners looking for low-maintenance living.’

Freezing-cold journeys to the bathroom are definitely out for any self-respecting super cottage. The standard of finish for these projects is now akin to that found in hotels such as Soho House or The Pig, right down to the Aesop-branded soaps in the bathrooms.

‘I can’t remember the last time I did a house without underfloor heating,’ says Pippa.

‘In addition, we’re increasingly being asked to creatively carve out en-suite bathrooms for every bedroom and a dressing room, however small, in the master is becoming a must-have.’

Little expense is spared in the quest for comfort. Four-poster beds (where ceiling heights allow), rain showers and claw-footed baths – the latter in the bedroom, where possible – are further influences of the hotel industry.

‘It makes sense. Where else but in the country do you have the time to have a long, hot soak in the bath?’ asks Pippa.

‘The wishlist is increasing rather than decreasing,’ adds interior designer Emma Sims-Hilditch, who converted a barn in Wiltshire in order to expand her family home. Where space allows, gym or yoga rooms are creeping up the list as are wine cellars and boiler taps in the kitchen.

For those who travel, it’s ever more important that heating and lighting are controlled remotely, says Pippa.

Gardens have also been given a make-over: a new style of ‘super cottage garden’ has kept Cirencester-based garden designer Sparrow Morgan-Grenville busy for the past 10 years or so. The blousy, high-maintenance cottage gardens of yore are giving way to simpler spaces and planting.

Pippa says that plenty of carefully planned outdoor entertaining space is key; three different alfresco areas are typically carved out of the garden, however small: one for family breakfasts, a bigger one for large-scale entertaining and a ‘cocktail corner’ to catch the final rays of sunshine in the evenings.

Outdoor kitchens are becoming more common, alongside barbecue pits, Kadai fire bowls and Big Green Eggs – the latter doubles as a barbecue and pizza oven.

In another move away from the classic English cottage garden, structure and sculpture feature strongly in the designs.

‘There’s a desire among these clients to spend money locally here in the Cotswolds,’ Pippa explains. ‘I turn to our blacksmith to commission pergolas and arches to introduce a bit of structure, as well as water sculptures by Giles Rayner or designs by the likes of Michael Cooper and David Harber.’

Despite this, the passion for classic English blooms isn’t over and cutting gardens – even just a few raised beds planted with dahlias, roses and peonies – are becoming ever more popular. ‘As are flower rooms,’ adds Emma, who’s designed two recently as small extensions to the original house.

‘There’s a discernible passion for growing British flowers and having freshly picked blooms brings an extra special air to the perfect country house.’

Credit: Alamy

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Who hasn’t dreamed of escaping the city on a Friday afternoon for their own quintessential country cottage?

It may be thatched and rendered in Suffolk pink or in mellow Cotswold stone under a roof of slate tiles. There are, quite possibly, roses around the door and, almost certainly, there is honey, still, for tea.

‘We’ll sit in the garden and have a gin and tonic and watch the sun set over the fields,’ says Millie Johnson, who has a cottage in Hampshire.

‘You get a really good night’s sleep and wake feeling relaxed. We rush so much that it’s lovely to stop and pause and just be. My daughter absolutely loves climbing trees and making dens. We have friends down for a night and go collecting sloes. There are lovely walks, fishing at Stockbridge and a pub in the village with an old skittle alley.’

Rural perfection, in other words – but if you’re keen to follow that example, there’s a few things you need to think about.

Don’t stray too far from home

Part of the key to a wonderful family weekend at your cottage is a short-enough journey, to avoid as far as possible the feverish Friday-night traffic. Millie Johnson’s cottage is in the Test Valley village of Abbotts Ann – it takes her just over an hour to drive after school pick-up time, while her husband heads down on the train later.

‘Three hours is the cut-off point’, says Louis de Soissons of Savills Norwich, who adds that the county ‘is a lot more accessible than people imagine’ with the beautiful villages of north Norfolk are about 2.5 hours from London. Not that proximity to London is necessarily the be-all-and-end-all: while most buyers in search of a weekend cottage are from the capital, but there’s also a sizeable contingent from the Midlands and Cambridge.

This three-bedroom cottage in Stiffkey, north Norfolk, was once the home of Henry Williamson, author of Tarka the Otter – it's for sale at £575,000 through Brown & Co.

Find a place which ticks all your boxes

For Katy Campbell, whose house-hunting expertise extends to the whole of the Cotswolds AONB (www.katycampbell.co.uk), the archetypal dream cottage is in a village such as Swinbrook, of Mitford sisters fame, which she says ‘ticks a lot of boxes’ for her clients.

It’s a pretty village 1.5 hours from London in the classic Cotswold honey stone, with lovely views, good walks and an excellent pub in The Swan Inn, run by Nicola and Archie Orr-Ewing and owned by the estate of the late Dowager Duchess of Devonshire, the last of the Mitford sisters.

This charming three-bedroom cottage is in Shipton-under-Wychwood, a stone's throw from Swinbrook – it's for sale at £350,000 via Taylor & Fletcher.

Even a small compromise can save you tens of thousands

Louis de Soissons of Savills has just handled the sale, in Cley-next-the-Sea, of a ‘very pretty’ three-bedroom cottage in the typical local flint and brick with a Dutch gable, which achieved more than the asking price of £395,000. But he explains that if you’re happy to go inland a mile or two you’ll get even more for your money – cottages cost 10%–15% less than on the prime coastal strip.

This gorgeous Wiltshire cottage has an artist's studio and a thatched garden office – it's priced at £495,000 with Winkworth.

Decide out for the modern comforts you can’t do without

If you’re after good wi-fi, Katy Campbell recommends Oxfordshire thanks to the county council’s ‘Fastershire’ initiative. And if getting decent coffee is your deal-breaker, you’ll have to pick your village carefully.

‘Coffee shops didn’t exist in the Cotswolds until recently,’ Miss Campbell explains. ‘Tea shops, for tourists, yes, of course, but not coffee shops as a Londoner would know them, until this heavenly person called Rob Broadbent turned up in Lechlade.’ Mr Broadbent’s café’s, Lynwood & Co, are now in Fairford and Burford as well.

A delightful 200-year-old cottage near Burnham-on-Sea that's £299,950 via Westcoast properties.

A longer drive = more peace and quiet

Swish delicatessens and smart coffee shops may be thin on the ground in Somerset – ‘We’re much more rugged down here,’ chuckles Brian Bishop, director of Jackson-Stops’s Taunton branch – but people who are prepared to drive a little further on a Friday night, to villages such as Leighland (between the Brendons and Exmoor) will be rewarded with glorious views and very good walking, not to mention blissful peace and quiet.

If you're after a project, this barn conversion near Framlingham in Suffolk is for sale at just £265,000 via Jackson-Stops.

And finally, make sure that when you arrive your toughest job is pouring a G&T

Making the getaway and arrival simple is all-important. Millie Johnson says she has her weekend packing ‘down to a fine art’ these days. The secret? ‘Two sets of everything, one in each house.’ She also often makes a lasagne to take so as to avoid cooking when she gets to her Hampshire cottage.

But if even that seems too much like hard work, remember that online supermarkets deliver pretty much everywhere. ‘It makes going away much more fun,’ says Katy Campbell.

‘There’s no more panicking and filling the car with shopping bags — now, you just pre-book your 9.30pm delivery’. And don't forget to order the lime.

Credit: Rex

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10 beautiful character homes under £400,000

Credit: H Tiddy

12 stunning character properties for sale at under £400,000

Thatched homes in Cornwall and West Sussex are among the many highlights of these gorgeous character cottages for sale.

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Whether you want to live overlooking the village green, close to a beautiful country pub or just want an amazing

Dartmoor – £595,000

A pretty thatched-barn conversion near Yeoford, on the fringes of Dartmoor in Devon, Berties Cottage has four bedrooms and 1½ acres of ‘enchanting country gardens’ on the hillside, say agents, with an orchard, vegetable patch and paddocks.

The roof is well maintained and, inside, there are charming exposed beams, floorboards, fireplaces, a woodburning stove and an Aga.

A goat house and two stables and the end of the garden could easily be converted into holiday lets, making this an incredible bargain when you consider how little the same money will buy you in London – as this £600k studio demonstrates.

For sale with Strutt & Parker . See more pictures and details about this property.

Bodmin Moor – £2.95 million

Situated at the heart of about 90 beautiful acres of pasture and farmland, complete with a family shoot and equestrian facilities, Lower Polgrain Farm is ‘an idyllic mini-estate protected by its own land’, say agents.

The principal house has five bedrooms and there are a further five created from the conversion of The Old Mill and an adjacent barn.

It is located in the village of St Wenn, Cornwall, with Wadebridge about five miles away and Padstow and Rock about 10.

For sale with Knight Frank. See more pictures and details about this property.

Exmoor – £2.65 million

Set in some 14 acres in the north-Devon foothills of Exmoor, Elizabethan Whitechapel Manor has been impressively refurbished, with care taken to maintain its historic character.

Six reception rooms face south across the formal walled gardens.

The 11 en-suite bedrooms, two with dressing rooms, betray the manor’s spell as a country-house hotel (from 1985 to 2000). The market town of South Molton is three miles away.

For sale with Savills. See more pictures and details about this property.

Exmoor – £950,000

Tucked into the hills above the village of Luxborough, Somerset, Nurcott Farm dates to the 16th century and is unlisted. With fireplaces and three bedrooms, it has outbuildings and two stone holiday cottages (one with five bedrooms, the other two), forming a yard.

Its 6.8 acres include paddocks and a flight pond and offer views to Dunkery Beacon, the highest point on Exmoor, and over the Bristol Channel to Wales. Taunton is 20 miles away.

For sale with Greenslade Taylor Hunt. See more pictures and details about this property.

Quantocks – £1.295 million

In the hidden Somerset village of Goathurst on the edge of the Quantocks, The Arch Barn sits at the end of a drive shared with nearby folly The Temple of Pan (both were once part of the Halswell estate) and is viewed here across the spring-fed lake, with a dramatic backdrop of old quarry and woodland.

With its eponymous arched windows, galleried drawing room and exposed beams galore, it retains plenty of charm in its conversion. There are four bedrooms, plus a detached guest barn with a balcony, and the property comes with four acres.

For sale with Jackson-Stops. See more pictures and details about this property.

Credit: Strutt and Parker

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Oxfordshire - £695,000

Breathtakingly pretty, this cottage in the village of Postcombe is an idyllic dream cottage with three bedrooms, beamed ceilings and secluded gardens.

The house has been very carefully updated and is now a comfortable and cosy family home that mixes flawless modern touches with vast amounts of original character.

For sale with Hamnett Hayward. See more pictures and details about this property.

Norfolk – £720,000

Just in from the north Norfolk coast near Sheringham, this three-bedroom barn conversion has been carried out to a phenomenal standard, as the picture above shows.

The effort that has been put in has clearly been worth it, though it has to be said that it's not a place for a keen gardener: outside there's a large shale-covered yard and patio, but no lawns or trees to speak of.

For sale with Jackson Stops. See more pictures and details about this property.

Hertfordshire – £575,000

Utterly fascinating – and potentially a commuter's dream – is this former antique dealership in the centre of Hitchin, with great transport links for those needing to get in to London.

The spaces inside are breathtakingly pretty, and permission is in place to turn this into a home. We'd absolutely love to see how this place will turn out once it's finished.

For sale with Michael Graham. See more pictures and details about this property.

Hampshire – £699,000

In the village of Martyr Worthy, just outside Winchester, is this striking house with majestic views of the South Downs, immaclately decorated in an unusal and quirky manner.

It's a three-bedroom house yet extends to almost 1800sq ft of space – including a light-filled drawing room extension which opens out onto the gardens.

And speaking of the garden, there's an outbuilding which has been kitted out as a traditional pub – 'The Burntwood Arms' – something which isn't entirely surprising given then delightfully quirky tastes of the current owners!

For sale with Belgarum. See more pictures and details about this property.

Lancashire – £750,000

Sandalwood is a converted stone-built barn roughy half-way in a hamlet set in rolling countryside between Preston and Blackburn.

There are four bedrooms and five reception rooms, one of which is a top floor games room-slash-bar – a real man cave – while outside there are equestrian facilities including a small paddock.

For sale with Fine & Country. See more pictures and details about this property.

Essex – £700,000

This three-bedroom home is on the outskirts of the village, a pretty, thatched home that retains original touches while featuring modern fixtures and fittings.

There is a large garden full of potential as well as a small courtyard sheltered at the heart of the house. The location is excellent for commuters, not far off the A12 just north of Chelmsford and close to Hatfield Peverel station, roughly 45 minutes from London.

For sale with Fenn Wright. See more pictures and details about this property.

Wales – £595,000

Eyarth Hall is an extraordinarily eye-catching Elizabethan house not far from Mold and Chester, with six bedrooms, set in over eight acres of land.

Built in 1593, the house has a wealth of original features despite having been updated and sub-divided during it's history. There are even original terraced gardens dating back to Elizabethan times, plus over five acres of paddocks for those who'd like to bring horses here.

For sale with Jackson Property. See more pictures and details about this property.

Shropshire - £545,000

A fascinating, timber-framed Tudor house in Bridgnorth, this is a five-bedroom home with 2,370sq ft of space and some stunning features.

The kitchen-dining room alone is bound to draw in plenty of potential buyers, but the orginal character of this place runs throughout.

The garden is also a real feature, with lawns, patio, a summer house and a greenhouse.

For sale with Imperial Properties. See more pictures and details about this property.

Worcestershire – £575,000

Box Tree Cottage, a few miles east of Worcester, might just as well have been named Chocolate Box Cottage: this is every inch the archetypal thatched cottage.

There are lovely wooden floors, beams and original brick-built fireplaces, with five bedrooms in total plus a study. Outside there is a lovely, well-kept garden – and in this rural location there will be precious little noise to disturb you.

For sale with Allan Morris. See more pictures and details about this property.

Kinross – £580,000

More than just a four-bedroom home, this is an incredible opportunity for a horse-made new owner: a true equestrian facility, complete with stables and an indoor arena.

The stone-built house (four bedrooms, two reception rooms) is full of charm, but it's the land and facilities that are the real selling point.

Within the 25 acres are barns, woodland, paddocks and an arena, plus fields and fishing rights on the River Devon.

And if you need any more entertainment or a taste of the high life, Gleneagles is just 20 minutes away.

For sale with Galbraith. See more pictures and details about this property.

Credit: Strutt and Parker

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The idea of the ‘forever’ house is a tricky one to pin down. You may not have a clue what it will look like, but you’ll know it when you see it. And that’s clearly what happened to the owners of Lottisham Manor, near Glastonbury, when they moved in half a century ago.

This dreamy Grade II*-listed home is on the market for the first time in 50 years, priced at £1.75 million. It’s spectacularly pretty 15^th century hall full of medieval character. While the place was added to in the 16^th and 17^th centuries, its alterations have been minor. Neither the manor nor its surroundings in the hamlet of Lottisham have changed much in the half a millennium since it was built.

Part of the vast monastic estates of Glastonbury Abbey until the Dissolution, the manor stands in more than 14 acres of gardens and pasture in an area scattered with ‘a nice spread of farmhouses and former estate cottages, but, amazingly, no modern in-fill,’ says Andrew Cronan of Strutt & Parker, who are handling the sale.

Chamfered beams, panelled walls and screens and fine, dressed fireplaces abound throughout the house, which offers more than 3,900sq ft of living space, including the central hall, three main reception rooms and a kitchen/breakfast room.

Upstairs there are six bedrooms, a family bathroom and a series of attics, while elsewhere within the grounds is a stone-built coach house that has garaging, workshop and storage space on the ground floor and a one-bedroom flat above.

The meandering gardens are a real feature: superbly kept with beautiful lawns framed by pretty borders. There’s a kitchen garden, water garden and an orchard, plus a tennis court.

Lottisham Manor is also well equipped for equestrian pursuits, with stabling and lush summer grazing for six pampered horses or ponies.

Lottisham Manor is for sale via Strutt & Parker at £1.75m – see more details and pictures.