A 14-bedroom 'miniature Downton Abbey' to call your own — and there's not a penny of Mansion Tax to be paid

The hullabaloo about the launch of the Mansion Tax in the Budget on Wednesday threw up some interesting anomalies — mostly to do with the fact that many houses which will incur the new charge are modestly-sized homes in London rather than palatial country seats with acres of space. We picked on the example of a four-bedroom terraced house on a busy street in Hackney with a £2.5 million asking price, but we could have used almost countless other examples.

There is a flip side to the coin, however: huge and magical homes which fall well below the £2 million threshold at which the new tax begins. And one of them is a place we're marvelling at today: Norton House in Powys, which Julie Harding described in the print magazine this week as 'something of a steal'.

That, I would say, is putting it mildly: Chartwell Noble are asking £1.3 million for this magnificent, 14-bedroom house.

The purchase price buys you an 1858 mansion of almost 16,000 sq ft, built in the 'Jacobethan' style popular in Victorian Britain. It was commissioned by Sir Richard Green-Price, who had the house constructed a part of Mid-Wales which was then, as it is now, fabulously unspoilt, if a little remote. It's not far from the border with England, on the Welsh side, roughly equidistant between Leominster and Llandrindod Wells.

Its grandeur is obvious even as you approach along the gravel driveway — this really is like a miniature Downton Abbey — to a house with a perfectly symmetrical façade, with gabled bays, tall diagonal chimneys, parapets and finials. There's even a pair of lions keeping watch.

Inside, things get even better, with a magnificent entrance hall floored in oak, with marble embossed pillars and a sweeping staircase that you can just imagine people wandering up and down as you host a fine ball. And before you think we're getting carried away, this is literally a house with a ballroom... albeit one which has in recent years been turned in to a huge kitchen-slash-living space.

That is just the start. There is a drawing room and games room, a games room and a plant room, a sitting room, a workshop and an internal courtyard, and so many bedrooms across the first second floors that we actually lost count while looking at the floorplan.

Given its size you won't be shocked to hear that the house was for a long time used as a hotel, and could be again. The agent Clemmie Daborn mentions that it could just as easily be a conference centre or wedding venue... though we'd love to think that it could one day become a simply magnificent house. If the new owners take that route, it's worth knowing that the secondary wing has been configured as a self-contained space that's ideal for multi-generational living, or as a holiday let.

It's also worth noting that it is being sold via conditional auction on December 16 rather than via the open market, and anyone keen to throw their hat in the ring should speak to the agents about the reserve price and conditions of sale.

Norton House is for sale via Chartwell Noble — see more details.