After a peaceful idyll? Look no further than Bumble Cottage, a ‘most enchanting’ home in the farming village of Ellenhall, Staffordshire.
The thatched, timber-framed property was part of Lord Lichfield’s Ranton estate until the 1930s, when it fell into disrepair.
Luckily, the three-bedroom cottage was given a new lease of life when it was extended and restored in the 1960s. And it won a Council for the Protection of Merit award, says selling agent Knight Frank. Bumble Cottage is now on the market for £795,000.
Dating back to around 1580, Bumble Cottage ‘is formed in the rare reverse cruck construction, which includes vertical oak beams with wooden dowels,’ says Knight Frank.
No surprise, then, that this home is packed with period features. Ornate wood panelling here, inglenook fireplace there. Yes, some of the décor may be a little on the dated side but it’s certainly not short on character.
The heart of the cottage is the drawing room, where a pair of bay windows allow light to flood in. Bumble Cottage has all the key rooms you’d expect of a country home: kitchen, dining room, boot room, utility room, and study. There is also a conservatory that ‘could double as a craft room or studio’, suggest the agents.
All three bedrooms are upstairs, with the main bedroom boasting a striking vaulted ceiling with exposed timbers. Sweet dreams...
The property is ideal for green-fingered buyers. The gardens are charming, with more than an acre of manicured lawns, raised beds, herbaceous shrubs, various seating areas and an ornamental pond.
A pathway leads from the driveway to a greenhouse beside a sheltered vegetable patch with brick raised beds and a pond; from there, a gate leads to an orchard, which opens onto a fenced paddock.
There’s numerous outbuildings too, including a workshop, stables and kennels, offering plenty of flexibility.
Bumble Cottage is on the market for £795,000 via Knight Frank — see more details and pictures.
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
-
‘Calf’s brains have a bland, gentle richness that soothes and cossets': Tom Parker Bowles on the joys of eating offalEating offal it is more sinned against than sinning, but it offers the ultimate in magnificent, fully immersive eating.
-
The wave of downsizing about to hit the property market in the UKThe Chancellor of the Exchequer's Budget — and specifically the 'Mansion Tax' — has fired a starting pistol for downsizers, and the waves will wash across the entire property market. Annabel Dixon spoke to property experts across the country to gauge how it will play out.
-
The wave of downsizing about to hit the property market in the UK
The Chancellor of the Exchequer's Budget — and specifically the 'Mansion Tax' — has fired a starting pistol for downsizers, and the waves will wash across the entire property market. Annabel Dixon spoke to property experts across the country to gauge how it will play out.
-
A Georgian farmhouse that's an 'absolute gem' in an ancient village on Salisbury PlainJulie Harding takes a look at the beautiful West Farm in a gorgeous Wiltshire village.
-
It'd be crazy to buy this 500-year-old farmhouse just because of its utterly gorgeous Aga — so thank goodness that the rest of this place is also really nicePerry Mill Farm is an immaculate yet characterful four-bedroom dream home in the country at a price that will make city dwellers immediately start Googling 'working from Worcestershire'.
-
'A masterpiece of timeless elegance' for sale on the charmed Surrey estate once owned by Henry VIII and the Guinness familyThe Manor House in Burwood Park is a grand, enormous and undeniably impressive. Annabel Dixon takes a look.
-
A grand hall in Yorkshire with 400 years of historyCarlton Hall is a wonderful family home amid glorious gardens in a quaint village location. Penny Churchill looks inside.
-
Why don't more of us live in brightly coloured homes?It's not often that you see a home sporting the colour palette that you'd get if you hired a four-year old as your interior designer. But why not? The Blue House in Bethnal Green asks this and many more questions.
-
Five magnificent mansions, from a former monastery to an Art Deco wonder in the South Downs, as seen in Country LifeWonderful homes, including a superb beach home in Cornwall, all fresh on the market via Country Life.
-
A 14-bedroom 'miniature Downton Abbey' to call your own — and there's not a penny of Mansion Tax to be paidNorton Manor is an incredible period home that's on the market for £1.3 million.
