An Elizabethan house that's 'as rare as hens’ teeth' has come to the market for the first time since the 1960s
Outstanding country houses are hard to find in Derbyshire, and that will put Bradbourne Hall right at the top of the list. Penny Churchill takes a look.
Fine country houses for sale are as rare as hens’ teeth in Derbyshire and those that come onto the open market — even in tough times — can expect to find buyers beating a path to the front door.
Such a contender is historic, Grade II*-listed Bradbourne Hall, for sale for the first time in 62 years at a guide price of £3 million through the joint agents Derbyshire-based Ed Caudwell and Stuart Flint of Fisher German.
This Elizabethan/Jacobean country house is set in more than 10 acres of beautifully maintained gardens and grounds on the outskirts of the picturesque village of Bradbourne, five miles north of the market town of Ashbourne at the southern edge of the Peak District National Park.
Bradbourne Hall was built on the site of an earlier house by the Buxton family, who lived there until the 1880s. It was then let to a series of tenants before being sold in the early 1960s to a family from Leicestershire who never lived there.
The present owners acquired the hall in 1964, and the place has been much improved by the present owners, who undertook the re-roofing of the entire building some 25 years ago. That said, the decor is showing its age in many of the rooms, so some cosmetic updating will doubtless be on the cards for the new owners. Though if they don't keep the beautiful cream Aga in the kitchen, then the world will be a poorer place.
The house was built, according to its listing, on three storeys of coursed squared limestone with gritstone dressings and quoins under a slate roof.
In all, Bradbourne Hall offers 8,963sq ft of comfortable family living space on three main floors, including five reception rooms, seven bedrooms and four bathrooms. The ground floor houses a panelled reception hall, an elegant dining room, a well-fitted kitchen adjoining a large breakfast room and a charming sitting room with a stone fireplace.
The heart of the house is the magnificent first-floor panelled drawing room, which over-looks the front garden and boasts a wealth of period features. Steps lead down to the Oak Room, a large double bedroom that enjoys views over Bradbourne’s Grade I-listed village church of All Saints.
Also on this floor is the principal bedroom suite, two further double bedrooms and a family bathroom. The exposed beams and stripped floorboards are beautiful, and the effect — especially allied to a four-poster bed — gives the house a fairytale feel in places.
The second floor houses two further double bedrooms and three attic rooms, with a large playroom/family room on the third floor.
A versatile annexe, the former billiard room, serves as a family office with a further double bedroom and bathroom.
Surrounded by mature woodland, which ensures an exceptional degree of privacy, the gardens and grounds have been impeccably maintained over the years by the hall’s devoted full-time gardener.
They include abundant lawned areas, mature shrubs, a large kitchen garden and a heated outdoor pool served by a range of buildings. Outbuildings include garaging, machinery stores and stabling.
Bradbourne Hall is for sale at £3 million through based Caudwell & Co and Fisher German.
