Bringing the cool to the country: Glorious country homes with air conditioning are vanishingly rare, but they are out there
Fitting a 21st century air conditioning system into a centuries-old home is fraught with headaches, but it's increasingly something that we're looking for as sweltering summers go from once-a-decade to every year. Toby Keel takes a look at homes where they've brought the cool to the country.
I had to laugh at one of the headlines about the sweltering weather that's hit Britain this week: 'June temperature record shattered'. The new record, it transpired, was actually only 0.1 degrees higher than the old mark; not sure that counts as 'shattering'.
Notwithstanding the hyperbole surrounding the reporting on the weather, it's abundantly clear to all but the most rabid climate-change-denying lunatics that what were once considered once-a-decade weather extremes are now normal annual events.
It wouldn't be such a problem if British houses weren't designed and built primarily with winter warmth in mind. Travel round the Mediterranean and the norm is houses with stone floors and high ceilings to lessen the impact of heat extremes; pretty much the opposite of our cosy, carpeted dwellings. Travel across the Atlantic, and you'll find the solution more often lies in the installation of air conditioning, something which you'll find in only around 1.2% of the houses on the market in the UK. That compares to about 90% in the USA.
Installing a proper air conditioning system is possible, albeit expensive, and can be very difficult in traditional country houses, particularly when they're listed buildings. No wonder house buyers are looking for places where that headache has already been solved, with some estate agents reporting that a house that keeps cool in hot weather has shot up the list of priorities for many.
If you're looking for a country home that has air conditioning installed, even if only in part of the building, there are houses that fit the bill — as our pick of the best on the market right now shows.
West Wales — £1.25 million
In the beautiful Welsh seaside town of Barmouth, roughly half-way between Aberystwyth and Portmeirion, Coesfaen Lodge is a gorgeous country home that has five air-conditioned bedrooms.
The house actually used to be a hotel, but has been converted back into a family home, with a fine kitchen/breakfast room, open-plan living and dining area with views over the Mawddach Estuary views, a cosy snug, and a glass-ceilinged atrium that floods the interior space with natural light — something the present owners have taken advtantage of with some inpisred indoor planting.
For sale via Fine & Country — see more details and pictures.
East Sussex — £6.65 million
A simply vast property in the South Downs between Lewes and Eastbourne, with 177 acres and a nine-bedroom manor house plus cottage, stables, offices and more. Sherrington Manor, the main house, has at its heart two separate halls. The Old Hall, in the original 17th century part of the house, has a grand, open fireplace framed by a colossal wooden carved nook.
The New Hall, a modern addition as part of a wing built in 1997, has a galleried landing, underfloor heating, a project and top-notch sound system, French doors leading to the gardens — and, mercifully, air conditioning.
For sale via Savills — see more details and pictures.
Gloucestershire — £5.85 million
Manor Farm, in a village near Moreton-in-Marsh, is almost 600 years — not the sort of house where you'd expext to find air conditioning, but the master suite has had it installed as part of refurbishment over the last two or three years. That's far from the only upgrade to this wonderful Cotswolds manor: interiors by Guy Goodfellow, gardens by RHS Chelsea medallist Richard Miers, and entirely rewired and replumbed.
As well as the main farmhouse, there's a converted calf barn that's now a three-bed cottage, and a carthouse that's become a one-bedroom home. The whole thing is perfect for multi-generational living.
For sale via Radnor Martin — see more details and pictures.
Devon — £4.4 million
Tucked away in its own private valley in Dartmoor, a few miles from Bovey Tracey, this 'house' is more like a miniature hamlet to call your own: there's the main farmhouse, plus three separate converted barns, and all bar one have air conditioning.
They also have spectacular views, fine interiors and the peace and calm that come from living in a 63-acre holding that's a perfect little sanctuary from the world.
For sale via Strutt & Parker — see more details and pictures.
Surrey — £5.95 million
On the Surrey-West Sussex boundary in the hills above Haslemere, Marley House enjoys a truly magnificent location looking out across the South Downs. It also enjoys a huge principal bedroom that has air conditioning. The rest of this fine country home isn't air-conditioned — but neither is it listed, so it could potentially be added. And if you don't want to do that, you can always take a dip in the indoor pool.
For sale via Savills — see more details and pictures.
