Selling a house in these uncertain times isn't always easy – and finding somebody to fall in love with your home is all too often just the start of the process.
Anyone who has been stung by the process of selling a house, or who is anxiously waiting for a purchaser to exchange or complete, will empathise with Charles and Roslyn Townley. The couple have seen the sale of their historic Town Head House and its 105-acre estate on the shores of Lake Windermere collapse at the 11th hour for the second time in eight years.
‘A long period of exclusivity on an agreed sale ended suddenly two weeks ago, when the Middle East-based buyer announced that he was pulling out of the deal, having already invested considerable sums in surveys, planning and consulting advice, not to mention the legal fees,’ notes a disappointed Julian Lambton of Carter Jonas in Kendal.
That buyer’s loss will be someone else’s gain, however. This beautiful home in Newby Bridge – towards the southern end of the lake – is now back on the open market once more at a price of £3.75 million via Carter Jonas and Savills, and it’s a magnificent place with a 12,000sq ft main house at its heart.
The earliest parts of this nine-bedroom house date back to the 15th century, though most of the Grade II-listed house as it stands now is Georgian.
There are also extensive outbuildings including a charming lakeside boathouse, perfect for getting out on the water in one of the most beautiful spots in Britain.
Getting to and from the house is also straightforward: it’s a 25-minute drive from the M6 motorway, and about the same from Oxenholme Station. The lawns in front of the house are also suitable for landing a helicopter.
The property also has 34 acres of gardens, stables, paddocks and parkland, and is for sale at a guide price of £3.75 million.
Buyers will also have the option for paying for a larger lot at £4.5 million, which will include a further two cottages, outbuildings and more land.
Town Head House is for sale via Carter Jonas and Savills – 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
Britain’s top property hotspots for 2018, and what you could get if you moved there
The market as a whole is expected to stagnate or even fall in the next 12 months, but it won't
-
Child stars, Prince and nursery rhymes: It's the Country Life Quiz of the Day, December 5, 2025It's all in today's quiz.
-
‘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.
-
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.
