The Coach House at Bettiscombe, the Dorset home of Penelope Hobhouse, the internationally renowned garden designer, author and gardening journalist, has been launched on the market. Penelope Hobhouse has designed gardens in England, Scotland, France, Italy, Spain Germany, and the United States. They include a garden for the late Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, at Walmer Castle in Kent; The Country Garden for the Royal Horticultural Society at Wisley, a renaissance-style garden in Italy and a garden for the fashion designer, Jil Sander, in Germany. Her work in the United States includes many private commissions and a Herb Garden for the New York Botanical Garden Savills and local agents Symonds & Sampson are selling the Coach House which is situated some 5 miles north of the popular coastal town of Bridport and the house sits on a hillside with southerly views overlooking the Marshwood Vale. The Coach House, built of local stone over a slate roof, has large comfortable rooms, all very much in the country house style. The kitchen, with an AGA stove, is arranged for practical everyday living. Adjoining the kitchen is a hallway, off which are a drawing room and 3 bedrooms, all with their own bathrooms. To the rear of the kitchen is a larder and laundry room and leading from the hall is a magnificent garden room of considerable size opening on to the walled garden. There is also a first floor which Penelope Hobhouse currently uses as a study, although this is large enough to be converted into a further bedroom and bathroom (subject to planning consent), as well as retaining ample office space. The garden at The Coach House, extending to approximately 1-acre, was laid out by Penelope Hobhouse when she moved to Bettiscombe in 1993. Peter Lane of Savills Wimborne, said: This is a very unusual opportunity to acquire an ideal house for weekends or retirement. It would obviously suit anyone with a real interest in and passion for gardens, while presenting not too much of a challenge in terms of maintenance or ability to the newcomer. Price: £1.2m. Contact: Peter Lane, Savills Wimborne Office, 01202 856800
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Uniquely unique? The Yorkshire grain silos transformed into a home that's a symphony in glass, steel and curvesAmid the beautiful countryside of North Yorkshire, on the edge of the Castle Howard Estate, The Silos is a property for which the word 'house' simply doesn't cut it. And that's not the only way in which it's made us throw out the dictionary.
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Polluting water executives now face up to two years in prison, but will the new laws make much of a difference?The Government has announced that water company executives caught covering up illegal sewage spills could now be imprisoned for two years, under new laws — but many still have their doubts.
