Country Life's best property stories of 2018: Castles, cottages and pocket-sized perfection
Every week we feature dozens of the finest and most beautiful properties to come to the market in Britain – and beyond. Here are the ones which proved most popular in 2018.
Four perfect, pocket-sized character properties from just £275,000
Cute as buttons, cheap as chips.
The Cotswolds manor house rumoured to be Prince Harry and Meghan’s new home
Rumours swirled for months that HRH Prince Harry and his new bride would set up home in this fabulous place – a house which was also used in the BBC's famous adaptation of 'Pride and Prejudice' featuring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle.
A 20-bedroom castle for sale at just £500,000 – but with a huge amount of work to do
This incredible place – one of the biggest renovation opportunities of the year – now has a new owner whose work is cut out for them.
‘One of the most beautiful houses in Gloucestershire’ is for sale, the place where Waugh wrote Brideshead Revisited
A 'genial, pleasantly rambling family house' which has our absolute favourite bathtub of the year.
Exquisite houses, the beauty of Nature, and how to get the most from your life, straight to your inbox.
45 great places to live within an hour of London
There are literally thousands of places where you can live outside of London but still get to the city inside an hour – between this article and our superb guide to the 50 best places to live near London you'll have all the info you could need for making the move out of town.
The ‘Welsh Downton Abbey’ is about to be auctioned off for a song
This glorious home was built by the Mostyn family – specifically the 7th Baronet – between 1825 and 1829, to a design which largely ignored the late-Georgian fashions and instead created something closer to a Jacobean castle.
A fantasy castle for sale near the Peak District complete with moat, dungeon and suits of armour
Caverswall Castle's history stretches back almost 750 years – something which its present owner makes the absolute most of.
19 magnificent French houses, including a château for under £500,000
The French property market still has bargains which are almost impossible to believe by British standards, as we showed in this piece.
An entire cove for sale, including the ‘most-photographed house in Cornwall’
Unspoilt Lamorna Cove at West Penwith, five miles from Penzance, is one of the last remaining bays in Cornwall that remains in private hands.
A magnificent beachfront Scottish castle with 28 acres of wonderful woodland– all for less than a small country cottage
For £695,000 you could buy a respectably sized cottage in Berkshire, you might get a one bedroom flat in London’s zone two, or you could purchase a spectacular 18th century castle on the Island of Mull, with 10 bedrooms and stunning ocean views.
Credit: Massey PR
A winter weekend in Cornwall by train: No crowds, no cars, just blissful peace and beauty
Cornwall is even more beautiful without the summer crowds, says Kate Green, and you don't even need to drive to
Credit: Via Savills in Truro: For sale at a guide price of £2 million is Polbream, in Mullion, some eight miles south of Helston. This extended former farmhouse sits on its own headland, Polbream Point
A magnificent house on its own headland at The Lizard, the balmiest place in Britain
Polbream is for sale for the first time in a generation – Penny Churchill takes a look at this delightful Cornish
Credit: Williams & Goodwin
Six of Wales's finest homes, from a Cardiff mansion to an entire headland of Anglesey (complete with working lighthouse)
In honour of St David's Day, we take a look at some of the finest properties currently for sale across
Credit: Savills
A beautiful home on its own peninsula near Dartmouth, complete with helipad and glasshouse
Woods House occupies one of the finest positions on the River Dart.
Credit: Savills
Exquisitely private waterfront property in South Devon with a guest cottage, tennis court and private jetty
Gurrow Point sits on its own peninsula on the banks of the Dart, with 8000sq ft of elegant living space
Toby Keel is Country Life's Digital Director, and has been running the website and social media channels since 2016. A former sports journalist, he writes about property, cars, lifestyle, travel, nature.
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What trees taught me about perfect planting — Alan TitchmarshSense and patience is key to growing healthy trees, as a certain Mr Mackenzie showed a young Alan Titchmarsh
By Alan Titchmarsh Published
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What on earth is the person who comes up with Annabel's otherworldly facade displays on? London's most magical Christmas shop displaysPhotographs by Greg Funnell.
By Rosie Paterson Published
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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'.
By Toby Keel Published
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'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.
By Annabel Dixon Published
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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.
By Penny Churchill Published
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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.
By Toby Keel Published
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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.
By Toby Keel Published
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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.
By Toby Keel Published
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The dream ski chalet for sale: Plan world domination and ski Japow at the same timeEach week, James Fisher fantasises about a dream ski chalet he'd like to buy, but can't — from architecturally striking marvels, to cosy mountain retreats, and everything in between. This week, we are off to the top of the Rusutsu resort in Japan.
By James Fisher Published
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A country home that comes with a perfect lifestyle business: one of Britain's oldest vineyardsAstley Vineyard in Worcestershire, and the lovely house that it comes with, are looking for a new owner.
By Toby Keel Published
