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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Rock stars and the country house: Liam Gallagher's life in the Cotswolds is in the finest tradition of music A-listers, from the Beatles to Beyoncé
What is it about the British countryside that draws A-listers from every walk of life? With Liam Gallagher's Cotswold former home on the market, Toby Keel takes a look.
By Toby Keel Published
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‘Activities are of the derring-do variety, and the weather is unreliable year round, so it’s useful to be a good sport’: A memorable road trip to the tidal island in Scotland where J. M. Barrie liked to holiday
The opening of three new hotels in Scotland was all it took to convince Jo Rodgers to journey northwards on a road trip with her husband and three young children in tow.
By Jo Rodgers Published
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Rock stars and the country house: Liam Gallagher's life in the Cotswolds is in the finest tradition of music A-listers, from the Beatles to Beyoncé
What is it about the British countryside that draws A-listers from every walk of life? With Liam Gallagher's Cotswold former home on the market, Toby Keel takes a look.
By Toby Keel Published
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Life on Portugal's Coast of Kings, where Ian Fleming met the triple-agent whose gambling inspired 'Casino Royale'
Once a quiet fishing village west of Lisbon, Cascais became an unlikely hive of activity during the Second World War, attracting regal refugees and intelligence operatives in equal measure. Russell Higham investigates its enduring glamour — and its connection to Casino Royale.
By Russell Higham Published
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An extraordinary Italian palazzo built in the heart of Oxfordshire is up for sale at £16 million
The Palazzo Pallavicini in Genoa inspired the creation of Newington House, which is on the market for the first time in 35 years.
By Penny Churchill Published
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A bum deal on a bog-standard property? The former public conveniences being sold off for a song
London has several affordable properties with enviable postcodes and great lighting... so long as you're happy spending more than a penny on a Victorian loo.
By Toby Keel Published
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A castle for sale just down the road from Gleneagles, where everyone from George VI to a farmer and his pigs once roamed the grand halls
Orchil Castle has seen it all in a tumultuous century and a half — but it's getting back to its best, and now needs a brave new owner to take it on the next step of its journey.
By Toby Keel Published
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Five homes with their own orchards that will be the apple of your eye (almost literally)
If you've been looking enviously this year at neighbours with apple trees that have been heaving with fruit, here is the solution: five lovely homes for sale that come with their own orchards.
By Arabella Youens Published
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A beautiful Victorian vicarage that was home to one of the Cadbury family heiresses is on the market
Penny Churchill tells the tale of Monks Bridge in Warwickshire.
By Penny Churchill Published
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An outrageously opulent mansion in London's answer to Beverly Hills, with a gym that 'wouldn't look out of place in a 7* hotel'
'One of the finest houses in St George's Hill' is on the market. Annabel Dixon takes a look at what's on offer.
By Annabel Dixon Published