Farmhouse kitchens done right at these five beautiful country houses across Britain
A country house with a farmhouse kitchen is the archetype of the bucolic dream in Britain. Arabella Youens picks out five on the market right now that have wonderful examples.
Cumbria — £795,000
This early-Victorian five-bedroom farmhouse is approached along a private lane on the edge of the village of Soulby, just outside Kirkby Stephen. There are plenty of original details, including flagstone floors and exposed timber beams. The kitchen/breakfast room is fitted with handmade oak cabinetry and a four-oven oil-fired Aga.
Upstairs, the bedrooms are arranged across two floors; one is currently used as a library. Syke Side House stands in the scenic Upper Eden valley and faces south over the Pennines, Stainmore and Mallerstang Edge.
A private woodland is planted with more than 3,000 trees and hedges forming avenues, clearings and seating areas to capture the sunlight all day.
For sale via Finest Properties — see more details and pictures.
Somerset — £950,000
Court Place occupies a central position in the village of West Monkton, a couple of miles from Taunton. Listed Grade II and dating back to 1802, it has a covered verandah running along the front façade with a small summer house at one end. The kitchen is particularly well arranged, with original cabinetry designed by Smallbone of Devizes, a central island with a granite work surface and a two-oven gas-fired Aga.
Upstairs are five bedrooms, some of which have glorious views of the Blackdown Hills. Outside are garages for three cars and a first-floor room that could be used as an office or storage space. The garden, of just under an acre, includes mature trees and large areas of lawn.
For sale via Jackson-Stops — see more details and pictures.
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Buckinghamshire — £1.395 million
This mill house was once home to J.M. Barrie's wife, the actress Mary Ansell, who lived here with her second husband, Gilbert Cannan. Fittingly, it's a place with a real children's story feel, full of quirky touches: weaving staircases, original mill machinery, a study built into the mill tower, and a garden split into different zones.
At the bottom of the house, opening onto one of those outdoor spaces, is the charming kitchen with its pale blue Aga.
There's been a mill on this site near Cholesbury since the 17th century, with the current incarnation being a masonry tower mill, built in 1883 and thought to be one of the last of its kind in England. Strange to think that less than 30 years later it ceased production for good, despite the vuildin
For sale via Fine & Country — see more details and pictures.
Devon — £1.6 million
Potters is a Grade II-listed farmhouse with nearly five acres near Tiverton. The current owners bought the house in the early 2000s, when it was almost derelict, and have since carried out a renovation programme, taking care to retain period features, such as plank and muntin screens and exposed beams.
The house now incorporates an adjoining barn with seven bedrooms, six bathrooms and shower rooms. The characterful kitchen is off the entrance hall and features white-painted cabinetry, dark granite work surfaces and a large inglenook fireplace which is home to a four-oven Aga.
Outside is a heated swimming pool surrounded by stone paving.
For sale via Knight Frank — see more details and pictures.
Cornwall — £1.25 million
Tredarrup is a four-bedroom, Grade II-listed farmhouse set in seven acres with four award-winning holiday cottages; it is about four miles from Tregardock beach on the north Cornish coast and nine miles from Wadebridge.
A traditional kitchen with a flagstone floor is fitted with an electric Aga; this leads into an open-plan sitting and dining room. Just off this, in what was once a dairy, is a spacious pantry.
The cottages, which sleep between two and six, were originally stone barns; all are rated Five Star Gold by Visit England. ‘It’s the most beautiful family home in an idyllic, tranquil setting,’ says selling agent Penny Bolton.
For sale via Savills — see more details and pictures.
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