Five palatial mansions for sale, including one with its own private swimming lake, as seen in Country Life

Surrey — £3,250,000

Some 5,000sq ft of space is on offer at this grand country home dating back to the 16th century, with timber beams and enormous open fireplaces.

Perhaps best of all? The enormous country kitchen with stone floors, doors onto the terrace and a bottle green Aga.

For sale with Strutt & Parker. See more pictures and details for this property.

Buckinghamshire — £3,750,000

A seven-bedroom home in a pretty village not far from Aylesbury, with 22 acres of grounds that take in parkland, paddocks and formal areas.

For sale with Michael Graham. See more pictures and details for this property.

Surrey — £3,500,000

With direct access to Frensham Common, in the heart of the Surrey Hills near Farnham, this century-old Arts-and-Crafts home is a true haven from the world (it even has its own swimming lake), yet still just an hour from central London.

For sale with Savills. See more pictures and details for this property.

Surrey — £7,999,950

A Wentworth Estate home with all the shiny marble opulence you'd expect of some of the smartest (and biggest) homes in this part of the Home Counties.

The agents tell us that it has a 'Lutron HomeWorks lighting system' and a 'Crestron home automation', neither of which we'd ever heard of before, but we're imagning great things that may or may not stop short of a full-blown robotic AI butler. (Disclaimer: they almost certainly do stop short of including a robotic AI butler.)

For sale with Knight Frank. See more pictures and details for this property.

Berkshire — £18,000,000

With a location 'on one of the country's most exclusive private roads', this yet-to-be-finished mansion near Sunningdale has everything from a Norwegian sauna to a State Drawing Room. Just as you'd hope at this price, of course.

For sale with Strutt & Parker. See more pictures and details for this property.