Four wildly-different Georgian homes which sum up the appeal of the golden age of property architecture

'Symmetry — that's what makes Georgian houses so special,' Will Peppit of Savills told Country Life back in 2014 when trying to sum up the appeal of this most sought-after of property types.

'There's something wonderfully pleasing about the layout of a house in which the main rooms on every floor are designed around a central staircase or landing,' Peppit added.

'And if, like me, you're 6ft 4in and blind as a bat, the high ceilings and light rooms of a typical Georgian house are a real bonus.'

We think he was on to something. We associate Georgian houses with the sort of country piles that get used to film Jane Austen adaptations, but both the breadth and the genius of Georgian architecture is much more than that. Here are four examples which really sum it up: a Tudor mansion transformed by its Georgian owners; a charming townhouse; a village farmhouse; and a flat in one of the world's most famous buildings. Georgian one and all, and not an old rectory to be seen.

Norfolk — £1.595 million

The origins of Home Farm House in Helhoughton reach back to Tudor times, but this home also has the distinctive symmetry, proportions and elegance of the Georgian period (1714–1830), including a brick façade, having been added to over the centuries. Exposed brickwork continues inside, in evidence in the kitchen, which has an island at its centre, complete with a bespoke inscription — ‘Home Farm House’ — etched into the wooden worktop.

This thoughtful approach can be found everywhere in this seven-bedroom home, such as the linked snug (the Tudor part of the house), where there is more exposed historic brick and ceiling beams, plus a deep inglenook fireplace for that constantly cosy feel. The ceiling is high in the drawing room (the Georgian part of the home), a room that also has an open fireplace, sash windows and original wooden shutters.

A self-contained two-bedroom apartment can be accessed via a private staircase and, outside, a converted barn has two self-contained bedroom suites and is currently run as a successful Airbnb business.

For sale via Sowerbys — see more details and pictures.

Bath — £795,000

Ever since it was designed by John Wood the Younger and constructed between 1767 and 1774, Bath’s curvaceous Royal Crescent has attracted the great and the good. In fact, there have been plenty of illustrious residents and guests, not least the politician and slave-trade abolitionist William Wilberforce, who stayed at No 2 in 1798, and the poet and playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan (creator of The Rivals), who visited and later married noted soprano singer Elizabeth Ann Linley from No 11. The actor John Cleese purchased a basement flat in 2016, too, but sold it again two years later.

The flat now listed for sale is on the ground floor and has two double bedrooms, as well as, according to the agent, a ‘welcoming entrance hall [that] leads to a beautifully proportioned reception room featuring a period fireplace and views towards the Crescent lawns… Residents of the Royal Crescent enjoy access to the private Crescent lawn, separated from the public park by a traditional ha-ha, preserving privacy and uninterrupted views across Royal Victoria Park.’

For sale via Knight Frank — see more details and pictures.

Norfolk — £695,000

The sellers of pretty Primrose Cottage have used it as a permanent residence and it could lend itself to this role once again, but it would equally make the perfect weekend bolthole or a coastal retreat for holidaymakers with a potential income stream, for it is situated in the village of Thornham, which, with three pubs and a renowned deli, is a stone’s throw from Brancaster Beach.

An elegant red-brick façade greets visitors to this semi-detached cottage and, inside, they will find plenty of original features, such as wide Georgian floorboards, panelling, cast-iron bedroom fireplaces and working shutters.

Upstairs, two double bedrooms both have en-suite bathrooms, and a kitchen, dining room and sitting room occupy the ground floor. Outside, the terrace is a sun trap on cloudless days.

For sale via Sowerbys — see more details and pictures.

Northumberland — £1.2 million

Train enthusiasts — or anyone else, come to that — will no doubt love Bradley Garden House, located in Wylam, for this village is the birthplace of the ‘father of the railways’, George Stephenson. He lived here until he was about eight, but he wouldn’t have found his own very humble High Street House anything like the beautiful Bradley Garden House, where everything — including the three reception rooms and four bedrooms (over two floors) — has been sympathetically restored.

This Georgian farmhouse, which was once the residence for the head gardener from the 18th-century walled Bradley Gardens, has a kitchen that is fitted with a bespoke, handmade Neptune kitchen by Bridgewater Interiors.

Externally, the south-facing gardens are landscaped and a stone terrace is perfect for alfresco dining or sitting and soaking up the tranquillity.

For sale via Finest — see more details and pictures.