A 300-year-old home with grace, style and history, yet unlisted and exempt from mansion tax
Linethwaite Hall is a fascinating house that blends Georgian architecture with flourishes reminiscent of a Mediterranean palace, all hewn in sandstone and set in a peaceful corner of Cumbria.
The columns, the statues, the gardens... at first glance you'd be forgiven for assuming that the property on this page was a minor palace set in the rolling hills of Umbria. You'd be one letter 'c' away from the truth: it's actually in Cumbria, in the countryside outside St Bees, amid grounds with lawns, woodland, terraces and flowerbeds, where red squirrels and deer regularly visit.
Linethwaite Hall — currently on the market at £1.2 million via Finest Properties — is a wonderful and fascinating house, originally built in around 1720 by a family who owned coal mines in the area.
The classic elements of Georgian architecture are easily spotted in the high ceilings, bay windows and generously proportioned rooms, but the place has been much changed over the years, and the house as it stands today owes more to a Victorian remodelling than its original creator.
The changes didn't stop there, though: what was once the coach house has now been amalgamated into the main building as a separate wing, massively increasing the floor space, and bringing a games room-slash-pub into the mix.
Regardless of which elements came when, this is a grand home that makes an impression from the moment you turn in to the driveway, beneath a sandstone arch featuring a carving of Poseidon.
More statues await at the main house itself, from across the eras, and with some unusual choices: Queen Victoria and William Shakespeare take their places alongside Joan of Arc and — at least according to the agents' notes — King John. Commemorating one of English history's most notorious tyrants is certainly an unusual choice, but who are we to question it? It's also worth noting that the house is unlisted — something very unusual for a home of this age and size — so the new owner will have the option to bring in a sculptor to remodel John into someone else. Henry II? Oliver Cromwell? Gary Lineker? Elon Musk? Your could let your imagination can run wild.
Head past those statues into the house itself and you'll discover even greater joy: it's utterly immaculate, and beautifully decorated and fitted out. Oak doors, herringbone flooring, a firm grasp of bold colours, delicate cornicing and exposed stone elements create a lovely feel in this grand country house.
A fine staircase leads upstairs where there are six bedrooms, three of which sit in the main footprint of Linethwaite Hall, with the other three accessed via a separate landing on the first floor of the coach house wing. It brings a welcome element of separation which families with older children in will probably appreciate.
On that same score, head down to the lower ground floor and past the gorgeous wine cellar and you'll find a separate, self-contained two-bedroom flat, with its own kitchen, living room, hallway and entrance.
This could be ideal for multi-generational living; and if that's the way you're thinking, a three-bedroom bungalow within the grounds is also for sale via separate negotiation.
Linethwaite Hall is for sale at £1.2 million via Finest Properties — see more details.
