A beautiful Georgian house that spent three centuries in the Queen Mother's family, set in 'the most charming hamlet in Northumberland'
The Bowes-Lyon family built this house almost 200 years before their most famous member — Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon — married into the Royal Family.
Toby Keel
As claims to fame go, having a tree planted by HM The King's grandmother is an unusual one — particularly if you live in a sleepy village in Northumberland.
The tree is part of the deal at Beltingham House, whose royal links come through the maternal line. Built in around 1750, this delightful Georgian home was originally a built as a dower house for nearby Ridley Hall, one of the main properties of the Bowes-Lyon family.
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon — better known as the late Queen Mother — visited regularly to see her relatives here throughout her life, and the tree was apparently planted in June 1989. That's just 14 months before her 90th birthday, something which clearly ran in the family: the Queen Mother's daughter, the late Queen Elizabeth II, also planted trees well into her 90s, and King Charles was still laying his own hedges on the Sandringham estate despite being in his 70s.
The Bowes-Lyonses family sold up shortly after the Queen Mother's death in 2000, after which it was taken on — and entirely refurbished — by local interior designer Andrew Bottomley. As such — and as the pictures here show beautifully — it's a home with a great combination of period charm and modern comfort, while also keeping the look and feel of the place true to its Georgian design.
Northumberland-based agent Ryan Eve of Finest quotes a guide price of £1.75 million for this beautiful Grade II-listed home.
Built on two storeys of squared stone under a slate roof, the handsome mid-18th-century house stands in almost two acres of gardens overlooking open fields.
The main house offers bright, refined and comfortable accommodation, including three fine reception rooms, a snug, kitchen/breakfast room.
Upstairs there are five bedrooms, three of which are en-suite, plus a couple of bath/shower rooms.
A service wing set back from the house was converted from a farm building in 1903 and currently serves as informal quarters for guests or extended family.
The house which stands alongside St Cuthbert’s Church in the peaceful hamlet of Beltingham, a mile south-east of Bardon Mill and 10 miles west of Hexham. It's a lovely place, described in the local press a few years ago as 'one of the most charming hamlets in Northumberland'.
Beltingham House is for sale via Finest Properties — see more details.
