A Devon retreat with spectacular interiors, a swimming pool and enough green energy that you'll turn a profit on your electricity bill
East Boreton, in the heart of the South Hams, is a rural home that has the lot.
There's always a little rush of excitement that comes from finding a traditional country house that's full of surprises. And East Boreston, in the village of Halwell within Devon's hopelessly bucolic South Hams, is a perfect example.
It's for sale at £2.25 million through Marchand Petit, and at first glance appears to be a very pleasant, albeit slightly unremarkable rural home. Step inside, however, and you'll find yourself in a place where blue and green hues are expertly positioned for maximum impact, with huge windows looking out over secluded gardens.
You'll fin with fixtures and fittings that could have been taken from a smart London interior design studio, blended with cosy vintage furniture, vibrant colour schemes and the odd surprise — not least a bubblegum pink dresser in the sun room.
It's beautiful, liveable and fun — and the sort of home that could easily grace Country Life's interiors pages just as easily as the property section.
The main house comes with five bedrooms, a large, open-plan kitchen/dining/sitting room and a separate formal sitting room.
We say 'main house', because as well as the Grade II-listed farmhouse, the new buyer will be getting themselves a fully-established and successful lifestyle retreat business.
There's a converted five-bedroom holiday barn, a detached and separate one-bedroom holiday cottage, and an indoor swimming pool.
The net effect, in the words of the agent, is a property that offers ‘generous and highly flexible accommodation, designed for both family living and entertaining. The principal house enjoys its own defined private gardens and grounds, ensuring complete separation from guest areas’.
The current owners pride themselves on the property’s eco credentials — and quite rightly, for they are extrarordinary: an extensive array of solar-generated electricity and ground-source heat systems produce 34kw of power, enough to power the underfloor heating throughout the principal buildings, keep the swimming pool and hot tub warm, and still have a surplus to sell back to the grid.
Marchand Petit report that there is a 'net-positive income stream, after heating and electricity costs. That earns East Boreston a remarkable Grade A with a 97 rating on the EPC certificate; for a period property such as this one, that's almost unheard of.
And the location? The South Hams is one of the most talked-about parts of the South West, and Halwell is within easy reach of some of the best towns — including Salcombe and Dartmouth — and the golden beaches of Blackpool Sands. The larger town of Totnes, with its road and rail connections to the rest of the country, is just six miles away.
East Boreston and The Barn are for sale through Marchand Petit at £2.25 million — see more details.
