Noël Coward may have described Norfolk as ‘very flat’, but the property market in East Anglia is anything but.
Spring has come early in Norfolk, although I’m told that it may be a month or two before this year’s star country properties find their way into the pages of Country Life. Nevertheless, ‘despite a tendency for vendors to test the water by going for an initial off-market launch, we’ve done half a dozen deals at around the £1.5 million market during the winter months – a time when we often find ourselves twiddling our thumbs in this part of the world,’ says a relaxed Ben Marchbank of Bedfords in Burnham Market.
He’s happy to go public on Grade II-listed The Grange in the historic market town of Aylsham – 11 miles from Cromer and 13 miles from Norwich – adjoining the 4,500-acre Blickling estate, which, since 1940, has been run by the National Trust. Bedfords quote a guide price of £1.45 million for The Grange, a fine, late-Georgian house built on the site of an earlier dwelling in about 1810 and set in 1.69 acres of charming, part-walled gardens and grounds.
It stands well back from the road behind a high red-brick wall and comes with a cottage, stabling and outbuildings. The house has been beautifully renovated by the well-respected craftsmen of A. J. Cooper of Calthorpe for the present owners, who bought the property in 2013.
It now offers 6,623sq ft of ideal family living space, including four reception rooms, a study, a splendid kitchen/breakfast room, master and guest suites, five further bedrooms and two bathrooms.
The cottage is in need of refurbishment and hasn't been used by the current owners, but once it has been updated, the one-bedroom with kitchen and sitting room will become a perfect guest house. The outbuildings include a garage and a workshop, as well as two stables.
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