A family AFFAIR

Dreamily situated amongst fields of flowers in North Norfolk, Wiveton Hall is a Jacobean gem, whose timeless interiors reveal a quiet appreciation for the simple pleasures of country living

- AMANDA HARLING

It would be hard to find a more romantic Jacobean English country house than Desmond MacCarthy's home, the Grade II* Wiveton Hall in Norfolk. Dating from the mid 17th century, it was built by John Gifford, a member of a mercantile family from Gloucester. The house, with its three storey, double-fronted flint façade surmounted by decorative Dutch gables, has an imposing symmetrical appearance, pleasantly contrasted by the naturalistic look of the grounds that surround it. Strolling through the woods, one comes across outcrops of topiary, a secluded pond and beyond a wrought-iron gate is a walled kitchen garden worthy of The Secret Garden.

Desmond's maternal Buxton grandparents bought the house in 1944 and it was his mother, Chloe, who was largely responsible for maintaining the Edwardian garden. Before the Second World War there were eight gardeners. My mother was still taking an interest in what was planted up until her death aged nearly 103. She was a very knowledgeable gardener and I remember whenever she went abroad on holiday she'd always return home with a hoard of cuttings, such as cistus from the south of France, or box from a monastery garden in China.'

Desmond was in his teens when he inherited Wiveton after both his grandparents and his father died within a year or two of each other. As children, my sister Mary and I lived with our parents in the self-contained Edwardian west wing next door to the main hall. After my grandparents died we moved into the main hall and my mother ran the farm until I was old enough to take it on myself. I don't think it ever crossed her mind to downsize and swap Wiveton for a smaller, easier-to-run place. She loved living here, she knew Mary and I did too, so on we went. I like to think that my children, Edmund and Isabel, might take it on in years to come.'