FLORENCE BISS of Knight Frank's Exeter office (01392 423111) quotes a guide price of $1.9 million for idyllic Eastacott Barton near Umberleigh, north Devon, six miles west of South Molton and 10 miles south of the ancient town of Barnstaple on the River Taw. A former 16th-century farmhouse on the surrounding Clinton estate, Eastacott Barton was substantially enlarged in the 19th century, when its two stone barns were added. Located at the head of its own private valley, the imposing main house, its Victorian barns and outbuildings are now the focal point of a thriving, 27-acre, small country estate set within gardens, meadows, woodland and lakes running down to the Taw, halfway between Exmoor and Dartmoor and within a short drive of the rugged north Devon coast.
The main house, built partly of the local stone and partly of cob under a slate roof, has been significantly upgraded by its current owners, who acquired the property in 2019 and worked from home throughout the pandemic, thanks to excellent connectivity provided by super-fast broadband and a good mobile-phone signal. 'We use fast broadband from Airband that has 25Mb minimum download; it works well for working from home alongside television streaming and kids gaming,' the vendor reveals.
Eastacott Barton offers more than 4,600sq ft of stylish, well-organised accommodation on two floors, including four reception rooms, four bedrooms, four bathrooms and a large kitchen/breakfast room; both the sitting room and garden room look south over the terrace and garden. The light and airy kitchen, with southerly views across the valley, has been completely re-fitted within the past 12 months.
Upstairs, all four bedrooms are south-facing with bathrooms en suite and lovely views over the surrounding countryside. Additional guest accommodation is provided in an adjoining one-bedroom annexe.
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Denne historien er fra October 02,2024-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Save our family farms
IT Tremains to be seen whether the Government will listen to the more than 20,000 farming people who thronged Whitehall in central London on November 19 to protest against changes to inheritance tax that could destroy countless family farms, but the impact of the good-hearted, sombre crowds was immediate and positive.
A very good dog
THE Spanish Pointer (1766–68) by Stubbs, a landmark painting in that it is the artist’s first depiction of a dog, has only been exhibited once in the 250 years since it was painted.
The great astral sneeze
Aurora Borealis, linked to celestial reindeer, firefoxes and assassinations, is one of Nature's most mesmerising, if fickle displays and has made headlines this year. Harry Pearson finds out why
'What a good boy am I'
We think of them as the stuff of childhood, but nursery rhymes such as Little Jack Horner tell tales of decidedly adult carryings-on, discovers Ian Morton
Forever a chorister
The music-and way of living-of the cabaret performer Kit Hesketh-Harvey was rooted in his upbringing as a cathedral chorister, as his sister, Sarah Sands, discovered after his death
Best of British
In this collection of short (5,000-6,000-word) pen portraits, writes the author, 'I wanted to present a number of \"Great British Commanders\" as individuals; not because I am a devotee of the \"great man, or woman, school of history\", but simply because the task is interesting.' It is, and so are Michael Clarke's choices.
Old habits die hard
Once an antique dealer, always an antique dealer, even well into retirement age, as a crop of interesting sales past and future proves
It takes the biscuit
Biscuit tins, with their whimsical shapes and delightful motifs, spark nostalgic memories of grandmother's sweet tea, but they are a remarkably recent invention. Matthew Dennison pays tribute to the ingenious Victorians who devised them
It's always darkest before the dawn
After witnessing a particularly lacklustre and insipid dawn on a leaden November day, John Lewis-Stempel takes solace in the fleeting appearance of a rare black fox and a kestrel in hot pursuit of a pipistrelle bat
Tarrying in the mulberry shade
On a visit to the Gainsborough Museum in Sudbury, Suffolk, in August, I lost my husband for half an hour and began to get nervous. Fortunately, an attendant had spotted him vanishing under the cloak of the old mulberry tree in the garden.
