Interiors special
Shall we go through? The return of the drawing room
Mind the magpie: superstition in sport
The new-look Frick and the saviour of blossom
Property market
TBest of the West
The launch onto the market of three historic Grade II*-listed manors heralds a bright start to the year in Cornwall, Devon and Somerset
ODAY sees the launch in C OUNTRY L IFE of one of west Cornwall’s landmark country houses, Nancealverne at Heamoor, near Penzance, which comes to the open market, for the first time in 300 years or more, at a guide price of £2.5 million through Falmouth-based agent Jonathan Cunliffe (01326 617447). The captivating Georgian house, the name of which means ‘valley of the Alverne’ after the stream that runs through its land, stands in some 22 acres of glorious grounds that include formal gardens, parkland, woodland and an ornamental lake with its own island—all laid out centuries ago and lovingly maintained over the years.
One of a number of grand country houses and villas that form a ring on the outer edges of the ancient borough of Penzance, Nancealverne dates from the 16th century, but was significantly enlarged in the 18th and 19th
centuries, firstly by the Usticke family, who were pioneers of Cornish tin mining in the 1700s, and, from 1750 onwards, by the Scobell Armstrongs, following the marriage of John Armstrong, scion of a distinguished military family, and the Usticke heiress Mary Anne Scobell. The grand Georgian front façade, which stretches the full width of the house, is said to have been funded by prize money received following Nelson’s victory at the Battle of the Nile in 1798. Two Armstrongs fought in that battle.
In the late 19th century, the Revd John Armstrong, who died in 1862, was survived by his widow, Mary Anne, who inherited Nancealverne from her brother in 1883. Since then, the house has been owned by her descendants, having passed in turn to her son, John Scobell Armstrong (1842–1929); her grandson, John Warneford Scobell Armstrong
(1877–1960), a county court judge and prominent figure in Penzance society; her greatgrandson, John Hamilton Scobell Armstrong (1927–2001); and, finally, its current owners, lawyers Kester and Diana Armstrong, who live in Northumberland, but enjoy holidays at Nancealverne with other family members.
Following Judge Armstrong’s death in 1960, the 8,320sq ft main house was skilfully reconfigured as four separate apartments, several of which now operate as successful holiday lets. The largest of these is The Maisonette on the east-facing Georgian side of the house, which is entered from the front porch and comprises the grand, late-18thcentury drawing room on the ground floor with four bedrooms, a kitchen, conservatory/dining room and snug on the first floor. The Admiral’s Den, situated on the north side of the house, contains the original
Set in 22 acres of delightful grounds, Georgian Nancealverne, near Penzance, is one of Cornwall’s landmark houses. £2.5m
dining room on the ground floor, with two bedrooms, a shower room and kitchen on the first floor.
The West Wing at the back of the house comprises an entrance hall, dining room, sitting room, kitchen and bathroom on the first floor. The entire second floor of the north wing is occupied by a two-bedroom flat, which offers living space, kitchen, bathroom and storage. Finally, Apple Loft Cottage on the west side of the house has been beautifully refurbished to provide two charming
en-suite bedrooms and a huge, open-plan living space that opens onto a private, southfacing cobbled terrace.
Given that the division of living space at Nancealverne has been largely achieved by simply shutting off existing doors, the apartments could easily be reintegrated as a grand family home or even a boutique hotel, suggests Mr Cunliffe, who expects most buyers to at least combine The Maisonette and the adjoining Admirals Den to re-create the original Georgian layout.
Across the county border in mid Devon, Oliver Custance Baker of Strutt & Parker (020–7591 2213) quotes a guide price of ‘excess £2.15m’ for Upcott Barton. Near the village of Poughill, five miles from Crediton and 12 miles from the cathedral city of Exeter, it is set in 25 acres of private and sheltered gardens and surrounded by open farmland.
According to its Historic England listing, Upcott Barton is not only ‘a very important house because of the extent and quality of the surviving 16th and 17th century work’, but
Georgian
Notable and notorious: Upcott Barton, near Crediton, Devon, has 16th- and 17th-century origins and unspoilt views (right). £2.15m
Once owned by Glastonbury Abbey, Old Manor Farm in Somerset was home to the lords of the manor of Nether Ham. £2.65m
Property market
Sensitively updated, Old Manor Farm abounds in period features, including the wood-panelled drawing room, once a courtroom
also notorious in the history of Devon as the site of the 1455 murder of the eminent lawyer Nicholas Radford by a mob directed by his overlord Thomas de Courtenay, 5th Earl of Devon, whose family was defeated in the Wars of the Roses and their estates forfeited to the Crown. The Prowse family succeeded the Radfords at Upcott Barton, followed in the 16th century by a younger branch of the Courtenays, before passing in the late 17th century through the female line to John Moore of Moore, near Tavistock. The manor later went to the Basset family of Umberleigh, north Devon, who, in about 1790, sold Upcott to the Fursdons, who retained it until the 1930s.
Although now in need of updating, Upcott Barton encapsulates the magic of a bygone era in this wonderfully unspoilt part of mid Devon. A long private drive leads to an archway that marks the entrance to a courtyard of traditional buildings, beyond which lies the manor house surrounded by walled and terraced gardens. The picturesque main house offers more than 5,000sq ft of atmospheric living space on three floors, including two main reception rooms, a study, library and kitchen/breakfast room on the ground floor; four bedrooms on the first floor; and four further bedrooms and a bathroom on the second floor. The principal rooms are spacious, with decorative ceilings that
reflect the medieval era, and large panelled windows that help flood the interior with natural light.
Adjoining the west wing of the manor is the courtyard of single and two-storey traditional buildings, currently used as garaging, storage and workshops, but suitable for a variety of uses, subject to planning.
Worthy of note is the Upcott Barton Roundhouse built to an Iron Age design
Worthy of note is the Upcott Barton Roundhouse, built to an Iron Age design and completed in 2015, which has been used for short-term holiday lets and provides a useful income. Although currently offered with 25 acres, more land is available at Upcott Barton by separate negotiation.
Across the border in mid Somerset, Sarah Brown of Knight Frank (020–7590 2451) has just overseen the launch onto the market of handsome Old Manor Farm, set in 10½ acres of gardens, paddocks and orchards in the quiet hamlet of Low Ham, two miles from Langport and 10 miles from Glastonbury.
She quotes a guide price of £2.65m for the historic country house, which dates from medieval times and was one of many manors owned by the powerful Glastonbury Abbey from Saxon times until the Dissolution. Home thereafter to a number of landowning families, Old Manor Farm was the residence of successive lords of the manor of Nether Ham and is commended in Pevsner’s Buildings of England: Somerset for the original quality of its architecture and workmanship.
These high standards have been well maintained in the course of sympathetic improvements carried out by recent owners, which highlight the building’s many original period details. Notable features include the panelled drawing room (the former courtroom), a Hamstone fireplace, carved beams, original oak doors, flagstone floors and a spiral stone staircase. In all, Old Manor Farm offers 4,676sq ft of accommodation in the main house, including three reception rooms, a garden room, kitchen, office, six bedrooms and four bathrooms.
The outbuildings comprise two large cottages, a games room, modern barn stabling, a garage, store rooms and office. The formal gardens to the south of the main house are enclosed by traditional stone walls and thoughtfully planted to provide colour and interest throughout the year.
Property comment
Edited by Annunciata Elwes
Let’s get this party started
The party barn is taking off like never before, finds Madeleine Silver
DISCO balls, insists David Henderson, head of Savills’s Stow-on-the-Wold office, are non-negotiable items when it comes to finishing a party barn. There are those with kitchens where caterers can effortlessly beaver, ones with nightclub-worthy sound systems, a mezzanine to accommodate overflowing overnight guests and sprawling windows to let light flood in. Nonetheless, it’s the disco balls that set the tone. Welcome to the modern party barn: the ultimate goodtime utopia, devoid of the toil of a home gym or the practicalities of a home office—and a world away from the draughty, hay-balesand-a-hi-fi set-up of yesteryear.
‘Entertaining spaces have always been a key part of the English country house, but, in recent years, party barns have become increasingly versatile and sophisticated,’ says interior designer Emma Sims-Hilditch. ‘Traditionally, these spaces might have been used as billiard rooms or shoot-lunch venues,
but, today, they are designed to host everything from intimate gatherings to largescale celebrations.’
They’re a world away from the draughty, hay-bales-and-a-hi-fi set-up of yesteryear
Although some agents might not be able to estimate the premium buyers are willing to pay for one, Mr Henderson apportions ‘really good additional value’. He continues: ‘I’d put a strong £1 per square foot on them, because they’re such versatile buildings— they’re a place to host small family gatherings and large events. If you have a guest room above one and a kitchen in it, your friends can stay and enjoy their own private space, too.’
For Oliver Custance Baker, head of Strutt & Parker’s country department, the value comes down to how the barn works with the rest of the house’s set-up. ‘If you have a tennis court, swimming pool and party barn all linked together, then you can see clearly how that would be used over the summer,’ he explains. ‘Buyers like the idea of them, because it gives a separate space if they’re hosting different age groups at once. Larger families see it as a really good investment, because if they have three or four children, they know that it’s going to be used an awful lot. A party barn can be closed off and forgotten about until you have a houseful, rather than living with an empty room that you find yourself walking past. When they’re separate, they can be filled with all the toys and fun that people want, because the space is dedicated to exactly that.’
When Minette Palmer and her late husband bought the barn next to their Burhunt Farm
Property comment
Hampshire, £4.85 million
Burhunt Farm is a Grade II-listed farmstead in the South Downs, just over a mile from the village of Selborne, close to Alton. There are eight bedrooms in the main house, a 16thcentury party barn and 19th-century converted stables arranged around the swimming pool. Knight Frank (020–7861 1080)
Warwickshire, £4.5 million
Grade II-listed Combrook House has six bedrooms with a detached three-bedroom cottage, a one-bedroom annexe and a party barn complete with a bar and doors onto a decked barbecue and seating area. It’s set in 14½ acres with extensive outbuildings, including equestrian facilities, in the small village of Combrook, 10 miles from Stratfordupon-Avon. Savills (01295-228002)
in the South Downs more than 40 years ago —now on the market with Knight Frank (left)—keeping a roof on it was the priority for years. It wasn’t until 2010, with the help of an inheritance, that a 20-month project with a conservation architect from ADAM Architecture in Winchester to turn it into something more sophisticated began.
‘The University of Oxford kindly came and dated it—it was built between 1513 and 1523 and the wood used would have been saplings in 1377,’ explains Mrs Palmer. ‘I wouldn’t have been allowed to divide it up and quite
If only I’d bought…
right, too, because it would have destroyed its character. The first thing we did was have a party for my mother’s 90th birthday and then, for my 70th, Pavilion Opera performed Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda in it, which was terrific. It’s also a grand playroom: I have teenage grandchildren who go around on their hoverboards and, equally, you can host Christmas lunch for as many as we like; 26 sitting down in the house is rather a squash…’
Party barns offer an experience that is both practical and utterly enchanting
There might be a romantic lure to the aesthetics of an untouched barn, but, with soaring building costs, they garner the most value when converted, say agents. At Todhunter Earle Interiors, designers are working on a listed building that can be used as a private dining room and then turned into a nightclub with a working bar and DJ booth. Meanwhile, Mrs Sims-Hilditch’s team once designed a party barn with an indoor swimming pool that transforms into a dance floor. ‘The pool had a retractable floor that, within minutes, would rise and lock into place,’ she marvels. ‘It was a feat of engineering and design, but the result was magical and exemplified what we love most about party barns: their ability to evolve and surprise, offering an experience that is both practical and utterly enchanting.’
August 8, 1968
