- Tat London
- 22 hours ago
- 7 min read
Extraordinary Properties Currently On The Market, January 2025
These dear friends are not your typical one up one down on Station Road, the second most common street name in the UK, just behind High Street. Instead, they are gargantuan properties, most of them firmly in the millions. Many will also require someone with deep pockets to make them whole again and, in some cases, simply to furnish the vastness of the rooms. I doubt many people are actively shopping for a Gothic tower, but you never know. If you’ve always fancied living the high life, this particular folly might just be your next abode.
A rather wonderful Grade II listed former riding school with kennels and a stable courtyard, set within just over nine acres. Dating from the late 18th century, the collection includes partially converted stables, cottages and an indoor riding school arranged around a central courtyard. The riding school itself is a gloriously generous, light filled space, with rows of metal framed windows and its original raised viewing gallery still intact. Recently pressed into service as storage, it is nevertheless full of promise and feels ripe for a thoughtful new chapter, subject, as ever, to the necessary consents.
Grade I Listed World's Tallest Victorian Gothic Tower, 4 Bedrooms, 4 Bathrooms, Tonbridge, £2.78 Million
Hadlow Tower is an utterly singular proposition. Grade I listed and the tallest Victorian Gothic tower in the world, it rises 175 feet and still manages to outdo Nelson’s Column by six. Known locally as May’s Folly, it was restored in 2013 in an award winning £4.2 million project supported by English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund. Now a remarkable private home arranged over five floors with a lift, it comes with a garden, parking, woodland, access to the castle grounds and a roof terrace with exhilarating 360 degree views.
On the edge of the Lake District National Park, this impressive Victorian house sits within 11 acres of woodland and gardens. Tallentire Hall layers medieval, 16th century and Victorian architecture into one richly storied whole, with equestrian facilities, a handsome stable block and three luxury cottages currently run as holiday lets. With a premises licence and scope to be many things at once, it is a house with real presence and possibility.
Newton Manor House is a Grade II* listed period house in the heart of Swanage, with sea views from the upper floors and the beach and town within easy walking distance. Believed to date from the early 1600s, it retains a reassuring amount of oak panelling, beamed ceilings and open fireplaces. Arranged over three floors, the house sleeps up to 16 guests and is currently run as a successful holiday let, particularly suited to larger gatherings. A handsome, time worn building that works hard, set within just under a third of an acre.
Ludbrook Manor is a historic country house with an original tower dating to 1350 and mentions in the Domesday Book. Set between Dartmoor and the South Devon coast, it occupies a genuinely rural position with good privacy. The house includes 12 en suite bedrooms, a separate office annexe and landscaped gardens and grounds, and is currently used as a family home and country retreat, with accommodation for up to 24 guests.
Bishop’s Court is a substantial Grade I listed country house set within around 31 acres of parkland, including a two acre lake. Recorded in the Domesday Book and acquired in 1265 by Walter Branscombe, Bishop of Exeter, it served as the Bishops’ palace until the Reformation. The main house offers approximately 18,000 square feet of accommodation with eight double bedrooms, alongside ancillary flats and apartments, a Grade II listed gate lodge, tithe barn and further outbuildings. Architectural layers range from medieval origins through Georgian remodelling to a confident Gothic Revival scheme by William White. Inside are grand reception rooms, a library, drawing and sitting rooms, and a remarkable chapel with vaulted ceilings and stained glass.
Upcott Barton is a Grade II* listed manor house set in a private position within the rolling Mid Devon countryside. Dating to the early 16th century, with later additions through the 16th and 17th centuries, it retains a fine collection of period details including moulded ceilings, decorative gables, open fireplaces, mullioned windows and oak panelled walls. The house is surrounded by walled gardens and sits within approximately 30 acres, with extensive outbuildings arranged around a traditional courtyard offering potential, subject to consent. There is also a separately built roundhouse, currently run as a successful holiday let.
Ribbesford House is a vacant Grade II listed building set within approximately 7.9 acres in the rural hamlet of Ribbesford, just south of Bewdley. Positioned close to the River Severn and surrounded by woodland and open fields, it enjoys a peaceful setting while remaining within easy reach of Bewdley’s shops, restaurants and amenities. The house is in need of refurbishment and planning applications have been submitted for the creation of 22 residential dwellings, currently awaiting decision. The property is offered for sale by auction in January 2026.
Set on Woodhouse Lane in Brighouse, this substantial Victorian house sits within more than 1.3 acres of mature grounds. The interiors have been carefully restored, with ornate detailing intact, and the house offers seven generous reception rooms alongside five bedrooms, each with its own en suite. There is also a swimming pool and leisure suite including a gym and steam room. In addition to its appeal as a private residence, there is planning in place to develop nine luxury apartments and two detached houses, adding another layer of possibility to an already impressive property.
Faintree Hall is a handsome Georgian country house with later Victorian additions, set within just over 10 acres. A much loved family home for more than 40 years, it retains a great deal of its original character, from the elegant pillared entrance to the balanced interiors arranged over four floors. The house offers generous reception rooms, extensive bedroom accommodation and a top floor that has previously worked as a self contained apartment, giving useful flexibility. Outside, a long gravel drive leads to formal gardens with pools, paddocks and a historic part walled garden, while a courtyard of Victorian stables, barns and ancillary buildings sits quietly to the rear. A confident, well composed house with land, outlook and a strong sense of order.
Behind the rusticated ashlar stonework of this faux fortified building on Silver Street lies more than 4,100 sq ft of light filled commercial space. The interior has been opened up and vaulted to the rafters, with whitewashed stone walls and worn flagstone floors giving it a strong, adaptable character. Built in 1884 and set on Bradford on Avon’s main high street, it sits at the heart of the town, with direct rail links to Bath, Bristol and London Waterloo.
Holborough House sits in an elevated position within the English Riviera, with far reaching views across South Devon’s coastline. The surrounding area offers a mix of beaches, coves and coastal towns, with plenty of scope for walking, swimming and wandering. There is also no shortage of places to eat, from easy pavement cafés to more ambitious dining, making it a location that balances scenery with everyday pleasures.
Castlefields is a handsome Grade II listed former hunting lodge built in the early 19th century in the Tudor Revival style, set within around a third of an acre on the edge of Calne in Wiltshire. The house retains a remarkable amount of original detailing, from joinery and plasterwork to chimneypieces and distinctive stonework, including a fine cantilevered stone staircase. Offering more than 6,000 square feet of accommodation, the house includes eight bedrooms, four bathrooms, cellar and attic rooms, an annexe and a generous spread of reception spaces, with kitchens, service rooms and an orangery completing a substantial and characterful whole.
Walmoor House is a Grade II* listed Victorian house built as the family home of the architect John Douglas, who worked extensively in and around Chester for the 1st Duke of Westminster. Constructed from local red sandstone with a slate roof, it carries Douglas’s personal stamp throughout, most notably in the repeated use of the Douglas coat of arms above the entrance and within the house. Set in a conservation area overlooking the River Dee, the Meadows and the Chester skyline, the house retains a wealth of period detail and has been a much loved family home for more than twenty years.
Barrow Court is a Grade II* listed country house with origins in the 12th century, set within 4.25 acres of communal grounds near Bristol. Once a Benedictine nunnery and later granted by Henry VIII following the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the house was reshaped in the late 19th century into the Jacobean form seen today. It is offered for residential use only, with a long lease of 952 years remaining, parking and a garage, communal tennis courts and no onward chain. Its architectural gravitas has also made it a familiar screen presence, most notably standing in for Hampton Court in the BBC’s Wolf Hall.
Shortlisted for the RIBA House of the Year in 2018, Pheasants is a singular contemporary house set within the Chilterns National Landscape. Designed by Sarah Griffiths and Amin Taha, its S shaped concrete form appears to hover above the landscape, with expansive glazing drawing the house into constant conversation with its surroundings. The gardens are carefully composed, with a reflection pool, a sequence of terraces and a Corten pavilion that echoes the house’s unexpectedly delicate presence.
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