Every so often we set about to wondering why more people don't live in Northumberland. Wide open skies, gloriously unspoilt countryside and pristine beaches give it 'all the ingredients of perfection', as Viscount Ridley put it in a piece for Country Life last year. 'Most tourists speed through Northumberland heading for Scotland — big mistake, but long may they do so.'
Northumberland's allure is made all the greater by the country houses that dot this landscape, and a wonderful example has come up in the form of Adderstone House, which is being sold by Ryan Eve of Corbridge-based Finest at a guide price of £2.95 million.
This substantial early-Victorian home is set in 10½ acres of wonderful gardens and grounds within the Northumberland coastal plain, 1½ miles from Belford village, 4½ miles from Bamburgh and 16 miles from Berwick-upon-Tweed.
The main house is a solid, stone-built affair that offers some 6,520 square feet of well organised family accommodation on three floors, including three reception rooms, a study, office and a contemporary Smallbone kitchen/diner on the down floor, with a cellar below.
The first floor has six bedrooms, two of which are en-suite while the other two share two further bathrooms.
The second floor is a converted attic that's listed as a further bedroom, but it's enormous — more than 33ft long — and could be used for all sorts of other things. What a playroom it would make...
Yet the main house is only part of the story here, because there's an annexe which has been created in complete contrast to the Victorian principal house.
Built by the current owners, it's a striking, two-bedroom lakeside home, designed with energy efficiency firmly in mind. Set low into the landscape beside the water, its sweeping profile and planted roof allow it to sit discreetly within the gardens.
Those gardens were created from scratch: this was 10 acres of virgin farmland 20 years ago before the current owners moved in. They brought in local garden designer Sean Murray, whose considerable talents are showcased in the now well-established gardens at Adderstone House.
There are mixed borders, a walled garden, orchard, woodland garden, rose walk, formal garden, dry border, boathouse folly, lakeside walk, Japanese garden — with a Tora gate — and a tea house.
In 2009, the Adderstone House team planted a small private vineyard, listed by the national winegrowers’ association as the most northerly vineyard in England. Here, 100 Rondo vines, a Northern European variety, were planted in 2009 and now yield some 150 litres of excellent juice annually.
This is pasteurised and given away (in return for a donation) when the gardens are opened to the public twice a year in aid of hospice care in north Northumberland.
Adderstone House is for sale at a guide price of £2.95 million with Finest — see more details.