Archive for December, 2008

Rupert Bates – Property – The Field – November 08

Is there somebody out there who could bundle up my loans into a ‘collateralised debt obligation’, trade it with another bank and lend me £50 million so I can buy both the Kelling Estate in Norfolk and Encombe in Dorset?
The reason I ask is that these two cracking sporting estates have hit the market at the same time and for the same price – a cool £25 million each. What is a man to do when faced with the choice of buying a slice of a North Norfolk coastal village with a top pheasant shoot, or a golden bowl in south-west England with high pheasant and partridge? Put in a cheeky offer of £30 million for the pair perhaps?
It would make for an extraordinary property left and right to bag them both. One thing is for sure, they are unlikely to go to an investment banker right now, unless he is one of those who has ring-fenced his Christmas bonus, despite contributing to one of the most spectacular financial meltdowns in history.
Strutt & Parker is selling both, with Savills joint agents on Encombe. Strutt & Parker is also, with CKD Kennedy Macpherson, selling a third gem the High House Estate in Norfolk.
“One prospective buyer of one of the estates has cash in the bank and that is a scary prospect right now. So why not get the money out of the bank and buying something he can touch and feel and very unlikely to go down in value?” said James Laing of Strutt & Parker.
It is a good argument. You would need a lot of separate savings accounts of £35,000 – the amount the Government will guarantee in the event of more bank failures – to get to £25 million.
Neither Kelling nor Encombe have been heavily discounted in the current market, for such estates hold their scarcity value, although Kelling with 30 cottages as well as a Grade 11* listed hall has a lot of residential components to factor in. Kelling, bought 100 years ago by Sir Henri Deterding the founder of the Royal Dutch Shell Oil company, has just under 1700 acres.
Encombe, more than 2000 acres on the Isle of Purbeck, has been lovingly restored by owner Charles McVeigh. The Georgian house is exquisite and the golden bowl of 1000 acres at the heart of the estate a stunning landscape.
“Encombe is one of the most desirable estates in England,” said Alex Lawson of Savills. Mark McAndrew of Strutt & Parker says turning into the drive and catching your first glimpse of the house “makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end.” Turning out of the drive for the last time, no matter the size of the cheque, will be heart-wrenching for the owners.
Both estates have beauty and privacy in abundance, but sportsmen will crave in Kelling the finest shooting in Norfolk and if you want high birds in the south-west of England Encombe has few equals.
While Laing says it is ‘unusual’ for such estates to hit the market at the same time, more land is coming to the market.
“In the era of prosperity there was no difficulty in holding onto farms and estates and leaving them to heirs. Life is more difficult now. These sales are not about needing the money overnight, but are driven by concern over the lack of funds in the hands of purchasers,” said Laing.
Encombe will attract international buyers, while Kelling will excite the prosperous computer whiz-kids of Cambridge.
“Norfolk is the sporting playground for the Cambridge hi-tech industry,” said Laing. If you have not got quite so many micro-chips to fish with, High House Estate in West Norfolk is on the market with offers over £9.5 million and includes a Grade 1 Georgian house, parkland and woodland with shooting potential.
Just bundle up the debt to £60 million and I’ll take all three.

COUNTRY ESTATE

ALDWARK ESTATE
Aldwark
Yorkshire
Agent: Carter Jonas
Tel: 01423-707801
Guide price: £12.5 million for the whole

This 2000-acre estate in the Vale of York is being sold by the St Monica Trust. It is part of the village of Aldwark and as well as the 2000 acres there are sporting and mineral rights over a further 451 acres and fishing rights on the eastern banks of the River Ure. Most of this agricultural estate is tenanted, bringing in £210,000 a year. Haddocks Farm, 460 acres including a four-bedroom farmhouse and some cottages and farm buildings, is not tenanted. There are a number of let houses and cottages and some amenity woodland. Aldwark is available as a whole or in 10 lots.

PROPERTY OF THE MONTH

HAGG HOUSE FARM
Pity Me
Durham
Agent: George F White
Tel: 01388-527966
Offers in the region of £950,000

This is worth a viewing just for the sheer value of the name and the chance to live in Hagg House Farm in the small village of Pity Me, with pity me applying to most people trying to sell their homes these days. Hagg House Farm is a stone built four-bedroom property and is under three miles from Durham. It sits in just over two acres, including paddocks and a wildlife pond. There is potential for an aTtic conversion in the house to add further accommodation.

WRECK OF THE MONTH

PEDLEY HILL
Adlington
Cheshire
Agents: Jackson-Stops & Staff and Garner & Sons
Tel: 01625-540340 and 0161-4803013
Guide price: £950,000

The price tag may seem a trifle steep for a wreck, but you also get a detached listed 18th century brick barn in the sale which has planning permission for conversion into a six-bedroom house. The wreck itself is a Grade 11 listed farmhouse, built of stone and in need of total renovation. The property dates from the 17th century and has five bedrooms and extends to 3000 square feet, with exposed beams and stone fireplaces among its features. Pedley Hill is six miles from Macclesfield and Wilmslow.

VIEWS

BALEDMUND HOUSE
Pitlochry
Perthshire
Agent: CKD Galbraith and Rettie & Co
Tel: 01738-451111 and 0131-2204160
Offers over £1.7 million

This 11-bedroom property has spectacular Perthshire countryside views over Pitlochry and Strathtummel. Baledmund House is a Baronial mansion and a former laird’s house. The grounds include an 11-acre paddock and a tennis court. . The house has been well-maintained by the current owners, who have also added contemporary features.

CORSCOMBE HOUSE
Belstone, Devon
Agent: Fulfords
Tel: 01837-52444
Guide price: £725,000

Corscombe House has lovely views outs towards North Devon and Exmoor. The property is a four-bedroom former farmhouse with six acres of gardens and paddocks. It dates from the late 18th century, early 19th century and is Grade 11 listed, built in cob and thatch. The house, near Okehampton, is on the fringe of Dartmoor National Park.

LINHE HOUSE
Port Appin
Argyll
Agent: DM MacKinnon Estates
Tel: 01631-566122
Offers over £550,000

Linhe House has sea views out across the Lynn of Lorn towards the island of Lismore, Loch Linnhe and the hills of Kingairloch and Morvern. It is a detached stone built Victorian villa with five bedrooms in the coastal village of Port Appin, where summer moorings may be available.

WOODLAND

THE HIGHLOW WOODS
Derbyshire
Agent: John Clegg & Co
Tel: 01844-215800
Guide price: from £30,000 to £145,000

This woodland near Hathersage in the Peak District National Park is being sold by the Chatsworth Estate. The woods are a mixture of species, including mature beech and ash, mature larch and pine and sitka spruce. 181 acres in total divided in six lots ranging from 10 to 63 acres.

RILL FARM
Buckfastleigh
Devon
Agent: Knight Frank
Tel: 020-76298171
Guide price: £2.5 million

A Grade 11 listed seven-bedroom farmhouse on the edge of Dartmoor, Rill Farm comes with 80 acres including 37 acres of woodland – a mix of mature woodland and young plantations and mainly English hardwoods. There are also landscaped gardens and a walled garden and the sale includes a range of barns which have been converted into a conference centre.

LOW HOUSE BECK
Winster
The Lake District National Park
Agent: Carter Jonas
Tel: 01539-722592
Guide price: £900,000

Set in a secluded position in the Winster Valley in the Lake District this property comes with woodland and paddocks. Low House Beck is a 17th century Lakeland cottage with three bedrooms, with oak beams and an oak staircase. The grounds include a stream and an orchard. Six acres in total.

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