Northumberland
Who else has made working out more often a new year’s resolution? Well, in this country house you need only travel next door to the converted one-bedroom annexe to find a gym spacious enough for a Peloton or two. The main house — set in a little more than nine acres of bucolic grounds and paddocks — has seven bedrooms (two of them en suite), a family bathroom and elegant reception rooms with feature fireplaces, ornate cornicing and bay windows. The farmhouse-style kitchen-dining area has an open-plan layout, with a rather sublime navy Aga and cream cabinetry. Admire the verdant lawns from the garden room, a haven where you can enjoy a quiet cup of tea. Take a walk into the Tyne Valley village of Riding Mill to find the Wellington Hotel for top-notch pub grub, or take a train from the local station to Newcastle in half an hour.
Air pollution 5.3mcg/m³; 0.3mcg/m³ above the WHO guideline of 5mcg/m³.
Upside Excellent schooling in nearby Hexham.
Downside There is a particularly hairy blind spot just off the gated driveway on to the main road.
Price £2.5 million
Contact finestproperties.co.uk
Clwyd
Few country estates have a history as rich as Gwysaney Hall, a sprawling pile two miles north of Mold in north Wales. Built in 1603 with further 17th-century additions, the grade II* listed Jacobean hall is thought to have suffered cannonball damage in 1645 during the English Civil War, by Oliver Cromwell’s Roundheads in their battle against Charles I. The property stands in 27 acres, comprising gardens, an award-winning pinetum and four paddocks, with views to the Clwydian Hills. Standout features include a smoking-turned-sitting room with a carved stone chimney piece, a panelled billiard room/library, a farmhouse-style kitchen with underfloor heating and a beamed archway that leads into a secondary kitchen and pantry. The basement has a wine cellar, a playroom and a pair of china stores, while on the first floor there are six themed bedrooms, three bathrooms, a cloakroom and a linen cupboard. A central staircase leads to the top floor (also accessible by lift), where there are a further four bedrooms, a shower room, a drying and ironing room and a walk-in attic.
Air pollution 5.9mcg/m³; 0.9mcg/m³ above the WHO guideline of 5mcg/m³.
Upside There’s plenty of accommodation, including two three-bedroom cottages.
Downside The heating bill will have you quaking in your boots.
Price £2.5 million
Contact savills.com
Berkshire
Oakmont House on the edge of the pretty village of Waltham St Lawrence, seven miles southwest of Maidenhead, is the epitome of contemporary country living. The detached timber and red-brick home is set within a boutique development built by the award-winning Westbourne Group and is approached via a private driveway. Inside, cottagecore details such as exposed beams and parquet flooring complement the open-plan layout of the ground floor. There is also a knockout Charles Yorke kitchen fitted with glossy Shaker-style units, a central breakfast bar and a range cooker. The utility room leads to a 30ft drawing room with French doors that open out to landscaped, border-fenced lawns and a paved terrace ideal for alfresco dining. Upstairs are four bedrooms and four bathrooms.
Air pollution 10mcg/m³; 5mcg/m³ above the WHO guideline of 5mcg/m³.
Upside There is an electric carport.
Downside It is not in a walker-friendly area as there are no pavements.
Price £2.5 million
Contact struttandparker.com
Hertfordshire
If rural living is up your street then this grade II* listed farmhouse in two acres might do. It has all one might expect: exposed beams, flagstone flooring, feature fireplaces, a vegetable garden and stable doors. There is workshop space in a detached, 2,000 sq ft outbuilding with planning permission for it to be converted into an annexe. The main house has five bedrooms — one of which is en suite — and a glossy family bathroom with a Victorian rolltop bath, a tiled shower and brass finishings. Downstairs is a charming royal-blue kitchen with a butler’s sink and breakfast nook. Although nestled in glorious countryside, the property is within 25 minutes’ drive of Stevenage, Luton and Welwyn Garden City.
Air pollution 10.1mcg/m³; 5.1mcg/m³ above the WHO guideline of 5mcg/m³.
Upside A fabulous commuter spot; drive to central London in just over an hour.
Downside EPC rating of F (A is the best; G the worst).
Price £2.4 million
Contact struttandparker.com
Cambridge
Meredith Bowles of Mole Architects is the design mind behind this high-spec eco home in the western part of Cambridge’s conservation area. Built in 2011, the 2,460 sq ft single-storey timber-framed property is arranged around a mature south-facing garden with an unusual sweetgum tree. The three-bedroom home has an open-plan kitchen-diner with a separate utility room and study, and a reception room with a log-burner and WFH nook. Green features include rainwater harvesting, solar panels and underfloor heating generated via a ground source heat pump. Outbuildings include a workshop and garage. Commuters can hop on the one-hour train to London St Pancras from Cambridge railway station, about two and a half miles away.
Air pollution 10.2mcg/m³; 5.2mcg/m³ above the WHO guideline of 5mcg/m³.
Upside Up your biodiversity credentials with the green sedum roof.
Downside A single en suite bathroom.
Price £2.5 million
Contact themodernhouse.com
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Glasgow
Rarely do whole houses come to market on the prestigious “Avenues” of Glasgow’s Southside, much less any as large as the seven-bedroom, 10,000 sq ft Victorian masterpiece Matheran. Previously subdivided into multiple dwellings, it has been reinstated as a whole luxury home by the present owners. It has seven reception rooms, a home office, wine cellar and gym with changing facilities and a sauna. All that, and almost an acre of enclosed private gardens in the heart of Scotland’s biggest city.
Air pollution 6.4mcg/m³; 1.4mcg/m³ above the WHO guideline of 5mcg/m³.
Upside State-of-the-art security system.
Downside The air quality is not the best as there is a motorway nearby.
Price Offers over £2.5 million
Contact savills.com
Edinburgh
As preserved period features in converted historic buildings go, they don’t come much quirkier than listed wallpaper. A rare example of late Victorian “Tynecastle canvas”, featuring embossed linen mounted on canvas, decorates part of Torwood House East, this luxurious five-bedroom, two-storey semi-detached home occupying half of a neo-Jacobean former mansion is now split into two dwellings, at the heart of a new development by AMA Homes in the Murrayfield suburb of Edinburgh. There’s a magnificent wood-panelled lobby and hall dominated by an original stained-glass window, a living room, kitchen-diner, snug, double garage and peaceful private rear garden.
Air pollution 7mcg/m³; 2mcg/m³ above the WHO guideline of 5mcg/m³.
Upside Walking distance from central Edinburgh.
Downside Expensive for a semi-detached home.
Price Offers over £2.25 million
Contact amahomes.co.uk
Provence, France
Escape to your very own mas (southern French farmhouse) roughly five minutes’ drive from Grimaud, a Provençal village in the Var department, nestled between the glitzy Gulf of St Tropez and the Massif des Maures. This sprawling home has the prerequisite pool and summer kitchen, shuttered windows and more than an acre of grounds dotted with Mediterranean flora. Inside, it is decorated in a clean palette of taupe and off-whites, complementing the stone fireplace and original exposed beams. Ground floor living space includes a kitchen with sitting and dining areas, three more reception rooms and a study. There’s also a ground-floor bedroom with en suite and utility room, and above, three further bedrooms.
Upside Host (paying) guests in one of two self-contained bedrooms in the guest house.
Downside The increasingly frequent threat of drought in this region.
Price €2.85 million
Contact hamptons-international.com
