Agents from Strutt & Parker offices all over the country have been putting their heads together in an effort to identify the perfect house to have on their books, using the most frequent requests made by buyers last year. Although there were differences geographically - in the home counties a broad, shallow stream was favoured whereas in Glasgow people wanted good fishing rights - a picture developed which everybody was happy with. Popular elements included a prefix of 'Old', privacy but not remoteness, four or five acres of land, an aga and tall chimneys. The most popular period was Georgian, with Regency coming a close second. They also found that often larger families still like to live in cottages, so anything which looks like a period cottage but is actually very spacious always sells quickly. In conclusion, according to Strutt & Parker, the perfect house to sell would be a Georgian Old Vicarage with four bedrooms, a large kitchen with an aga, and an old barn converted into offices. Outside would be a formal garden (formal is back in fashion), a generously sized paddock and a broad trout stream. And all on the edge of a village. Apparently there is a house in Wiltshire which meets all the above criteria, as its owner saw the results in a local paper and got in touch with Strutt & Parker who, without a doubt, will be keeping a strict eye on it from now on.
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An eight-bedroom wonder in East Sussex where the outdoors are an adventureThe interiors of Old Middleton are pretty good too.
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Seeing you seeing me: How did British artists portray eachother in the 20th and 21st centuries?The 'Seeing Each Other: Portraits of Artists' exhibitions comprises paintings, prints, drawings, photography, sculpture and installation spanning 125 years.
