Grey Peel is the sort of country home which makes you wonder why anyone lives in the city. Penny Churchill takes a look.
People looking for a country house tend to love a home that’s secluded, pristine and with views to die for. All three boxes are ticked by Grey Peel, a pristine home at the heart of a 138-acre Borders farm set close to the foothills of the magnificent Cheviot Hills, two miles south of Jedburgh and 15 miles from Melrose. James Denne of GSC Grays in Alnwick and Tom Stewart-Moore of Knight Frank in Edinburgh are joint agents in the sale, seeking ‘offers over £1.9m’.
That sum buys you both the land and a truly delightful main house, which has been restored and rebuilt around the original farmstead by the current owners; one-third is regarded as the ‘old wing’, with the remaining two-thirds new.
The interior reflects a pleasing mix of English, French and Italian country-house influences, with many period features, including stone staircases and antique oak doors and fireplaces.
The house provides 7,185sq ft of stylish accommodation, with five charming reception rooms, four bedrooms and six bathrooms.
Highlights include a drawing room in Colefax and Fowler-inspired yellow with a barrel-vaulted ceiling and Victorian Carrara-marble fireplace, and a large dining hall with a leaded-light antique door leading to the garden.
Equally dramatic are the high-ceilinged Tapestry Room that leads into the four-poster en-suite bedroom, and a spacious living room with huge windows overlooking the balcony, the glen and the burn below.
Doors from the garden room, library and principal bedroom suite lead into the Italian garden, a sun trap with a Haddonstone Dolphin fountain rescued from one of the old stables.
Doors from the living room, kitchen and drawing room lead down to the topiary garden and past the yew hedge to the Ferniehurst garden, so called because Ferniehurst Castle, a seat of the Marquess of Lothian, can be seen in the distance beyond the A68.
Grey Peel has two main farm buildings: a sheep barn and a large general-purpose warehouse. The farm rises from about 360ft above sea level at the eastern boundary, to about 590ft at the western boundary. It nestles between two glens, with the Grey Peel Burn running along the north boundary and the Black Burn running along the southern boundary.
The land roughly comprises 79 acres of pasture, 14 acres of rough grazing, 39 acres of mixed woodland and 5½ acres of roads and buildings. In recent years, the owners, who bought Grey Peel in 2002, have successfully produced high-quality, pedigree Texel sheep stock.
Grey Peel and the surrounding Lintalee Estate are for sale via Knight Frank and GSC Grays — see more details and pictures.
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