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A Georgian farmhouse in ‘one of Devon’s most sought-after locations’, untouched for decades, and set in its own private valley

Penny Churchill Penny Churchill

A brave new owner is sought for the delightfully pretty Whetcombe, set in almost 100 acres of wonderfully serene countryside.

Down in the ever-popular South Devon AONB, Strutt & Parker seek ‘offers over £2.5m’ for Whetcombe, a substantial Georgian country house set in its own 94½-acre private valley, a mile from the village of North Huish, with the Dartmoor National Park a few miles to the north.

The 5,388sq ft Georgian farmhouse and its 10,306sq ft of cowsheds, stone barns and outbuildings, all now in need of varying degrees of refurbishment, present an exciting opportunity to re-create an idyllic country property in one of Devon’s most sought-after locations, suggests Mr Custance Baker.

It’s just as well that the location is wonderful, since the new owner will have a lot of other things to forgive — or else they’ll need to be someone ready for a challenge. As you can see from the pictures here, this is a house which hasn’t been touched in many years.

While much has to be done, there are lots of period details which could be made wonderful once more. Owned by the same farming family since the 1950s, the main house itself is unlisted, but has all the features of a classic Georgian building, including high ceilings, deep skirting boards, detailed cornicing and open fireplaces.

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Set in the middle of its lush pasture-land, the house has three large ground-floor reception rooms, a conservatory in need of restoration and a kitchen/breakfast room with its original quarry-tiled floor.

Upstairs are four large double bedrooms, a dressing room and two family bathrooms, which enjoy lovely views over the gardens and the surrounding valley.

In addition to the farm buildings, Whetcombe comes with a three-bedroom annexe and a large loft suitable for conversion to additional accommodation.

Whetcombe is for sale at £2.5m via Strutt & Parker — see more pictures and details.

North Huish and the South Devon AONB: What you need to know

Location: A few miles off the main A38 route through Devon — the grandly-named ‘Devon Expressway’ — on the northern fringes of the South Devon AONB, and roughly half-way between Plymouth and Torquay.

Atmosphere: This is middle-of-nowhere living: dotted farmhouses situated in the gently rolling hills of South Devon, truly a place to get away from it all — it’s the sort of place you’ll have to be happy to jump in the car to get a pint of milk. Yet the main road is just a five-minute drive, meaning that you can be in Plymouth in under half an hour, and in Exeter in around 40 minutes.

Things to do: Walks abound in this idyllic countryside setting, while the beaches of the South Hams aren’t far away. There’s also Dartmoor Zoo, Woodlands family theme park and the intriguingly wild moorland golf course at Wrangaton.

Schools: A few miles down the road in Ivybridge there is Manor Primary School, rated outstanding by Ofsted, though there’s also a nearer primary in Ugborough that, while ‘only’ rated good, is part of the same family of schools. Ivybridge also has a secondary school, also rated good.