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Country houses for sale

A Suffolk farmhouse with its own private beach, stables and 141 acres, on the open market for the first time in its history

Penny Churchill Penny Churchill

Penny Churchill takes a look at the gloriously situation Lodge Farm Estate, in the beautiful Suffolk countryside near Woodbridge.

The River Deben cuts through a gloriously green valley south of Framlingham, twisting and turning past ancient abbeys and watermills before its final silty stretch from Woodbridge to Bawdsey.

Here, Ipswich-based Jackson-Stops and Landbridge are joint agents in the sale — at a guide price of £3.5m for the whole — of the wonderfully secluded and unspoilt Lodge Farm estate, which borders the magical Deben estuary, four miles from the Suffolk coast at Bawdsey and eight miles from Woodbridge.

For sale on the open market for the first time in its history following the owners’ decision to move to Cornwall, Lodge Farm was acquired by the Simper family as sitting tenants on the much larger Ramsholt estate, when the latter was sold in the 1940s.

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Set within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths National Landscape (the new name for an AONB), the property includes 10 acres of beach and woodland along the ‘Rocks’ foreshore. Even with pictures taken in the colder half of the year it’s clear to see that the beach is beautiful and unspoilt; how many happy childhood memories would could you make in a spot like this?

The house at the heart of Lodge Farm is an unlisted four-bedroom farmhouse — which the agents state as ‘is in need of refurbishment’. Frankly, if this place is, then most of the places which earn that tag are in need of demolition: this is a delightful home that is full of character, not least with the wonderful, stone-floored hallway, which lead on one side to the kitchen and on the other to the living room, utility room, study and a downstairs bedroom.

The kitchen/dining room is a combined 25ft long, with flag stone flooring and french doors opening out onto the gardens.

Upstairs there are three further bedrooms, including a delightful master with en-suite and french windows opening on to a balcony.

Also part of the deal are 4,250sq ft of stores and workshops, including stables and a converted barn that presently serves as both annexe and office, with two main rooms, a cloakroom and a kitchenette.

There are some 141 acres in all, including five acres of grass paddocks and 122 acres of arable land.

Lodge Farm Estate is for sale at £3.5 million via Jackson-Stops and Landbridge — see more details and pictures.

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