For Christopher Dewe of Knight Frank’s country department, his native county of Herefordshire is a cherished piece of Olde England, although it’s no coincidence that a recent addition to his portfolio, the enchanting Paunton Court, set in 52 acres of gardens, orchards, woodland and paddocks on the banks of the Frome at Bishops Frome, 10 miles from Ledbury and Malvern, is perhaps more evocative of an idyllic corner of la vieille France.
Acquired as ‘a wreck’ by its present owners on their return from that country in 2005, the charming, Grade II-listed, 16th/17th-century former farmhouse with its farm buildings, cottage, outbuildings and productive small vineyard, has been transformed into a picturesque working farmstead reminiscent of a rustic Normandy manoir.
Now for sale through Knight Frank at a guide price of £3.25m, the main house offers more than 9,000sq ft of colourful living space on three floors, including an impressive vaulted drawing room, three further reception rooms, an office, kitchen/breakfast room, principal bedroom suite with a dressing room, bathroom and study, seven further bedrooms, four bathrooms and a playroom.
The cottage in the main courtyard is ideal for staff accommodation or overflow guest space and currently houses a wine-tasting room and shop. Period outbuildings include a large, double-height threshing barn built of 15th-century timbers and a range of storerooms, stables and workshops.
A 2,300sq ft modern agricultural barn houses a biomass boiler, with an adjoining barn currently used as a cider house. Beyond the main courtyard and buildings is a walled kitchen garden, with well-tended vegetable beds, espalier trees and a fruit cage, alongside a home orchard of mature fruit trees, including apples, pears, plums and an almond tree.
This being hop and cider country, the enterprise includes a 6½-acre cider orchard and an established 11½-acre hop yard, let to a neighbour on a five-year agricultural tenancy. A 3½-acre vineyard established in the 1990s by the previous owner has been developed by the present incumbent as a thriving small business producing 6,000–8,000 bottles a year, depending on the harvest.
Vinification is organised with a local contract winemaker in Ledbury and produce is sold through the owner’s website, summer tours and tastings at a number of well-established food and drinks festivals in the region.
Credit: Sotheby's International Realty
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