10 bedroom house

Glorious period country house in a spectacular parkland setting within its own dale, enjoying a very private position but located close to the market town of Kirkbymoorside.

Douthwaite Hall is one of the finest country houses in North Yorkshire. It sits in glorious seclusion within the dale from which it takes its name, and enjoys a welcome degree of privacy being sheltered by a steep wooded valley and overlooking its own land. The views from the property are outstanding with many of the rooms designed to enjoy a strong connection to the garden terraces, sweeping lawns and mature parkland. In addition, there is a fine eighteenth century lodge house and an unusually fine range of traditional outbuildings and barns offering significant scope for development.

More Details
The property has an interesting history. The Shepherd family enjoyed unbroken occupation of the Douthwaite Hall site from the sixteenth century until 1886, and it is likely that they built the original Elizabethan farmhouse following a cruck design; the timber structure remains visible. The greater part of the existing building is Georgian, as the 1760 date stone testifies, with a substantial wing built in 1814 to replace a demolished section, and later Edwardian alterations.

As would be expected of a house of this stature, period features abound. There are magnificent fireplaces, original flagstones, oak flooring, 16-pane sash windows, wooden panelling with window seat detailing, an original turning staircase with polished handrail, finely detailed cornice, coving and ceiling rose. There is also a notable eighteenth century window on the half landing with the original glass revealing whorls made by the glass blower. It is believed that a previous owner, Admiral Sir Cyril Fuller, added the porthole windows in the early twentieth century, and brought home from the Great War the impressive German wrought iron gates that open on to the flagged yard.

The kitchen has granite worktops, integrated units, an LPG Aga, space for a large family table and underfloor heating that continues through much of the western wing. There is an electric oven with LPG hob in the adjoining ‘prep’ kitchen as well as a separate pantry and laundry room. Flanking the kitchen is the sunny family room with a wood burning stove and a door opening on to the elevated, south facing garden terrace and lawns. The separate formal dining room comfortably seats sixteen.

On the south wing of the house is the elegantly proportioned sitting room with a magnificent stone fireplace housing a large wood burning stove and glorious outlook. The summer garden room with open fire has French doors giving direct access to an elevated and sheltered south facing terrace with barbecue area and parkland view through a gap in the mellow garden wall.

The Georgian part of the house was designed in a double-fronted symmetrical style facing the approaching drive with 30 ft reception rooms flagging an eye-catching entrance hall. The drawing room is currently set up as an office (fast broadband enables a global business to be run from the property); the sitting room with its billiard table is a fine room full of character, ideal for withdrawing to after dinner.

The bedrooms are orientated to make the most of their elevated position with far reaching views from their first floor windows. The principal bedroom suite extends across the south wing, has a large dressing room with bespoke floor-to-ceiling wardrobes, an equally large bathroom with freestanding bath and a breath-taking outlook to the south and east. The guest bedroom suite has equally generous en suite rooms, a gun cupboard in the walk-in wardrobe and a south facing bay window overlooking the gardens. The bathrooms all have contemporary, high specification fittings, some with Grohe taps and bespoke fitted furniture. The second floor arrangement would make an ideal space for teenager or a nanny.

Outside
Private gates sit at the head of the parkland, and the long, tarmacadamed drive with two cattle grids follows the northern band of woodland, passing the lodge on the right hand side. The drive continues past a topiarised mature yew hedge to high wrought iron gates that open onto the stone flagged yard behind the house. The outbuildings and garaging lie on the north and continue to the west of the property.

The formal landscaped gardens are beautifully planted and lie immediately to the south of the house with a ha-ha separating them from parkland. A series of central stone steps descend gently through lawns and herbaceous borders, passing topiarised yew hedging and a tennis court (disused). A well-established lake with a small jetty is tucked into the valley and overlooked by a summer lake house, ideal for barbecues and parties. This area is well wooded with mature trees including horse chestnut, copper beech and oak, and follows the north bank of the meandering river Dove. To the west lies a traditional Edwardian glass house, gardening stores/sheds, vegetable beds and a summer house on a terrace lined with Agapanthus. Beyond lies the paddock.

Outbuildings
Cedar Lodge: detached, stone, entirely self-contained cottage with 761 sq ft of accommodation, a nearby outhouse and log store.

Wendy house, summer lake house
8 stores, 4 outbuildings, greenhouse, 4 pigsties, workshop, 2 stone barns, coach house.

There is planning permission (lapsed) to develop the stone barn and the pigsties on the western boundary into four holiday cottages. The barn can be reached by separate, independent access.

6 stables in all (2 open). The stables behind the house are heritage stables with hay racks, drainage and a tack room. There is a paddock with field shelter and good hacking from the house up to moorland.

2 open garages

Environs
Douthwaite Hall is nestled between the market town of Kirkbymoorside and the village of Hutton-le-Hole, some nine miles from Helmsley and Pickering. This area is in the heart of quintessential North Yorkshire countryside within the North York Moors National Park and adjacent to the Howardian Hills. In striking distances are many superb gourmet pubs, two with Michelin Stars. Nearby Hutton-le-Hole has two cafés and a pub, and is one of the most picturesque villages in the National Park. It lies in a natural hollow and is flanked by the limestone headlands of the Tabular Hills and heather-clad Spaunton Moor. A clear moorland stream winds its way through the grassy knolls that form the village green, traditionally cropped by the local sheep. Kirkbymoorside lies to the south east and has all the amenities of a country town. There are highly regarded schools nearby, both state and independent, including Ryedale school (Ofsted Outstanding) six miles away, and Terrington Hall prep school and Ampleforth College within easy reach. The city of York lies some 28 miles to the south with its mainline railway connecting to Edinburgh, Manchester and London Kings Cross in under two hours.

General
Tenure: Freehold
EPC rating: Grade II listed
Services and Systems: Private drainage. Mains water and electricity. Oil fired central heating – two separate boilers.
Fixtures & fittings: Only those mentioned in these sales particulars are included in the sale. All others, such as fitted carpets, curtains, light fittings, garden ornaments etc., are specifically excluded but may be made available by separate negotiation.
Viewing: Strictly by appointment
Local authority: Ryedale District Council 01653 600666. North York Moors National Park.

Photographs, particulars and showreel: October 2021
NB: Google map images may neither be current nor a true representation.