Greenhead Manor, Greenhead Lane, Reedley, Burnley, Lancashire. £925k


Greenhead Manor House, is listed grade ii* and I guess it has been sandblasted, because it is close enough to industrial Lancashire, though in the country, to be black, otherwise.  These days conservation officers regard the sooty deposits as part of a property’s history, which is fair enough, but I can’t help preferring the un sooty ones.  I think the old cleaning methods were also deleterious to the stone work, but about 10 years ago my father sat next to an architect at a dinner party who had invented a stone cleaning method they were using at St Pauls Cathedral, so sensitive methods are available, where their use is allowed.
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-55928319.html




https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/search/?q=BB12+9NR#.XTIbbcrTWf1
The gardens are pleasant and well maintained.  It is probably slightly too tame, one longs for a bit of Wuthering Heights style wilderness. 




The whole property looks to have been well restored, hence the price.  Burnley is hardly the most desirable place to live. But Lancashire is a rather expensive county altogether, considering how miserable and wet it is.  I think this must be connected to Manchester and the football teams. Cheshire of course is even more affected by this problem.   The large early fireplaces are attractive.  Wood burning stoves are an efficient way of heating these early rooms, but an open dog grate is more authentic.  The nanny state is planning to forbid us all from heating our homes with solid fuel or wood.  In the future one will have to pay through the nose to heat one’s home with electricity generated from the wind turbines which cover every square inch of the landscape around your 
country home, while the timber all around you lies rotting.  As a child of two or three I used to take my little tiny chair right up to the open coal, glowing in the dog grate, in the huge inglenook 
fireplace.  No doubt social services would have had something to say to my mother about it these days. 

 I’m not sure I could keep a plain coloured fitted carpet in a country property of this period.  I hope the flags are still in existence underneath, but who would lay carpet over flags?   I like the early 17th century livery or food cupboard in the hall near the grand piano. 



Observe the beautiful, ornate lime plaster ceiling. 







Isn’t the last photograph wonderful?  




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Manor House, Finghall, Leyburn, North Yorkshire £799k

Image
Now sold, subject to contract.   https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/lifestyle/homes-and-gardens/inside-historic-yorkshire-country-house-1950s-timewarp-1761153 https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-65059297.html There is no doubt that this grade ii listed, late 17th/early 18th century house, with 19th century alterations is a blummin’ funnyossity when viewed from the garden front. The way the roof comes down over the twin octagonal bows like a mad fringe is very strange.  The Edwardian type sashes too, look out of place.  If the roof line were raised so that the three faces of the two matching octagonal bows each had their own triangle of roof, which met at the pinnacle, as usually happens with the roof of an octagonal bow, the appearance of the property would be enormously improved.  http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/Details/Default.aspx?id=322423&mode=quick It is much more sensible, plain, even dull from the street front. And y...
Read more

Bay Hall, Hall Lane, Benington, Boston, Lincolnshire. £450k

Image
This is my favourite of all the houses currently on the market.  I wish I was in a position to move there.  Bay Hall is listed grade ii* and is another rare property, like the one in Bridlington, with Vermeer type windows.  It is possibly the most cubic house you will ever come across.  The only drawback is that it is surrounded by tiny weeny, modernish bungaloids, like a swarm of ants surrounding an elephant.  But that isn’t much of a draw back, really.  Where else in the country could you find such rarity, such beauty, such strength of character and so much accommodation, 9 bedrooms, for so little money. https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-67395823.html I have drooled over the good taste in furniture and interior decorating of several houses I have looked at below, but this one gets full marks, so you won’t be surprised to learn that it belongs to an antique dealer, or two. This is a very good house to study if yo...
Read more