Manor Farmhouse, Denver, Downham Market, West Norfolk. £685k

After those rather cold, stone, Derbyshire houses (see below) it’s nice to visit a rustic brick and lime rendered Norfolk house to warm up.

This house has proper gardens which should be an inspiration for any one buying those Derbyshire homes whose surroundings have been pared back to give a stark and minimalist feel.  Planting and period garden style is as important as interior style.

Manor Farmhouse dates from the sixteenth century and is listed grade ii*.  Its current owners have decorated it with period taste, there is no sense in which it has been merely done up to sell, it is a warm, English home, first and foremost. I can’t always tell where the dappled lime paint is the original or has been redone to replicate the effect of an exposed antique paint scheme.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-74367185.html



https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101077849-manor-house-farmhouse-denver

I think the only thing I would change about the house would be to introduce more period, vernacular  furniture from the 17th and 18th centuries. The current country style is mostly 19th century and later which is fine, but some dark oak would add a greater feeling of permanence and seriousness.  I can’t help despising pine furniture.  I love the use of the old leather vaulting horse in front of the huge fireplace.


 


I love the nice, normal, country kitchen. No doubt whoever buys the house will install some ghastly new fitted, minimalist looking, unsympathetic thing and imagine they are adding value to the 
property. They will probably never do any cooking in it either, the more expensive and vulgar the kitchen the less the likelihood of three square meals a day being produced.  What could be nicer than a pair of armchairs by the Rayburn? The old floors are fabulous.

The battered leather chairs in the second reception room add a nice, homely feel.  Some 17th century joint stools for side tables would be useful and perhaps a little Queen Anne, walnut gate leg table with Braganza feet in the middle, for putting a tray of tea and a plate of scones down on.  A few more paintings wouldn’t go a miss, some serious oil paintings in big frames to contrast with the old paint and rustic timbers.



A good quality, period  refectory table would look handsome in the dining room, together with some early chairs or a pair of 17th century benches.  A small oak court cupboard of the same date as thehouse would be ideal, but if that were prohibitively expensive a dresser, even of the early 20th century in period style would fit the bill. The floor in the dining room is amazing.




I like the painted beds.  That hideous orange pine one sees so often really has no place in period houses.  Patchwork quilts would be nice and old Casa Pupo bedspreads or Welsh Tapestry blankets, and perhaps a rag or ‘clippy’ rug or two on the floorboards, but I’m not sure if they are a thing in Norfolk. I like the master bedroom with its bathroom opposite.  All in all I think one would feel happy and carefree in this house, under the sunshine and blue sky of Norfolk and even in the late autumn and January and February you could be happy sitting reading by the Rayburn with a cat on your knee and a dog at your feet and no need to bother with keeping up appearances.









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