Allen House off Kensington High Street also offers potential buyers the much coveted RBKC residents' parking permit. A return to Edwardian splendour is promised at Allen House, a 1908 red-brick mansion building just off Kensington High Street, London W8, that is currently being reimagined by JV partners Topland, O&D London and Residence One. Sales launched in February, an exciting Harrods concierge service was recently announced and, currently, prospective buyers can visit a two-bedroom show apartment on the ground floor. This showcases joinery by Concept Bespoke and furniture and artwork ..read more

The aptly named Monastery once welcomed residents such as Eric Gill, Edgar Holloway and David Jones. Now it's a characterful family home with 8 acres of sublime countryside. Today in unusual homes for sale in the British Countryside, allow us to present The Monastery near Capel y Ffin in Wales. As you might already be suspecting, The Monastery did indeed use to be a monastery. It is now, however, a home with 14 bedrooms. For sale with Fine and Country for the sum of £1.5 million, The Monastery is a ‘unique and historic property’ that was originally built by Father Ignatius (real name: Joseph ..read more

At Boden Hall, near Rode Heath, size meets substance in this grand country home. It is the opinion of the Country Life Property Desk (CLPD) that houses with plants growing all over them and with long sweeping drives are Cool and Good. Even better if they come with seven bedrooms and almost 70 acres of land.  The surrounding gardens. Sublime. To Cheshire then, where Savills have for sale, for the sum of £6.65 million, the glorious Boden Hall, which has all the above, and much more. Approached down a long tree-lined drive, as all good things often are, the property sits in a private park ..read more

The Buckholt Estate is a grand country home in a grand country estate of a size that's a hair's breadth away from being a grand. Nine hundred and ninety nine and a half acres. Would anyone know if the agents had just pretended it was 1,000? After all, it’s just 0.05% of the land that comes with the Buckholt Estate in Hampshire, a £24 million property centred on a superb house in the Test Valley. Half an acre out of a thousand is basically a rounding error, quite possibly the slip of a surveyor’s pen at some point in the ancient history of what was once a royal forest. But as things stand, it ..read more

Grow your own wine in Kent, power your house with the sun in Cornwall, or get lost in the woodland of the Lake District with our pick of the best homes to come up for sale via Country Life last week. Bletsoe Castle, Bedforshire.Bedfordshire — £4,000,000 Listed Grade II*, situated on the site of a former fortified manor house and with a moat, Bletsoe Castle is a large family home steeped in history but oozing modern charm. Set in over 24 acres of gardens and paddocks, and with a tennis court, this limestone property has nine bedrooms, six reception rooms, six bathrooms and a two-bedroom detac ..read more

The worst excesses of the Industrial Revolution prompted some truly forward-thinking urban planning as far back as the 19th century — yet today, precious few of us live in the idyllic 'garden cities' that were dreamed of. Martin Fone looks at what happened, the benefits that came to pass from those fresh ideas, and what got lost on the way. Letchworth Garden City, created by the British urban planner Ebenezer Howard in 1903. Town and country need not necessarily be poles apart, but in Britain the Industrial Revolution sparked a massive redistribution of population. While some 80% of the popula ..read more

If you've ever wanted to live in one of the prized townhouses of Belgravia, Mayfair or Knightsbridge, now could be the time. The beautiful streets of Belgravia: now more affordable. The time could be right to move to one of London’s most iconic addresses Film, TV and literature may bring fame and fortune to certain areas — but the spotlight doesn’t make them immune to the vagaries of the markets and the geopolitical situation. So while average property values across London have dropped by a modest 1.3% (to £517,726) in the past year, some of the most famed parts of the metropolis have sunk muc ..read more

At Menkea Wartha, no expense has been spared to create a country home of exceptional taste and beauty, in 18 isolated acres of Cornwall countryside. ‘Exceptional’, ‘spacious’, ‘detached’. These are all words that can oft be overused in property listings. I would know, as I consume up to a million of them every day just to bring you, dear reader, some of the finest houses for sale in the land. It’s not much, but it’s honest work. To Cornwall then, where the words ‘exceptional’, ‘spacious’ and ‘detached’ once again come to the fore. However, this time, they are more than warranted for the delig ..read more

From charming cottages to 1,000-acre estates, here's a look at some of the best homes to come up for sale via Country Life in recent days. The Allexton Hall Estate, Rutland.Somerset — £6,500,000 An attractive, ring-fenced estate of over 890 acres with a large Georgian farmhouse at its centre, as well as cottages and equestrian facilities, in the heart of Exmoor. It was built in the 1840s by John Knight, who bought the entire Exmoor Forest from The Crown, and is generally considered to be the best example of a ‘Knight House’ . For sale with Knight Frank. See more pictures and details for this ..read more

Nicholas Boys Smith speaks to James Fisher on the Country Life Podcast about how we can plan and build houses and towns which work for everybody. The housing crisis in Britain has gone on for decades almost unchecked — but it’s only thanks to voices such as Nicholas Boys Smith that we can use the word ‘almost’ in that sentence. Nicholas is the founder of Create Streets, a think tank and consultancy which looks at property development and town planning across Britain. He joins host James Fisher on the Country Life Podcast to explain what has been going wrong, why we’ve lost faith in plann ..read more