Glebe House's stunning location and rich history makes it a wonderfully desirable property, and a little tender love and care would turn the house into a beautiful modern family home. Penny Churchill reports.
Glebe House perches on the edge of the village of Holne, which sits high on the edge of Dartmoor, overlooking the spectacular River Dart Valley as it meanders through wooded banks towards the South Hams below.
Richard Addington of Jackson-Stops quotes a guide price of £1m for Glebe House, listed Grade II and described as a ‘distinguished former vicarage that was the birthplace in 1819 of the social reformer, historian and novelist Charles Kingsley’. This fact is confirmed by a plaque on the wall and the listing document itself, which reveals that the event took place on June 12, 1819, when his father was curate-in-charge of Holne for a few months.
Glebe House is thought to date from the late 18th century and was remodelled in the fashionable cottage ornée style by Elliot of Ashlawton in about 1831. It was owned by the Church until the 20th century and has been the home of the current vendors since 1975. It offers the gracious accommodation associated with rectories of its period – all it needs now is some further renovation and modernisation to make the most of its wonderful setting.
The house is supported by the original outbuildings, providing stabling, a coach house with a small groom’s flat above and a detached stone former laundry building. All stand in mature grounds that are well stocked with ornamental shrubs and trees and surrounded by some 14 acres of grazing split into five, well-fenced paddocks bounded by traditional hedges.
A glazed verandah with a cobbled floor leads through a panelled front door to the hallway, where an elegant staircase leads to a large central landing and six first-floor bedrooms. Three ground-floor reception rooms look east over the gardens through intricate leaded-light windows.
To the east of the house, a level lawn set amid ornamental trees and shrubs has wonderful views over the Dart Valley to the tors of Dartmoor and beyond; from here, it’s a short walk or ride to the wide expanses of the open moor.
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