See Inside this Traditional Farmhouse in a Northumberland Forest
Tucked away in Harwood Forest, Harwood House is truly off the beaten track
As well as the traditional farmhouse, there are farm buildings (with a two-bedroom apartment) and around 3.8 acres of gardens and woodland, including a tennis court, pond and outdoor kitchen.
Formerly the home of the Forestry Commission, Harwood House and its outbuildings have been carefully renovated and extended. Built in the early 1900s from local stone, the house is accessed via a quiet lane. Electric double gates open inwards onto a winding gravel driveway which leads to the house (and plenty of parking), and then to a flagstone courtyard with a three-bay garage and various outbuildings.
Through the entrance hall and inner hall, the spectacular kitchen/breakfast room has a central island which extends into a half circular breakfast bar. There’s a large pantry, a double Butler sink and a double Aga with gas hob, and the kitchen is completed with a variety of Neff appliances, a Lacanche rotisserie, a drinks fridge and door leading out onto the expansive flagstone entertaining terrace and garden at the rear.
The triple-aspect garden room has an atrium glass roof, four sets of French doors onto the terrace and garden, a free-standing circular wood burner with chimney, and stunning views of the garden.
The formal lounge offers fabulous views over the south-facing gardens and Harwood Forest beyond, and along one wall is a stunning floor-to-ceiling oak bookcase, complete with oak library steps. The dining room is double aspect with beautiful views, traditional exposed stone walls, arched windows and a pitched beamed ceiling. Arched double doors from the dining room lead you to the useful office.
Also on the ground floor there’s a WC, a boot room, a utility room and a special dog shower.
Upstairs, you’ll find the stunning principal bedroom suite (with far-reaching views over Harwood Forest, an ensuite shower room and a ‘hidden’ dressing room) as well as two further bedrooms and the family bathroom.
The full-height pool room has a big TV screen area and a door to the gardens, and there’s a downstairs shower room too. The spectacular gymnasium has full height mirrors along one wall, a built in surround sound and TV system, and a sauna room at one end with a central Jacuzzi that can seat up to six people. Above the pool room and gymnasium is a spacious two-bedroom apartment with an open-plan living/dining room and kitchen. The pool room, the gymnasium and the upstairs apartment offers a wonderful, flexible area for a variety of entertainment options and would make an ideal space for a dance studio or as a corporate venue.
Outside, there are manicured gardens, mature trees and shrubs, lawns and a pond. A wooden gate gives access to the rear gardens where there’s a large vegetable patch and a selection of fruit trees, as well as a wishing well and pathways that lead to the full-size hard tennis court. A stone-flagged entertaining terrace with plant-covered pergolas also has a fabulous outside kitchen.
Harwood House, Harwood Forest
INTERNAL FEATURES
Entrance hall, inner halls, kitchen/breakfast room with twin pantry and appliances, triple aspect garden room with atrium glass roof, double aspect formal lounge, dining room, office, pool room, downstairs shower room, gym, sauna room, jacuzzi, cloakroom, WC, boot room, dog shower, utility room, reception hall, principal bedroom suite with ensuite shower room and dressing room, two further bedrooms, family bathroom, two-bedroom apartment with entrance hall, snug/relaxation area, living/dining room and kitchen.
EXTERNAL FEATURES
Approximately 3.8 acres of grounds, red beech hedge, courtyard, parking, gravel driveway, pond, forest’s stream, lawned area, gardens, vegetable patch, fruit trees, wishing well, hard tennis court, solar panels, open-fronted tool machinery shed, enclosed chicken pen with fox proof hen house, wood store, woodland walk, stone-flagged terrace, plant covered pergolas, outside kitchen with open-sided roof cover, barbecue and pizza oven.
