House For Sale £1,000,000
Hill is undoubtedly one of the most historic houses in Devon, Listed Grade I as being of Significant Architectural Importance and Historic Value. Nikolaus Pevsner in his renowned literary series 'The Buildings of England' states ’Hill can stand as the archetypal farmhouse for the whole of Devon, so many of the traditions are represented in this remarkable but small scale L-shaped structure.’
The house is constructed of cob and stone under a wheat straw thatched roof, and the exterior was repainted as well as the roof rethatched in 2020. The full height medieval hall lies at the heart of the building, joining the two storey south and east wings, which were added in the early and late seventeenth century. An extensive programme of repair and conservation was carried out in the 1970s and a full archaeological report was commissioned in 2005 which fully documents the evolution of Hill. The historical atmosphere and character features at Hill are today complemented by modern facilities such as new heating systems, bathrooms, a bespoke kitchen, Italian aluminium radiators and contemporary lighting; together creating a welcoming and comfortable family home.
An attractive Georgian front door opens into a cross passage hallway which has a polished lime mortar floor and an exposed dressed granite wall forming the back of the chimney stack. On one side of the cross passage hallway is a well-proportioned parlour/sitting room with underfloor heating beneath the oak floor, a granite and oak fireplace with a Mendip Stoves wood burner and a vernacular ornamental plaster ceiling dating from around 1640. Within an alcove is an early domestic piscina or sink. On the other side of the cross passage hallway is the hall, a welcoming reception room, which was once a free standing Hall House and is described as ‘one of the most remarkable [rooms] in Devon’ by Pevsner. The hall retains its full original height, benefiting from a large granite inglenook fireplace and bread oven (both added in the sixteenth century), incorporating a Mendip Stoves wood burner. There is also a long fixed bench seat and a window seat, as well as two inset wall cupboards.
The kitchen/dining room is adjacent to the hall; well-appointed with a custom built Corian fitted kitchen with solid Corian worktops and integrated Siemens appliances including a dishwasher, fridge freezer, oven, warming drawer and hob. There is also a mobile Corian drawer unit, a fitted dresser and Marlborough handmade tiles, a Purbeck stone floor plus a contemporary cable lighting system. A plank and muntin oak screen separates the kitchen and dining area, where there is a large open stone fireplace with a bread oven and an oil fired esse. Completing the ground floor accommodation is a modern family bathroom with Marlborough handmade tiles and a slate floor with secondary underfloor heating, as well as a utility room with ample fitted storage.
Upstairs, the principal bedroom has another spectacular ornamental plaster ceiling c.1640 and elm floorboards. Windows to the south and east overlook the gardens and towards Canonteign Woods. There are two additional bedrooms on the first floor, both with high vaulted ceilings, solid oak floors and exposed wall timbers. Completing the accommodation is a solar with original oak floorboards and an oak and etched glass capsule shower room with a basin, WC and Grohe shower.
Services: Mains electricity. Mains water. Private septic tank drainage. Oil fired central heating and hot water provided by the esse.
Local Authority: Teignbridge District Council.
Council Tax: Band E.
Hill is situated in a peaceful rural position just half a mile from the popular Teign Valley village of Christow, within the Dartmoor National Park. The village provides a good range of amenities including a tennis club, garage, shop and post office, the well-known Artichoke Inn and an excellent primary school. There is also a gp surgery (rated Outstanding by cqc) and a modern community centre which hosts a variety of activities. Also under a mile away from the property is Lower Ashton, a pretty village which offers everyday amenities including a parish church and the renowned Manor Inn restaurant and pub.
Hill is perfectly situated to take full advantage of a range of outdoor pursuits and is ideally located for those who wish to live in a beautiful rural position, whilst retaining good communication links with Exeter and the rest of the country. There is an abundance of wonderful walking, cycling and riding opportunities in the surrounding countryside including the Teign Valley, Dartmoor and Haldon Forest. The River Teign and the nearby Kennick Reservoirs provide excellent fishing, there is golf at the local Teign Valley course, several local cricket clubs and excellent sailing along South Devon's coast and rivers.
Exeter, approximately 10 miles away, is the most thriving city in the South West and offers a wide choice of cultural activities with the theatre, the museum, arts centre and a wealth of good restaurants and shopping including John Lewis and Waitrose. Many good primary and secondary schools can be found in Exeter including Exeter School, Exeter College and The Maynard, whilst Exeter University is recognised as one of the best universities in the country.
Communication links in the area are good. The M5 at Exeter provides links to the A38, A30 and onto the national motorway network. There are regular high speed rail services from Exeter St. David's to London Paddington, taking just over two hours. Exeter International Airport also provides a range of domestic and European flights.
Hill is accessed from the lane and there are parking areas for several cars within the grounds. A gate leads into an attractive walled front garden planted with roses, clematis and shrubs alongside a high walled barn yard with fruit trees. Accessed via a separate driveway is an impressive Grade II Listed barn which was the former stables of the farmhouse. Of particular interest are the historical inscriptions carved into some of the timbers, made by the workmen of the farm, some of them dating back to the 1800s.
One of the most attractive features of Hill is the large garden behind the house, measuring approximately an acre. Formerly an orchard, it is south facing, well stocked and mature, and is entirely private, bordered by native mixed hedging and trees. Several pathways lead through the gently sloping garden which has been landscaped and is divided into discrete areas, incorporating stone walls, hedges, banks and rills. The gated rear yard opens out to an enclosed lawned area surrounded by hedging and fences with flower and shrub borders. Overlooking this is an insulated, cedar-clad garden studio/office with heating and electricity. There is also a stone and timber workshop within the garden, close to the house.
A pathway leads past the barn gardens to a productive vegetable garden and soft fruit beds of strawberries and tayberry, blackberry and raspberry bushes. A stream feeds a winterbourne and two bog gardens planted with Gunnera, Darmera and Rodgersia. A cut flower garden of perennials producing flowers from March onwards such as Camassia, Calla and Fox Tail Lilies borders the lane. In addition to apple trees there are pear, plum, cherry, quince, medlar and walnut trees. Yew, acacia, maple, ash, oak, tulip, gingko, spindle, chestnut trees and magnolias are interspersed with specimen trees such as Katsura, Cornus Kousa and Snake Bark Maple. From primroses in January to hellebores in December, there are flowers throughout the year. Tended organically since 2004 it is a natural wildlife haven and its evolution the subject of a recent exhibition at Devon Guild of Craftsmen, ‘hortus: A Dartmoor garden over time’.
The house is constructed of cob and stone under a wheat straw thatched roof, and the exterior was repainted as well as the roof rethatched in 2020. The full height medieval hall lies at the heart of the building, joining the two storey south and east wings, which were added in the early and late seventeenth century. An extensive programme of repair and conservation was carried out in the 1970s and a full archaeological report was commissioned in 2005 which fully documents the evolution of Hill. The historical atmosphere and character features at Hill are today complemented by modern facilities such as new heating systems, bathrooms, a bespoke kitchen, Italian aluminium radiators and contemporary lighting; together creating a welcoming and comfortable family home.
An attractive Georgian front door opens into a cross passage hallway which has a polished lime mortar floor and an exposed dressed granite wall forming the back of the chimney stack. On one side of the cross passage hallway is a well-proportioned parlour/sitting room with underfloor heating beneath the oak floor, a granite and oak fireplace with a Mendip Stoves wood burner and a vernacular ornamental plaster ceiling dating from around 1640. Within an alcove is an early domestic piscina or sink. On the other side of the cross passage hallway is the hall, a welcoming reception room, which was once a free standing Hall House and is described as ‘one of the most remarkable [rooms] in Devon’ by Pevsner. The hall retains its full original height, benefiting from a large granite inglenook fireplace and bread oven (both added in the sixteenth century), incorporating a Mendip Stoves wood burner. There is also a long fixed bench seat and a window seat, as well as two inset wall cupboards.
The kitchen/dining room is adjacent to the hall; well-appointed with a custom built Corian fitted kitchen with solid Corian worktops and integrated Siemens appliances including a dishwasher, fridge freezer, oven, warming drawer and hob. There is also a mobile Corian drawer unit, a fitted dresser and Marlborough handmade tiles, a Purbeck stone floor plus a contemporary cable lighting system. A plank and muntin oak screen separates the kitchen and dining area, where there is a large open stone fireplace with a bread oven and an oil fired esse. Completing the ground floor accommodation is a modern family bathroom with Marlborough handmade tiles and a slate floor with secondary underfloor heating, as well as a utility room with ample fitted storage.
Upstairs, the principal bedroom has another spectacular ornamental plaster ceiling c.1640 and elm floorboards. Windows to the south and east overlook the gardens and towards Canonteign Woods. There are two additional bedrooms on the first floor, both with high vaulted ceilings, solid oak floors and exposed wall timbers. Completing the accommodation is a solar with original oak floorboards and an oak and etched glass capsule shower room with a basin, WC and Grohe shower.
Services: Mains electricity. Mains water. Private septic tank drainage. Oil fired central heating and hot water provided by the esse.
Local Authority: Teignbridge District Council.
Council Tax: Band E.
Hill is situated in a peaceful rural position just half a mile from the popular Teign Valley village of Christow, within the Dartmoor National Park. The village provides a good range of amenities including a tennis club, garage, shop and post office, the well-known Artichoke Inn and an excellent primary school. There is also a gp surgery (rated Outstanding by cqc) and a modern community centre which hosts a variety of activities. Also under a mile away from the property is Lower Ashton, a pretty village which offers everyday amenities including a parish church and the renowned Manor Inn restaurant and pub.
Hill is perfectly situated to take full advantage of a range of outdoor pursuits and is ideally located for those who wish to live in a beautiful rural position, whilst retaining good communication links with Exeter and the rest of the country. There is an abundance of wonderful walking, cycling and riding opportunities in the surrounding countryside including the Teign Valley, Dartmoor and Haldon Forest. The River Teign and the nearby Kennick Reservoirs provide excellent fishing, there is golf at the local Teign Valley course, several local cricket clubs and excellent sailing along South Devon's coast and rivers.
Exeter, approximately 10 miles away, is the most thriving city in the South West and offers a wide choice of cultural activities with the theatre, the museum, arts centre and a wealth of good restaurants and shopping including John Lewis and Waitrose. Many good primary and secondary schools can be found in Exeter including Exeter School, Exeter College and The Maynard, whilst Exeter University is recognised as one of the best universities in the country.
Communication links in the area are good. The M5 at Exeter provides links to the A38, A30 and onto the national motorway network. There are regular high speed rail services from Exeter St. David's to London Paddington, taking just over two hours. Exeter International Airport also provides a range of domestic and European flights.
Hill is accessed from the lane and there are parking areas for several cars within the grounds. A gate leads into an attractive walled front garden planted with roses, clematis and shrubs alongside a high walled barn yard with fruit trees. Accessed via a separate driveway is an impressive Grade II Listed barn which was the former stables of the farmhouse. Of particular interest are the historical inscriptions carved into some of the timbers, made by the workmen of the farm, some of them dating back to the 1800s.
One of the most attractive features of Hill is the large garden behind the house, measuring approximately an acre. Formerly an orchard, it is south facing, well stocked and mature, and is entirely private, bordered by native mixed hedging and trees. Several pathways lead through the gently sloping garden which has been landscaped and is divided into discrete areas, incorporating stone walls, hedges, banks and rills. The gated rear yard opens out to an enclosed lawned area surrounded by hedging and fences with flower and shrub borders. Overlooking this is an insulated, cedar-clad garden studio/office with heating and electricity. There is also a stone and timber workshop within the garden, close to the house.
A pathway leads past the barn gardens to a productive vegetable garden and soft fruit beds of strawberries and tayberry, blackberry and raspberry bushes. A stream feeds a winterbourne and two bog gardens planted with Gunnera, Darmera and Rodgersia. A cut flower garden of perennials producing flowers from March onwards such as Camassia, Calla and Fox Tail Lilies borders the lane. In addition to apple trees there are pear, plum, cherry, quince, medlar and walnut trees. Yew, acacia, maple, ash, oak, tulip, gingko, spindle, chestnut trees and magnolias are interspersed with specimen trees such as Katsura, Cornus Kousa and Snake Bark Maple. From primroses in January to hellebores in December, there are flowers throughout the year. Tended organically since 2004 it is a natural wildlife haven and its evolution the subject of a recent exhibition at Devon Guild of Craftsmen, ‘hortus: A Dartmoor garden over time’.
