Wreck of the Week

Two of you emailed me about this faded Cotswold beauty - up for auction on June 30th. Gretton Farm, in the village of Gretton about nine miles from Cheltenham, is Grade II* listed and dates from the mid 17th century. It needs a lot of work - as the pictures indicate - and that star on the listing will add extra costs to the renovation. As David said: "I suspect the hammer fall will only be a down payment on a big project". Dan had similar thoughts: Big fan of the site, looking for my own as probably most of your readers are. Thought this might be of interest but a bit too big for my ambitions (pockets!) However, it's an impressive building, sitting in around a quarter of an acre of garden area. There's an option to buy extra parking land and, if you're not too fussed about having neighbours, the village location is attractive. There are three bedrooms upstairs, plus three attic rooms. I was particularly taken with the mural: The bathroom ...

Blimey, I've got such a lot of houses waiting on my 'to post' list. Not least because you've been busy sending me emails with the most gorgeous 'wrecks', while I've been relaxing on a sunny balcony* overlooking Tuscan hills. Let's start with three Cumbrian farmhouses with extra buildings. First the gorgeous property above and below, at Kirklinton, Hethersgill, five miles from Carlisle. Hall Hills farmhouse has three bedrooms, study and bathroom upstairs; two reception, kitchen, dining room and study downstairs, plus a substantial basement/cellar. There are original fireplaces in most rooms and lots of period details. But what makes this place particularly special is the shedload of extra buildings. Outside is a farmyard surrounded by farm buildings and barn. There's also a rather lovely - but structurally unsound - second house: The main house, the farmhouse, is to the left. Unsound house to right Most of the extra buildin...

  Personally I think there should be a ban on classrooms with gorgeous views. Given a choice between gazing out over Matterdale and watching algebraic formulae squiggle across a blackboard, I know where my attention would be. Perhaps that's one reason this stunning former school in Cumbria's Lake District closed down in 1970. The school and adjoining headmasters' house became an outdoor pursuits residential centre for local schools, until the foot and mouth outbreak forced its closure in 2001. Ownership was then transferred to the Parish council, in the hope it might be used as a community hall , before finally being put on the market to fund the building of a purpose-built hall. The property consists of the school - a massive main hall, two big schoolrooms, entrance hall, kitchen, pantry and loo. The main hall and larger classroom have open fires, and the substantial hall includes washbasins and a cast bath (which really creeped me out - forced baths??). ...