Has the country house dream really died? Recent data shows that in 2023 and 2024 (so far), high interest rates, the return to the office, and potential tax hikes on second homes in the upcoming Autumn Statement, have conspired, in general terms, to cool the rural property market.
However, the traditional wealth hotspots remain unwaveringly popular, albeit hard to access. “Whatever you do, don’t walk around with your cheque book out. There will be tumbleweed,” says Harry Gladwin of The Buying Solution. “You just can’t buy your way in like that.” Gladwin is describing the ultra-opulent core of the Cotswolds. Here, multi-million pound farmhouses tend to change hands behind closed doors.
The same applies to a handful of other rural locales, such as the Cheshire golden triangle, home to many a footballer, and Cornwall’s golden gully of Padstow and Rock which attracts Hollywood stars, politicians and celebrity chefs.
For those with hearts set on such designer rural enclaves, but without the seemingly ceiling-less budget, now could be a good time to buy around the edges, where buyers are more likely to be impacted by mortgage rates and therefore prices are softening.
New research by Strutt & Parker pinpoints the five ultimate wealth hotspots in England and Scotland and the more affordable peripheries. For example, the average house price in the poshest postcode in Cheshire is 63 per cent higher than the outlying area, and in the Cotswolds the difference is 51 per cent.
We reveal these hotspots and the areas on the edge that act as a gateway to Britain’s most glamourous rural lifestyles.
What is it about this place?
The Cotswolds’ golden patch stars Stow-on-the-Wold, Burford, Charlbury and Great Tew, and the villages around Chipping Norton. Over the past decade house prices here have risen 116 per cent, almost doubling national growth of 67 per cent. “It is a bubble that won’t ever burst,” says Gladwin. This hotspot has been in vogue since the 1960s but a resurgence has come with destination hotels, Michelin-recommended restaurants, members-only clubs and designer farm shops that have met the modern wants of the ultra-wealthy, the fashionistas and influencers.
Who’s seen here
There’s a flamboyance to this neck of the woods centred around Soho Farmhouse, where the Duchess of Sussex had a “low-key” hen party. The recent Netflix show on the Beckhams in their vast barn conversion will have stoked interest in Great Tew.
Property bigwig John Hitchcox created The Lakes by Yoo in the Cotswolds with the architect and designer Philippe Starck. Hitchcox spends much of his time here in his new lake house with his wife Phoebe Vela and their seven-year-old son Marley. They welcome many celebrity friends and guests to the luxury lakeside resort, including Kate Moss (who lives nearby and designed the interiors for some of the lodges), Simon Le Bon (John’s best man) and Jade Jagger.
Culinary star and judge of The Great British Bake Off, Dame Prue Leith lives near Moreton-in-Marsh with her husband. The area has inspired her latest cookbook Life’s Too Short to Stuff a Mushroom. Her favourite spot is her new house, which she calls a work in progress. “We have 360-degree views of the countryside, surrounded by our own farm fields. It is our first organic year, and converting has been fascinating and satisfying, if not eye-wateringly expensive. We have made scrapes in our fields for wading birds and planted bluebells in the woodland where we have nesting owls. This is my idea of paradise,” she says.
Hangout hotspots
Carol Bamford’s Daylesford Organic and her pubs: The Bell at Charlbury, the Fox at Oddington, the Three Horseshoes at Asthall and the Wild Rabbit at Kingham are the places to be seen. The latest Pig opened in Barnsley this summer. Outside dining is in, with pop-up restaurants such as Pit Kitchen guesting on different farms.
This year brothers Adam and James Thomas, who have exported the flavours of Dalston to the Cotswolds, landed at the Old Piggery in Todenham. They are throwing the last party of the summer there on 25 and 26 October serving a “feast from the flames”.
Buying on the outskirts
There is a drift to the north beyond Moreton-in-Marsh – which separates the prime patch from the northerly villages running into Warwickshire. “We have a CV [Coventry] postcode which means we got a lot more for our money,” says Katrina Whittaker (missingredient.co.uk), a private chef who tests and writes recipes for Dame Prue.
Whittaker, her husband and two small children moved from London to the village of Long Compton. This is a trend, says Gladwin, of people looking for authenticity and value for money – the average house price is half that of the central Cotswolds. There’s almost £1 million difference between a five-bedroom house in Burford versus one in Long Compton.
“If you scratch beneath the surface there is a lot happening here,” says Whittaker. “Stuffy olde tea shops have closed, replaced with cool businesses.” She cites The Straw Kitchen, serving homely food from local produce out of a pottery shed at Whichford Pottery, while children and chickens roam.
What is it about this place?
With its train station and direct service to London in less than two hours, the housing market has boomed this spring and summer. Sofia Da Silva of Savills had 35 properties launch in a single month. “Demand is up for properties worth more than £4 million but the majority of interest is for properties between £1 million and £2 million from buyers relocating out of London,” she says.
The most expensive postcode is the pretty village of Prestbury, where Christine Colbert has lived for 26 years. She founded the boutique Dress Cheshire which sells (often unworn) designer cast-offs from the affluent locals. “Prestbury has changed so much in the last 26 years. Lots of lovely properties have been knocked down to make way for new shiny mansions. But one thing has remained authentic and that’s the pub Ye Olde Admiral Rodney, which is always rammed,” she says.
Who’s seen here
The historic Ollerton Grange is under offer. Once owned by the businessman Jamey Hargreaves (son of John Hargreaves, who founded Matalan), and formerly the partner of the late Tara Palmer-Tomkinson. The Jacobean-style, eight-bedroom country pile sits in 141-acres of land in Cheshire’s golden triangle and was sold in January with an asking price of £12.5 million.
Local speculation is that it has been bought by a footballer. This area is crawling with them! Liverpool midfielder Alexis MacAllister lives in a £3.9 million mansion in Wilmslow, as did, until earlier this year, the former Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson. Dion Dublin, Jordan Henderson and the Rooneys live towards Knutsford.
Hangout hotspots
Top-class leisure facilities are therefore on hand. Mottram Hall Hotel has an 18-hole championship golf course where Cristiano Ronaldo liked to practise his swing in his Manchester United days. There is a Fifa-accredited football pitch within the 270 acres too and planning permission has been granted for the replacement of a tennis court with three Padel courts – the fashionable Mexican racket ball game has taken the area by storm.
Michael Vaughan, the former England cricket captain, pundit and local, has invested in the Wilmslow Padel Club and plays there three times a week. The restaurants of Manchester are on the doorstep – such as Mana with one Michelin star – but Wilmslow has plenty of choice too. Hot places include the new Tuscan-inspired T-bone Piccolino with an outdoor kitchen and winter terrace, and the Ivy is set to open in the market town too.
Buying on the outskirts
Over the past few years, more than half of all buyers purchasing a property in Cheshire’s golden triangle (Wilmslow, Alderley Edge and Prestbury) have come from outside Cheshire. These outsiders are far less fixated with which side of which end of which street in which village in the golden triangle they want to be, says Andrew Thorpe from Savills, and therefore the much cheaper commuter hub of Macclesfield is becoming more of a draw.
Dubbed “the silk town”, due to its industrial heritage, and sitting on the foothills of the Peak District, Macclesfield has speedy connections to Manchester and London. The cobbled streets lead up to the Grade II-listed Georgian town hall at its centre and there’s the Picturedrome with exhibition space and an auditorium for gigs and shows and a selection of independent bars and restaurants such as Honest Crust Sourdough Pizza and Savages Mussels.
What is it about this place?
The sea, the food, the seafood and a relaxed pace of life. On a whim, Padstow resident Rose Reynolds will catch the ferry from Padstow to Rock for dinner. (It’s £3 in the high season and £2 during winter.)
Rose and her husband Tom moved from France in 2022 to be close to her mum, having spent childhood summers in the area. With their two small children they have bought a new build, New England-style house on the edge of Padstow. “Rock is a traditional sailing village – there is lots of old-school money and a lot of second homes. But in Padstow you will find an all-year-round community,” she says.
Who’s seen here
The most expensive spot in this area is Trebetherick Bay in Rock, where Gordon Ramsay sold his igloo-style timber house for £7.5 million in 2021. He still owns his other waterfront home in Rock itself. It’s this area that David Cameron and Princes William and Harry are strongly associated with too. Rock is synonymous with multi-million-pound second homes, yachting and sailing, fund managers and celebrity chefs.
Mawgan Porth pulls in Hollywood stars. Cate Blanchett is building an eco home on the cliffside there and, further down the coast, people-watchers may spy Stanley Tucci at Watergate Bay.
Hangout hotspots
Where there are celebrity chefs, there are top-notch eateries. There’s Paul Ainsworth’s pub the Mariners and the dog-friendly Four Boys on the seafront. Reynolds loves Ainsworth’s Caffè Rojano and Michelin-starred No.6, and the wine bar Bin Two. She recommends Prawn on the Lawn, a fishmonger-cum-restaurant with a sister joint in Islington, Greens – a restaurant on the harbour and overlooking the estuary with mini golf – and the Prideaux Walled Garden, which serves food and drink from its kitchen garden: try the rhubarb gin.
Buying on the outskirts
There’s not much in it between the average house price in Rock and Padstow but the southern side of the River Camel offers more value for money, due to more space, more new developments and smaller cottages. Head further inland to villages such as St Issey for better value too – this is where the Reynolds’s children go to school and where Tom runs their French-Cornish brewery and taproom Braslou Biere (@brasloubiere on Instagram). “We love the outdoor lifestyle, our favourite walk is up to Padstow Farm Shop along the coastal path,” Rose says.
What is it about this place?
“East Lothian is the Hampshire of Scotland,” says Annabel Blackett of Strutt & Parker. North Berwick is just half an hour on the train from Edinburgh Waverley and at the centre of an enchanting strip of coastline which juxtaposes sandy beaches and golf courses.
Families move out of Edinburgh to find their forever home – often because they have grown up here – and tourists (particularly from the US) visit for the golf, Blackett explains, such as the 18 holes at Craigielaw Golf Course overlooking the sea. “There is a lot of old money in the big houses that are dotted along the coastline but it is understated here and not a honeypot for celebrities,” Blackett adds.
Who’s seen here
There is the odd exception – such as TV chef Tom Kitchin and his wife Michaela who run the Bonnie Badger in Gullane – a pretty village between North Berwick and Musselburgh. The couple with their four boys still live in Edinburgh but spend a lot of time in and around Gullane. The Bonnie Badger – a modern Scottish restaurant – was once the old village hotel and transformed in 2018 by the Kitchins. The restaurant with rooms has 5 AA Gold Stars and is a Michelin Guide Bib Gourmand. “Exploring the beaches, coves and caves here is always one of our favourite things to do. Since the boys were little they have enjoyed the rockpools and discovering sea life,” says Kitchin. He cites Yellowcraig Beach and Gullane Bents as two of their favourite local beaches and the family often go foraging for sea buckthorn, mushrooms and sea herbs. In fact, the Bonnie Badger works with the local suppliers, Wee Folk of the Woods, to host foraging walks followed by lunch.
Hangout hotspots
There is a burgeoning food scene here. Jacinta Goulter moved into Edinburgh with her parents and brother when she was small and then quickly back out again to Musselburgh for the space. “I love the walk from Aberlady to Gullane through the nature reserve. It is particularly spectacular in the winter when the sun stays low and whisks along the horizon,” says Goulter. She loves North Berwick’s Drift Café which is housed in shipping containers on the clifftops with the Firth of Forth rolling beneath and views of Bass Rock ahead. The cake is pretty good too.
The Kitchin family like the Italian, family-run, Main Course for pizza and the Lobster Shack is another popular haunt. Other luxurious hangouts include Fletcher’s Cottage Spa at Archerfield House Hotel. There are fine art exhibitions at Fidra Fine Art in Gullane and every August tents of the Fringe-by-the-Sea mini festival are dotted along the beaches. This year Del Amitri headlined, with talks by Ray Mears and Caitlin Moran.
Buying on the outskirts
For those looking to buy into the East Lothian coastline, the trick is to settle slightly inland to get more value for money. The village of Dirleton – considered one of the prettiest in the area – is a popular choice. Centred around a 13th-century castle, it is halfway between North Berwick and Gullane for convenience shops and restaurants. “You don’t have the sea views here but you are surrounded by open fields and Yellowcraig Beach is only just over a mile away,” says Blackett. “Due to its size there is limited housing stock but there is a new development on the periphery. Larger houses can be found close to the primary school on Chapelhill,” she adds.
What is it about this place?
Often dubbed Chelsea-on-Sea due to the number of wealthy London second homeowners or relocators, Burnham Market is the most expensive postcode in North Norfolk. “All the coastal villages within that belt that runs from the Royal estate at Sandringham around to Holkham and Wells-next-the-Sea command a premium, however those with good restaurants, sports clubs and independent boutiques are the most desirable,” says Tom Goodley of Strutt & Parker. “Good housing stock is rare on the open market, they mostly exchange hands privately.” So, when something does come on, expect fierce competition.
Who’s seen here
The Royal country estate of Sandringham to the west, close to where the multi Oscar award-winning actress Olivia Colman lives, and her co-star from Wicked Little Letters Jessie Buckley is nearby. To the east is Holt, a pretty Georgian town where Colman and James Dyson attended the Gresham’s school. “There are plenty of stately homes close by including Holkham Hall, Houghton House and Blickling Hall which brings lots of aristocracy to town,” says Goodley. “They enjoy the high street which is considered the best in the area with a host of antique shops and the Byfords tea room, deli and B&B.” Celebrities such as Stephen Fry, Amanda Holden and Anneka Rice have also been spotted in Burnham Market.
Hangout hotspots
The boutique hotel The Hoste Arms has long been at the centre of the scene in Burnham Market, along with the restaurants NoTwenty9 and Socius – which won Restaurant of the Year 2022/23 at the AA Hospitality Awards. The oysters and mussels sold at Gurneys Fish Shop are staple fodder at dinner parties.
Brancaster is not much cheaper and according to Goodley there’s a high percentage of second homes but more variety on the market. This sailing and fishing village has one of the best seafood restaurants in the county – the White Horse – and there’s the Crab Hut in Brancaster Staithe.
However, the big pull is the world-famous Royal West Norfolk Golf Course. This area is bookended by upper-class enclaves. Further to the east is the Gunton Arms, which has been lovingly and painstakingly restored by the art dealer Ivor Braka into a country pub – but one with a very high-end art collection on the walls.
Buying on the outskirts
For the best value in the area, look to Wells-next-the-Sea or Stiffkey. This village feels less connected and the salt marshes means it doesn’t have direct access to the beach, but the wealthy boltholes of Burnham Market, Brancaster and Holt are on the doorstep.
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