Splendid isolation

Three magnificent country houses in Welsh river valleys offer commercial prospects, fishing–and blissful peace

These four glorious properties need only a modicum of tender loving care and offer great rewards to the far-sighted

Patrick Brompton, Bedale, North Yorkshire. A renovated, Grade II-listed Queen Anne house dating from 1703 with outbuildings and a 200-year-old stable block with four apartments. It has a kitchen with

Stone-flagged floors, dressers, scrubbed tables and a hound snoozing in front of a glowing range cooker are the hallmarks of a classic farmhouse kitchen. Arabella Youens finds homes with hearts

From traditional stone-built longhouses to picture-perfect thatched cottages, Arabella Youens finds a tempting selection of properties in beautiful West Country locations

West Wycombe Park, Buckinghamshire, part I The seat of Sir Edward Dashwood, Bt, and a property of the National Trust