A historic Grade II-listed house in Derbyshire is for sale at £1.25m. Blackwall House, a property dating from the early 1600s, sits on the southern tip of the Peak District National Park – Britain’s first national park, established in 1951 and spanning 555 square miles between Sheffield and Manchester. The house features Venetian windows, a grand reception hall and open fireplaces, with four bedrooms, two bathrooms, two reception rooms, a home office, a three-bedroom flat and 2.32 acres of land. It is being marketed by Fisher German. The Peak District, divided into the gritstone Dark Peak and limestone White Peak, was the site of the 1932 Kinder Mass Trespass that helped secure public access to open country, and its millstones remain a symbol of the landscape. Blackwall House is one of eight properties currently on the market in or alongside some of Britain’s most celebrated protected landscapes.
Beadon Farm, Dartmoor – £4.45m
The most expensive of the eight is a restored former farmhouse with three converted barns set in 63 acres in a private valley on the edge of Dartmoor National Park. Beadon Farm, near Hennock in South Devon, is listed at £4.45m by agent By Design Homes. The main house has beamed ceilings, inglenook fireplaces, four bedrooms, three bathrooms, three reception rooms, a kitchen and a conservatory. In addition to the three converted barns there are further outbuildings and a greenhouse. Dartmoor, established in 1951 and covering 954 square kilometres of wild moorland, granite tors and Bronze Age archaeology, is considered the most important site for that period in Western Europe. The park is also the only place in the world where the Bog Hoverfly can be found and is home to the Dartmoor pony. The right to wild camp on Dartmoor was upheld in mid-2023. Market data indicates that average house prices in Dartmoor over the past year were around £394,121, with detached properties averaging £542,601 – though prices have fallen roughly 5 per cent from a 2023 peak.
Hollins Farm, Yorkshire Dales – £695,000
The cheapest property in the collection is an extensively renovated 18th-century former farmhouse in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Hollins Farm at Low Row, near Richmond, North Yorkshire, is on the market for £695,000 with Knight Frank. The house occupies an elevated position with far-reaching views across Swaledale and the surrounding river valley. It has exposed stone walls, beamed ceilings, flagstone floors, wood-burning stoves, a cast-iron spiral staircase and a country kitchen with an Aga, plus five bedrooms, four bathrooms, a reception room, an office and a garage. The Yorkshire Dales National Park, established in 1954 and covering 2,178 square kilometres, is England’s second-largest national park. More than 95 per cent of the land is privately owned, with agriculture dominating the economy. In 2020 the park was named an International Dark Sky Reserve, and in 2022 visitor satisfaction reached a record high, with 96 per cent of surveyed visitors very satisfied. Tourism contributed approximately £485 million to the local economy in 2023, supporting around 5,370 jobs.
Long Park, Pembrokeshire Coast – £1.6m+
Next in price is a restored 1930s Arts & Crafts house overlooking a 12th-century castle in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. Long Park, near Manorbier, is listed at £1.6m+ by Country Living Group. The house has a bespoke fitted kitchen, solar panels, four bedrooms, four bathrooms, two reception rooms, a study, a double garage with an office above, and gardens extending to 1.3 acres. Pembrokeshire Coast, designated in 1952, is the UK’s only national park primarily designated for its coastal landscape, covering 629 square kilometres with no point more than ten miles from the sea. It boasts 420 kilometres of coastline, 80 per cent of which lies within Sites of Special Scientific Interest, and its beaches earned ten Blue Flag and seven Green Coast awards in 2022. The 186-mile Pembrokeshire Coast Path National Trail was established in 1970. Wildlife includes nesting seabirds, Atlantic grey seals, porpoises and dolphins; Skomer Island is home to the largest puffin colony in South Britain. In 2011 National Geographic Traveler magazine voted Pembrokeshire the second-best coastal destination in the world for sustainable tourism.
Pitt Park, Dartmoor – £1.5m
Also in Dartmoor National Park, Pitt Park at Widecombe-in-the-Moor, near Newton Abbot in Devon, is for sale at £1.5m with Savills. The refurbished former farmhouse includes a two-bedroom converted coach house and is set in south-facing gardens. It has beamed ceilings, open fireplaces with wood-burning stoves, French doors leading onto a terrace, and a breakfast kitchen with bespoke cabinets. Accommodation comprises four bedrooms, three bathrooms, three reception rooms and a study, plus gardens, a fenced paddock with stables and 1.7 acres of land. Dartmoor’s granite tors and deep river valleys provide the backdrop; the park is also the setting for Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles.
Blackwall House, Peak District – £1.25m
Blackwall House in Kirk Ireton, Derbyshire, is the property that anchors this round-up. Fisher German is handling the sale. The Grade II-listed early-1600s house includes Venetian windows – characteristic of the Palladian influence – a grand reception hall and open fireplaces, with four bedrooms, two bathrooms, two reception rooms, a home office, a three-bedroom flat and 2.32 acres. The Peak District National Park Authority manages the park, with the National Trust owning around 12 per cent of the land. Buxton is considered the park’s capital, known for its spa, Pavilion Gardens and arts venues. The park offers extensive walking and cycling routes, including traffic-free trails on former railway lines such as the Monsal Trail.
Skelgill Farm, Lake District – £1.2m
Skelgill Farm, a traditional former farmhouse in the Newlands Valley near Keswick, Cumbria, sits on the edge of Catbells fell within the Lake District National Park. Priced at £1.2m and marketed by Davidson & Robertson, the property has wood and flagstone floors, open fireplaces, a kitchen with an Aga, six bedrooms, three bathrooms, two reception rooms, gardens and 0.52 acres. The Lake District, designated in 1951 and covering 2,362 square kilometres, is England’s largest national park. It was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2017 as a “cultural landscape”. It contains England’s longest and largest lake, Windermere, and its highest mountain, Scafell Pike. The park received 17.73 million tourist visitors in 2024, and second home ownership has significantly driven up property prices – with average house prices inside the park more than double those in surrounding areas, at £455,711. Some local authorities have imposed council tax uplifts on second homes in response.
Allensford Hall, North Pennines – £900,000
Allensford Hall, at Allensford near Consett in County Durham, is a renovated hall dating back nearly four centuries, set on the banks of the River Derwent within the North Pennines National Landscape – a designation distinct from a national park but with similar conservation objectives. The property, listed at £900,000 by Fine & Country, has open fireplaces with wood-burning stoves, a country kitchen with flagstone floors and an Aga, six bedrooms, two bathrooms, four reception rooms, a conservatory, outbuildings and six acres of gardens and parkland. The North Pennines National Landscape is known for its dramatic moorlands, heather and ancient woodlands.
Drumuillie Lodge, Cairngorms – £850,000
The final property in the collection is a modern, timber-clad house in the Cairngorms National Park, the UK’s largest national park, covering 4,528 square kilometres in northeast Scotland. Drumuillie Lodge, near Boat of Garten in Inverness-shire, is for sale at £850,000 with Strutt & Parker. The house features attractive gardens with decked terraces, exposed joinery, solid oak floors, full-height windows, and a sitting room with a vaulted ceiling and a contemporary wood-burning stove. It has four bedrooms, four bathrooms, two reception rooms, a dining kitchen, a utility room, a garage with an en-suite studio above, and grounds and woodland totalling 5.3 acres. The Cairngorms park is home to five of the UK’s highest mountains, including Ben Macdui at 1,309 metres, and hosts wildlife such as red squirrels, golden eagles and the UK’s only herd of semi-domesticated reindeer. The nearby Speyside Whisky Trail features distilleries including Glenlivet, Macallan and Glenfiddich, and the Highland Wildlife Park near Kingussie is a significant visitor attraction.
