A historic Georgian house with a secret code-breaking past is on the market for the first time in more than two generations. The Caprons, a Grade II*-listed property in the Southover conservation area of Lewes, East Sussex, was once home to Asa Briggs, the historian and life peer who served as a Bletchley Park codebreaker deciphering Enigma messages. The early-to-mid-18th century house, with its symmetrical grey brick facade and large sash windows, is listed at £2.1m through Jackson-Stops. Among its most distinctive features is a Grade II-listed, octagonal summer house set within the walled garden.
That octagonal retreat is just one of the summer houses drawing attention to a string of distinctive properties now for sale across Britain. The most expensive of them is The Court in Axbridge, Somerset, a Grade II-listed Georgian house with views towards Glastonbury Tor. On the market through House & Heritage for £2.395m, it sits on 1.15 acres of walled gardens that include a dedicated archery area and a summer house. Inside, flagstone and oak floors, period fireplaces, a breakfast kitchen, garden room, cinema room and an indoor swimming pool with gym make it a complete country estate in miniature.
South West
Also in the South West, a renovated Grade II-listed Cornish long house in Heamoor, Penzance, is available for £1.2m through Savills. The property’s landscaped gardens incorporate a tree house, an orangery overlooking the kitchen garden, and a summer house currently used as a pottery studio. The house itself features Georgian sash windows, open fireplaces and a newly fitted kitchen with French doors leading outside. The grounds also include a paddock, stable block and a workshop, covering 2.5 acres in total.
The North
In County Durham, Broomshields Hall near Satley, Bishop Auckland, is listed at £1.75m with Finest Properties. The Grade II-listed Georgian house is part of a larger estate of approximately 69.4 acres, including grazing land and woodland. The gardens are extensively landscaped and feature a lake with a decked area, two summer houses, a gardener’s cottage or studio, an all-weather tennis court and a triple garage. The house itself has a carved oak staircase and a large kitchen with an Aga, with four bedrooms, four bathrooms, three reception rooms and a library.
Scotland
In Edinburgh, a duplex apartment on Polwarth Terrace in the sought-after Merchiston area is guided at £985,000 or more through Savills. Situated on the first floor of a period property, it retains period fireplaces and has a dining room with French doors opening onto a balcony. A spiral staircase leads down to a private, well-established garden that includes a summer house described by the agents as a “charming and adaptable additional space, ideal for relaxation, hobbies, or home working.” The property also benefits from solar panels, potentially generating £2,000 to £2,400 per year in savings or income. It lies approximately 1.25 miles south of Princes Street, close to Bruntsfield Links and The Meadows.
The East
In Northamptonshire, The Manor House in Great Harrowden is a Grade II*-listed manor house with origins dating back to circa 1640, with some sources suggesting even earlier. One bedroom is reputed to have housed Oliver Cromwell. On the market through Fine & Country for £1.15m, the 0.8-acre south-facing gardens include a kitchen garden with a greenhouse and a circular summer house equipped with sofas and a fridge for wine. A separate “breeze house” with heating and lighting provides additional outdoor seating. The house itself has beamed ceilings, panelled walls and period fireplaces, along with six bedrooms and four bathrooms.
Also at £1.15m through Fine & Country, Orchard Cottage in Wood End, Ardeley, Hertfordshire, is a 17th-century Grade II-listed property formed from three original cottages. The summer house is fitted with a wood-burning stove and Wi-Fi, while the main house retains exposed wall and ceiling timbers, inglenook fireplaces and a reception room. The gardens cover 0.75 acres.
The cheapest property on the list is Moreves Manor in Great Waldingfield, Sudbury, Suffolk, guided at £950,000 or more through Strutt & Parker. The Grade II-listed, 17th-century house – with origins possibly dating to the 14th century – is set in 1.58 acres of gardens that include a wildlife pond, an outdoor swimming pool and a summer house equipped with a shower, sauna and wood-burning stove. The agent notes that the summer house offers views of the gardens and countryside and is suitable for entertaining, additional sleeping accommodation or use as a studio. The house features exposed wall and ceiling timbers, a breakfast kitchen with an Aga, two reception rooms, an office and a garden room. Oil-fired central heating and mains water and electricity are connected, with private drainage.
