Take your hat off for farmhouse in rural splendour near Ilkley Moor
FARMHOUSE renovation projects always cause a stir, but this one looks set to cause a great rush of interest.
It sits close to the hotspot of Ilkley in a little known rural idyll that boasts some of the most spectacular scenery in Yorkshire.
Hardwick House Farm, in the hamlet of Addingham Moorside, sits down at the end of a no through road and is next to the famous Ilkley Moor.
It has been in the same ownership since 1961 when the late Mary and Jim Hartshorne bought the smallholding. Both were brought up in farming and they were keen to get back to the land.
Although Mr Hartshorne’s day job was working for the water board, he and his wife also kept livestock, including pigs, hens, ducks, cattle and cows.
Their son Ken, who was 12 when the family moved there, says: “It’s a beautiful, unspoilt spot and my parents were very happy there. They bought it from a local landowner and really did very little to it apart from put in a new kitchen. It still has the cast iron roll top bath from the 1930s.”
The farmhouse is thought to have 17th century origins but was rebuilt in the Victorian era. It comes with an adjoining barn, dating from the 1600s and this is grade two listed.
A small outbuilding, which is built into a large natural rock outcrop and is also listed and is thought to have been used as a wool combers shop.
The property stands in about 24 acres of green belt fields and moorland between Ilkley and Addingham.
Ian Briggs, manager of Dacre Son and Hartley’s Ilkley office, says: “The location, at the end of a track, is a tranquil rural idyll and the farmhouse commands some outstanding views across the Wharfe Valley towards Beamsley Beacon, Simon’s Seat and up Wharfedale towards Great Whernside.”
He added: You could come home to the sound of the curlews and one of the finest views in Wharfedale.”
The farmhouse has a sitting room, dining kitchen, utility room and separate WC. On the ground floor. On the first floor, there are three bedrooms and a bathroom. The adjoining barn provides scope to enlarge the existing accommodation at ground floor level, subject to listed building and planning consents.
Ian adds: “Smallholdings of this nature this close to Ilkley come to the market very infrequently. It represents an exceptionally rare opportunity and will doubtless appeal to those with equestrian interests, hobby farmers, or those simply seeking the joys of rural living without being too remote from civilisation.”
Anyone interested will have to approach on foot or in a four wheeled drive vehicle as the track is unsuitable for low slung cars.