Some like it hot
Nights are drawing in–warm your hands at these handsome hearths
£2.7 million, Gloucestershire
A perfect Cotswold-stone house that seems quite magical on the approach through the mature trees of its eight-acre grounds, the Dower House at Daglingworth village, set in the valley of the River Dunt, about 10 minutes from Cirencester, has been beautifully modernised. There are eight bedrooms in total, including two in an adjoining cottage approached via a separate drive, as well as a sizeable home office, indoor swimming pool, tennis court, vegetable garden, small stable block and three large paddocks currently grazed by sheep. The cottage, which also has a private garden, could either be connected fully to the main house (subject to permissions) or let as a separate property. Knight Frank (020–7861 1707)
£2.5 million, Devon
The life and times of Job as he was tested to prove his loyalty to God may not be your average fireplace fodder, but the carvings over the hearth in the 16th-century panelled drawing room at The Manor House, Bradninch —some 12 miles north-east of Exeter and surrounded by Duchy of Cornwall farmland—will inspire stimulating conversation, as will the en-suite master bedroom or King Charles Room, where Charles I slept in 1644. There are four further bedrooms, plus a self-contained apartment on the second floor, and the seven-acre grounds are dotted with mature trees, including an ancient Lucombe oak, plus a rose garden, lake, stream and indoor swimming pool. Knight Frank (020–7861 1717)
£3 million, London E1 In the 1920s, Matrix Island was a steelconstruction coal barge chugging down the River Seine; now, with a hull painted pale grey and sporting a natty orange stripe, she’s possibly the most luxurious houseboat on the Thames, floating next to her private pontoon (a rented mooring) at St Katharine’s Docks. More than 5,000sq ft of accommodation over two levels includes five spacious bedrooms, a walk-in wardrobe, four bathrooms, sauna and a vast open-plan kitchen/dining/living room, plus another sitting room with an unusual hanging log-burner, an office with a view of Tower Bridge and lots of storage areas, not to mention a 50ft fore deck with a retractable glass enclosure, open deck area and a jet-ski/tender platform. Matrix Island was originally converted by a French film producer. Dexters (020–7650 5350)
£645,000, Gloucestershire
At the heart of pretty Painswick—once famous for its wool trade, but now better known for churchyard yews and the Rococo Garden—is Grade Ii-listed The Old Inn. Forming part of a medieval courtyard, it has three bedrooms, including an en-suite master. The landscaped garden has been beautifully tended and the superb, full-height stone fireplace with a log-burner at the centre of the house is a good spot in which to settle for the coming months. Cheltenham is about 20 minutes to the north and Stroud 10 minutes south. Murrays (01452 814655)