A romantic home and why buyers are making a beeline for Richmond

Love stories rarely get a look in when it comes to property selling points, but the romantic tale attached to Hill House, in Richmond, demands equal billing with square footage.

The historic house, the grandest part of which is now for sale with Marcus Alderson for £550,000, was once the home of Frances I’Anson, who was immortalised in the words of the song Sweet Lass of Richmond Hill.

She and her wealthy parents, William and his heiress wife Martha, lived between Hill House, on Frenchgate, and their even grander home in London.

Frances’s beauty and money made her a target for male attention but her heart was won by Leonard MacNally, who composed the famous ballad in her honour in the garden of Hill House in 1789.

By all accounts, other suitors were considered much more eligible, but riches were no match for MacNally’s wildly romantic verses, which begin:

On Richmond Hill there lives a lass

More bright than May day morn

Whose charms all other maids surpass

A rose without a thorn

Reader, she married him and they had three children. The poet Lord Byron also used persuasive words to court Annabella Milbanke during a stay at Hill House. His amorous letters played a part in her becoming Lady Byron in 1815. The large, Grade II listed property in the heart of Richmond has since been split into three homes, with the East Wing now on the market.

Built in 1580 and given a Georgian makeover, the East Wing is filled with period features, including the staircase, fireplaces, Palladian windows, wood shutters and extra wide doors. It has a hall, two reception rooms, a kitchen, a washroom, five bedrooms, a bathroom, an integral garage/workshop and a south-facing garden. Owners Angus and Fiona Wright bought it 21 years and are selling now that their five children have grown up and flown the nest.

“We are downsizing and the children aren’t too happy about it but this is a home that needs a family,” says Angus. “Our children loved growing up here and they were spoiled with the amount of space we have. The rooms are huge and the house is a two-minute walk into the centre of the town.”

The chances of finding a new owner for the East Wing at Hill House has shot up over the last few months. The number of would-be buyers targeting Richmondshire has burgeoned since the first lockdown. While there was a slight uptick in interest from outsiders last year when the Halifax Quality of Life survey revealed that the area was the best place to live in England, that pales against the droves of would-be buyers who are now being drawn to the area from far and wide.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak, whose profile has rocketed during the pandemic, has helped to turn people’s attention to Richmondshire, where he is MP. His vast patch covers Richmond, Northallerton, Bedale, Catterick, Hawes, Leyburn, Middleham, Northallerton and Stokesley, along with some of the most remote villages and hamlets in Yorkshire.

Richard Thompson, of Marcus Alderson estate agents, said: “Interest from outside the area has been incredible. The market here has gone berserk. We have had a lot of people from the South driving up to view property and, of course, they get a lot more for their money up here. Covid has a lot to do with it because people are keen to move to the countryside or somewhere with easy access to it and they want fresh clean air. We have those things in abundance here.”

He adds: “People used to bypass us to buy in the Lake District but they are realising that our area is less densely populated. We have huge swathes of open countryside and the population in Richmondshire is half that of the Lakes. According to the Office for National Statistics we are the third least populated area in England and if you Google Richmondshire, the map shows huge swathes of green.”

Richmond is a hotspot thanks to its historic good looks, its castle, schools, independent shops, and its proximity to the A1M and A66. But the new legion of buyers is also pushing out to more remote rural areas. “That is something else we have noticed since Covid. People who would never have dreamed of buying somewhere like that are now interested and homes there are selling much more quickly.

“Lifestyle is now becoming more important than accessibility because people can work from home and they have reassessed what matters most to them,” says Richard, who has just put Falls View, in Muker, under offer after a couple from Surrey snapped it up.

It isn’t far from remote Ravenseat, home to Yorkshire Shepherdess Amanda Owen and her family who starred in Channel 5’s Our Yorkshire Farm. The series is also playing a part in tempting people to buy off the beaten track, though villages with a pub, school and a strong community are still the most sought-after.

The only reservation some buyers have is the travelling time to the nearest town, which is when estate agents have to educate them on the difference between life in the country and life in the city and suburbia.

“It might look a long way on a map but there are no traffic jams here so car journeys are a lot quicker,” says Richard, who has noticed another trend.

“People are moving to be closer to family or to buy with family. The pandemic has made them realise that they don’t want to be 250 miles from loved ones. The overriding message from people relocating here is ‘there’s more to life’.” East Wing at Hill House is for sale with marcusalderson.co.uk

Price check: House prices in Richmondshire are rising and demand now outstrips supply with gazumping on the rise. Estate agent Richard Thompson says: “We had one property under offer for £650,000 and someone offered the owner another £50,000. He said ‘no’ because he had shaken hands on the deal.” Prices in Richmond start at £100,000 for a one-bedroom apartment, semis are from £240,000 and detached homes from £270,000.

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