DESPITE its private setting, grade I listed Crook Hall has been – of late – anything but private, with visitors flocking to its hall and gardens which have been highly esteemed as one of Durham's most popular tourist destinations and a very special wedding venue.

Described by Country Life as having “history, romance and beauty” and by the Sunday Telegraph as “stunning”, Crook Hall has been occupied as a family home by the current vendors since 1995. Its sale offers a rare opportunity to purchase one of the finest historic private houses in the city and, for a buyer with entrepreneurial ambitions, the chance to to continue to build on the open gardens and wedding business from the property.

Crook Hall is one of the oldest inhabited houses in Durham City and comprises a Medieval hall which merges into a Jacobean manor house which leads, in turn, into the main accommodation within a large Georgian three-storey town house.

The Georgian part of the property is of brick construction under a slate roof, whilst the older parts are built of sandstone under a Welsh slate roof.

The Medieval hall was built in the early 1200’s, with the Jacobean mansion being built alongside 400 years later and the Hopper family adding the Georgian house in 1720.

From the late 1300’s the Billingham family lived in the house for over 250 years, followed by the Mickletons for a further 100 years. From 1720 to the early 20th Century the house was owned by the Fowler family, during which time it was visited by Wordsworth and Ruskin.

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Since the 1920’s the house has changed hands a number of times but has been in the stewardship of the Bell family since 1995.

The medieval hall is believed to have been restored in the 1980s, at which time the new circular turret was added. The upstairs attic room above the Jacobean drawing room was restored in 2009 when that part of the house was reroofed.

The accommodation in the house extends to approximately 6,517sq.ft with a wealth of well-proportioned rooms, many of which enjoy a southerly aspect with views towards the cathedral.

One of its joys is the variety of architectural styles and features it encompasses.

These include the Medieval Hall which is well suited for commercial or private use as a party room with a minstrels gallery leading into the Jacobean section which is characterised by large rooms, a historic staircase and open fires. This then leads into the Georgian house, typically characterised by well-proportioned light rooms, attractive fireplaces, shuttered windows, painted panelling, cornicing and recessed display alcoves.

Briefly, the accommodation comprises a ground floor lobby, cloakroom, sitting room, dining room with feature fireplace, drawing room with a feature fireplace and beamed ceiling, spacious kitchen with room for a table for informal family dining and a utility room...as well as the double-height Medieval hall.

The first floor is home to a further spacious sitting room with feature fireplace, decorative recessed alcoves and a number of large windows which both allow light to flood in and provide window seats from where to enjoy the views, a cloakroom, three bedrooms – including one with an en-suite bathroom – and the gallery which joins the house to the Medieval hall, while upstairs again on the second floor are a bathroom, separate cloakroom and a bedroom, as well as a living room/dining room/kitchen. The west wing of the house has even more accommodation in the form of another bedroom with en-suite cloakroom.

To the rear of the house is a detached two-storey coach house currently used as a ground floor office with a separate one-bedroom first floor apartment perfectly situated for home working or letting out.

Crook Hall's gardens are one of the key features of the property, having been described by Alan Titchmarsh as “tapestry of colourful blooms”.

The gardens are designed as a series of rooms including the Cathedral lawn, the Shakespeare garden, silver and white garden and the walled gardens with a more open larger lawned garden area between the house and a delightful pond. There is also a terrace perfect for informal entertaining or just relaxing on.

Outside the formal gardens lies the vegetable garden and grass paddocks, ideal for those with livestock or ponies or simply as a further conservation area.

The gardens and paddocks extend to 5.75 acres and offer unrivalled views across the River Wear to the world famous Durham Cathedral as well as unspoilt open countryside to the rear of the property.

Despite the property's private setting it lies only one mile from Durham City Centre. Its flexible accommodation provides many options for a purchaser, depending on whether they want to occupy the whole house privately or with mixed private and commercial use.

Crook Hall is on the market at a guide price of £1,8m.

For more information or to arrange a viewing, please contact Savills' York office on 01904 617800.