The Farmhouse, Nether Hall Estate

The Farmhouse was once one of five farmhouses serving the Nether Hall Estate in the 19th century: a three-storey, timber-framed house set in about 100 acres of parkland and grassland, with a lake and ponds.

The drawing room has an open fire, oak floors from the estate's own woodland and views over the garden and parkland. Two steps down, the dining room looks out over the estate, and its table is described as seating everyone. The kitchen has an induction hob, double ovens and two dishwashers, and there's a snug with a sofa bed and a cinema room on the lower ground floor.

Four bedrooms are on the first floor, each with its own bath or shower room, and three more are on the second floor, where the ceilings are low in places.

Outside, The Retreat, a covered oak-framed walkway with an open fire, leads to The Greenhouse, a garden room with sliding doors. There's a heated pool with a pavilion, a pool house with a Jacuzzi, sauna and gym, an all-weather tennis court, a squash court and a treehouse for children.

Down at the lake there's a jetty and a small rowing boat, with a shepherd's hut in the summer months. Pakenham, the village of two mills, has a pub and a post office within walking distance; Bury St Edmunds is under 15 minutes by car, and Thurston station has trains to London in under two hours.