It’s coming on Christmas, folks. There’s no use denying it now- the old favourites have been on rotation in most good high street department stores since October, we’ve been bestowed with the yearly ritual of the tear-jerking John Lewis advert and sales adverts have been on a loop on every screen imaginable.
And yet, that’s not quite what Christmas is about, is it? Buying, saving, buying again. Christmas is certainly sold as a consumer holiday, but to us, it’s more than that. It’s the first Christmas movie playing in the background while the tree goes up in the bay window. It’s trying not to tell the kids how to unravel fairy lights properly, to not leave the felt ornaments lying around for the cat to play with, and learning that plastic baubles are better off in a family environment than the ones that fall and smash should someone only whisper next to them. Christmas is choosing the garish colourful lights over warm white because you’re tired of neutrality, and the colours make you feel happy, and it’s making sure the grocery shop is done way ahead of the big day, and forgetting the yorkie puds every time.
It’s about hunkering down with the family (maybe in matching pyjamas, although that’s not a non-negotiable for us) with friends, and allowing yourself that extra bit of time before bed, the extra malteser, the oh go on, one drop more of Baileys. Christmas is connection, traditions and indulgence, so when the winter chill whines out of doors, you’re safe inside with yours.
So deck yourself with joy, and while you’re at it, deck your house too. Whether big or small, modern or old, we’ve got a collection of homes that deserve to be well and truly decked, and even a few homes that just have that Christmas vibration all year round.
The Radcliffe, Main Street, Corbridge, Northumberland
With a dark palette and a Dickensian atmosphere, The Radcliffe in Corbridge has every nook and corner you need for optimum Christmas decoration placement. A statement staircase for your garland, a bay window for the tree, and plenty of shelves for novelty Santas (if that’s your thing), or perhaps a cosy library for reading up on winter-time folk tales. With seven bedrooms and three reception rooms, you may need to invest in more than one Christmas tree to keep things feeling consistant, but this house was already made for Christmas. The views out into the valley beyond ensure you’ll be the first to witness the morning frost or the much-hoped-for Christmas snows, and the welcoming atmosphere of a home well-loved will keep you warm all through the season.
But never mind all that. The hallway, amniotic with its warm lamplight, is one you might never want to leave. But leave you must, because nobody else is going to buy those mince pies for you.
6 Bedrooms | 7 Bathrooms | 3 Reception Rooms
Guide Price £1,850,000
For Sale with Finest Properties, Northumberland
Laburnum House, Downham Market, Norfolk
Laburnum House has that timeless English-heritage feel that wouldn’t look out of place in a Dickens adaptation either, but with a minimalist warmth and style much envied by many a Pinterest board. A neutral palette throughout means you can really go bold with colour without risking tackiness; green and red ribbons draping across mantles and staircases; cedar wreaths lolloping from the stairwell, and many a hand-crafted paper star chain interspersed with fairy lights and dried out orange ornaments dotted over the doors and chimney breasts.
This four-bedroom Georgian house is the ideal house for a home-crafted Christmas. We only wish we were invited for the big day.
0.5 Acres | 4 Bedrooms | 2 Bathrooms | 3 Reception Rooms
Guide Price £900,000
For Sale with Sowerbys, Norfolk
6 Earlsfield Road, London, SW18
6 Earlsfield Road gives us all the Love Actually feels, from doorstep declarations of love to professing you hate your uncle Jamie. This movie-stereotypical London semi-detached home has 4000sq ft to play with when it comes to decorations, but with this much original detailing and some warm down-lighting, we’re thinking all you’ll need is some fairy lights, classily dressed Christmas trees (with skirts, of course) and a non-stop rolling pot of mulled wine on the stove to keep things feeling festive.
6 Bedrooms | 3 Bathrooms | 2 Reception Rooms
Guide Price £3,250,000
For Sale with Radstock Property, London
Polstreath, Mevagissey, South Cornwall
Who said Christmas by the sea couldn’t feel festive? Not us. Think some friendly Christmas rain lashing on the windows, a late-night candlelit chat with Dad and the last of the red wine by the conservatory window, and the dogs drying off by the fire after the obligatory festive walk. With spindles like that on the staircase, you could really go full-turkey with the garlands, and with an outlook like Polstreath’s, full blown lighting adorning the exterior to signal down Santa first, ahead of any of the other neighbours.
After all, you’ve been so good this year!
7 Bedrooms | 3 Bathrooms | 4 Reception Rooms
Guide Price £1,750,000
For Sale with Rohrs & Rowe, Cornwall
Calthwaite Hall, Penrith, Cumbria
If there is a staircase anywhere in the world that deserves lighting, garlands, paper stars and presents spooling out from the bottom of the stairs, it’s Calthwaite Hall. The spirals are enough to make you dizzy with adoration, so just imagine what it would be like with the joy of festivity in the air. This is a Downton Abbey kind of Christmas- albeit without the staff- but with black tie and formal attire for dinner and a sophisticated game of cards after that doesn’t stay sophisticated for very long. With only a few flickering of candelabras and the old classics resonating out over the record player in the corner, you’ve got one unforgettably classy Christmas.
7.404 Acres | 12 Bedrooms | 7 Bathrooms | 5 Reception Rooms
Offers Over £3,000,000
For Sale with Finest Properties, Cumbria
61 High Street, Great Barford, Bedford
61 High Street is giving Christmas with the Weasleys: uneven corners and beams plastered with enough fairy lights to make Dad nervous about the energy bill, thirty years worth of family decorations looped and hung from every available hook, none of it matching and yet all of it striking a decisively perfect festive atmosphere. This house is built for massive family occasions and Christmas is no exception; think floor-based games of spoons where injury is inevitable; kids running around after pets in santa hats; an open-door policy to carollers. This is a home where more is definitely merrier.
So settle down with a sweet mince pie, a mulled wine and enjoy the chaos.
4 Bedrooms | 2 Bathrooms | 2 Reception Rooms
Offers Over £650,000
For Sale with Fitzjohn Estates
Stoughton Cross Farm, Stoughton Cross, Wedmore, Somerset
Strewn across these flagstone floors is a history of simple Christmases gone by. With a neutral palette, just the slightest hint of decoration would signal Christmas as beautifully as a fully adorned house. A delicate wreath, a small tree for the hallway and a bigger one for the living room, Stoughton Cross Farm is a home where Christmas comes to you as easily as the winter chill, not the other way around. Perhaps you let the chickens in on the big day, or the pony poke her head in through the kitchen for a sweet treat. Either way, this four-bedroom farmhouse is festive enough in its simplicity, so however you choose to decorate, she’s ready for the occasion.
8 Acres | 6 Bedrooms | 4 Bathrooms | 4 Reception Rooms
Guide Price £1,500,000
For Sale with Roderick Thomas
The Manor, Richmond, North Yorkshire
Some homes just feel Christmassy all year round – choose a dark palette, original floors and a roaring fire, and you’ve got yourself an interior Winter Wonderland. The Manor is Port after pudding, many an audaciously sized Christmas tree decorating every floor and silver cutlery for the main event, where timeless elegance does all the talking, and the child-sized felt reindeer and elf puppets are best left in the back of the car. Only the best will do this Christmas.
And when night has fallen? Let the flames crackle into the quiet, where not even a mouse would stir. Bring out the cheese board and slabs of sourdough. The time to make good with your Christmas past has come.
6 Bedrooms | 7 Bathrooms | 4 Reception Rooms
Guide Price £875,000
For Sale with Finest Properties, North Yorkshire
The Ballroom, Coodham House, Symington, South Ayrshire, Scotland
Talk about timeless elegance, The Ballroom has it in droves. We’re seeing mistletoe above every doorway (just watch out for anyone lingering there on purpose), holly and ivy wedged across the top of the vast array of paintings and artwork, and a full festive front door display, complete with cedar arch, baubles and lights. This year is going to be a very decadent Christmas, indeed.
4 Bedrooms | 4 Bathrooms | 2 Reception Rooms
Offers Over £695,000
Sale Agreed with Goose & Co Property
49 Dee Banks, Chester
Last but not least, 49 Dee Banks. A property that already has that scandi-alps-classy-hotel vibe, where if you wanted, Christmas would last all year around. For now though, picture a wreath from every window, a party every weekend, wine nights, cheese pairings, bauble decorating and a Christmas Eve pizza night that would make the McAllisters green with envy. A family home that spares no expense on the Christmas occasions, a place that wastes no opportunity to have friends over, to light the fires, and keep things merry and bright.
Find your spot, retrieve your Christmas treats, and go to town, knowing that this is just one of many, many Merry Christmases to come.
4 Bedrooms | 3 Bathrooms | 3 Reception Rooms
Offers Over £1,500,000
For Sale with Currans Unique, Chester