Parlour gains

JOHN Parkin was already familiar with Glenmoor Farm when it went up for sale in the mid-Nineties. Having lived in and around the picturesque village of Low Pittington for 30 years, he used to visit the farm on a daily basis to get fresh eggs and milk.

“There was a little honesty box in the dairy,”

he recalls. “You could take a bottle of milk from the crate and leave your empty one behind.”

Digging for change, he never imagined that 20 years later he would be in a position to buy the farm, let alone transform it into a luxury award-winning home for his family.

John was in the US when he heard the property had been put up for auction. Although he still owned a house in Low Pittington, he moved his family to Florida in 1989 where he became a well-known TV presenter, writing and presenting infomercials on American TV.

A few years later, after acquiring the farm, he took a two-year sabbatical and moved back with his wife, Pamela, and daughter, Ellie, to oversee its transformation.

Having got used to lots of space in the US, one of the things that appealed about the property was its size – it has eight bedrooms and six bathrooms – as well as extensive gardens and grounds where Ellie could keep horses.

For John, who admits he “couldn’t knock a nail into wood” at the start, it was a complete learning curve. “We were going to demolish some of the farm buildings and build a large house in the centre of the courtyard,” he says.

“Then one day we were standing in the cow byre and thought, why would we want to tear this down? So we went back to the drawing board.”

In the end, they had to knock all the buildings down anyway and rebuild from scratch using the original stone. It took almost twoand- a-half years to complete.

“It became a labour of love. There were so many details and I wanted to make sure the quality of the craftsmanship was right,” says John.

From milking parlour to kitchen

John wanted to keep as much of the character of the farm buildings and house, which dates back to the 19th century, as possible, so a lot of the doors are different sizes and had to be custom-made.

“I scoured the county trying to find stone lintels so it had the right look, and trying to find the right oak flooring wasn’t easy because I did not want American – I wanted European,” he says.

“It would have been so easy when we were doing the finishing to have got it done quicker and cheaper, but then it negates everything you’ve done since day one. It can become quite stressful, particularly when it’s not something you do as an occupation. You start to get tired and lose a bit of confidence and you can’t take your foot off the pedal or you drop your standards.”

Although it can be lived in as one big house, the property was designed so it could be split into two.

The east wing, known as The Byre, has four bedrooms, four reception rooms and under-floor heating throughout.

One of the bedrooms

THE drawing room which leads out onto the garden, has an impressive inglenook fireplace and original oak beam trusses. The kitchen – once the milking parlour – also has a vaulted ceiling and bespoke units, while the breakfast room, accessed through a stone arch, has views over the garden. Apart from the living room and dining room which are European oak, all the downstairs flooring is all made from Indian slate.

Among the key features is a wide wrought iron and oak bespoke spiral staircase and glass atrium in the entrance hall. Upstairs, on the first floor, there’s a mezzanine landing area, three bedrooms and a master suite, which has a tumbled marble tile en suite bathroom and walk-in wardrobe.

The west wing, known as The Farmhouse, is slightly different in design and has more of a country feel. It also has a sitting room, drawing room, dining room and family room on the ground floor, along with four bedrooms, including the master suite with a balcony overlooking the fields below.

With its own separate entrance, it is ideal for a family member who wants to be independent or could even be turned into a B&B or offices.

Having retained a lot of its character and original stonework, Glenmoor Farm has won awards for its architectural design, including the City of Durham Trust Architectural Award in 2000. With scenic walks and bridle paths on the doorstep, good transport links and access to Durham, it has the best of both worlds.

Although he has put the property on the market, John has no intention of leaving the area. “I love the village because it’s so close to Durham and on a clear day, you can see the cathedral. It’s idyllic,”

An iron and oak bespoke spiral staircase

he says. “When I drive into Durham City and see the castle and cathedral standing on the hill, I think why would I want to be anywhere else?”

• Glenmoor Farm, Low Pittington, Durham, is on the market at £1.1m with Urban Base. Tel: 0191-384-5399.