Low Elf Howe, Staveley, The Lake District, LA8 9JF

Low Elf Howe is a Lakeland gem embracing a modern rustic flavour – a former farmhouse with immense charm, plentiful character features, a fabulous contemporary extension, modern upgraded appointments… this is a house with strong soul and substance. Facing due west, it commands the most captivating views across and up the Kentmere Valley, a constantly changing delight which profoundly affects the interior of this extra special home. 

Welcome to Low Elf Howe, Kentmere Road, Staveley, LA8 9JP 

Low Elf Howe is a Lakeland gem embracing a modern rustic flavour – a former farmhouse with immense charm, plentiful character features, a fabulous contemporary extension, modern upgraded appointments… this is a house with strong soul and substance. Facing due west, it commands the most captivating views across and up the Kentmere Valley, a constantly changing delight which profoundly affects the interior of this extra special home.

Nestled above the river Kent as it runs down from the head of the valley, the location is quiet and peaceful. Ensconced in quintessential Lakeland gardens, the setting is exceptionally private whilst still retaining a wonderfully open vista. There are traditional cottage style gardens enveloping the house, a wild garden with orchard trees and an unexpectedly contemporary professionally landscaped garden.

A detached Lakeland stone barn offers excellent amenity value and versatile storage and is positioned to the east of the farmhouse and in doing so, creates an informal courtyard for ample parking. As well as the barn is a potting shed, workshop and garage. Enter the farmhouse through a traditional porch into a spacious reception hall, there is a fabulous wrap around living kitchen incorporating an architect-designed dining room extension and a traditional sitting room. Completing the picture on the ground floor is an inviting snug, a bedroom with ensuite shower room and loo, and off the kitchen, a garden vestibule leading to a cloakroom and the utility room. Rising to the first floor, the light and airy principal bedroom is an absolute stunner with dressing room and ensuite shower room. There are three further double bedrooms and a house bathroom.

Unparalleled, Low Elf Howe is a unique proposition – it has space and character, a wonderful garden, an excellent position providing breathtaking views and an accessible, rural location that is both private and tranquil whilst remaining handy for village shops and services, all in the heart of the National Park. 

Location
Tucked away on a small and elevated cul-de-sac where three properties privately sit in their own grounds, Low Elf Howe has the benefit of not being isolated without there being any compromise to privacy. 

The location is a joy if you enjoy ready access to the Lakeland fells as straight from the door are a myriad of lanes and footpaths for every age, ability, occasion and this being The Lake District, weather condition. 

Exceptionally convenient, and located a mile to the south, is the popular and thriving village of Staveley which has an active resident community and a host of local services including a Spar shop, doctor’s surgery and pharmacy, butcher’s shop, artisan bakery, Wheelbase, the UK’s largest cycle shop, and Staveley Chippy (famous for miles around). There’s a theatre (Staveley Roundhouse), primary school, children’s playground, football club and bowling green. With a central village hall, there is a thriving social scene with a calendar of events and lots of groups to join. Unique to the village is Staveley Mill Yard, a collection of businesses, both industrial and retail, which together have created a distinctive and vibrant working community with an excellent range of services, resources and facilities.

Beyond Staveley the whole of the unrivalled Lake District and the wealth of treasures it offers are at your disposal. Whether you are seeking a first or a second home, the National Park delivers a lifestyle that embraces the great outdoors and a wealth of cultural and social activities that would otherwise be rare in a rural setting. 

Step Inside
Although incorporating elements of the past, the interior looks like it firmly belongs in the present. The bold choice of exterior paint is matched inside where the skillful use of colour is warming, enlivening and brings depth to the interior. All the rooms on the west facing ‘rear’ elevation have the most wonderful views of the Kentmere Valley to provide an ever-changing backdrop on your day.

Adding definition, the stone flag floors, old oak and stripped pine doors, ceiling beams and oak paneling all capture the echoes of past life in this former farmhouse and are artfully married with the modern extension and appointments to bring comfort and convenience to everyday living. Bringing an artisan touch to the refurbishment, three new bespoke oak doors have been crafted and incorporate art deco glass panels, repurposed from a Belgian cinema. New oak has been used as part of a replacement section of the old oak staircase, the juxtaposition of old and new telling the ongoing story of the house’s history.

Follow us…through the scented clematis clad traditional Lakeland porch with slated bench seat and into the wide reception hall, here the flagged floor, ceiling beams and oak paneling set the tone for this period property. There are two useful cupboards for boots, coats and essentials.

The heart of the house is the open plan living area which incorporates defined areas to cook, eat and relax. When the owners bought the house it was two unconnected spaces, a kitchen and a sitting room. They told us “We could see how an extension built over the previous seating terrace in the crook of the sitting room and kitchen would connect the two spaces,, and create a lovely open plan living area”. It’s worked a treat; the spaces are both connected and yet cleverly retain a degree of separation; sociable and absolutely wonderful for family living and when you welcome friends over. The large corner window draws you forward to gaze at the undulating fells and unspoilt pastoral scene, no wonder the comfy chair positioned here is a sought-after spot. A glazed door in the dining area encourages spilling out onto the flagged seating terrace in warmer weather. A flagged floor connects the dining room and kitchen which has a practical elegance about it with clever design details. Bespoke oak cabinets are topped with slate or oak tops and were designed
and made by a cabinet maker who understands how much the owners love to cook and invite guests over to eat. Ever the country classic, an Aga is at the heart backed up with a comprehensive range of integral appliances and a useful central island unit. The final third of this elegant yet friendly space is the inviting sitting room, the full width of the far wall is fitted with oak bookcases, hunker down around the wood burning stove in colder months as you sit on the window seat and watch the wind and weather as it sweeps down the valley.

Off the kitchen and through the garden entrance vestibule a door leads outside. Off here is a cloakroom (always handy when spending time in the garden) and utility room with space for washing machine, tumble drier and a second fridge freezer.

Turn right off the central reception hall and you’re in the beamed snug, used by the owners as a study and TV room. It has a cosy feel with another wood burning stove, oak alcove cupboard, painted shutters and the stairs to the first floor. Through the snug and there is an inner lobby. Onwards to a bedroom suite with delightful garden and big sky views (wonderful for star gazing - there’s no light pollution here remember!) and a fitted desk with shelves and drawers. This room, with its own ensuite shower room and adjacent loo, works well for guests and could also accommodate a noisy teenager or simply provide future proofing. Both the bedroom and shower room have modern oak flooring.

Take the stairs to the beamed first floor landing, there’s an eclectic mix of old pine stripped doors, each one charmingly different.

The principal bedroom is an absolute treat – airy and spacious with windows front and back it gets the first and last of the day’s sun. The westerly view takes in the sedum roof of the dining room, the colours reflected in the Tuscan Red exterior paint of the farmhouse’s elevations. An entire wall is devoted to fitted bookcases and drawers, the ensuite is accessed through the walk-through dressing room which has floor to ceiling wardrobes and cupboards, the extra storage providing maximum practicality. An oak floor flows into the shower room where there is a three-piece suite and Travertine stone wall tiling.

The second bedroom is light and airy, with views over the valley, built in shelving and an easily accessible eaves storage space. Taking the total bedroom number to five, there are two double bedrooms looking out to the courtyard, both have window seats, one has a view of Brunt Knott through the trees, the other has a lovely big airing cupboard. The house bathroom has a double ended bath, perfect for a soak after a day conquering the fells, wash basin and loo. A shower is over the bath if time doesn’t permit leisurely bathing.

The house feels comfortable and inviting. Embracing both old and new, it’s a house for modern everyday life in the country. 

Step Outside 
Turn in off the lane through a gated entrance, an informal courtyard opens before you and provides plenty of room for parking. A Lakeland stone edged well sits under a hornbeam
tree and makes a lovely feature. There’s a garage, potting shed and workshop – a pale pink climbing rose adorns the front elevation.

The traditional detached barn is one big open space providing fantastic storage for logs, garden furniture and outdoor adventuring kit. Exceptionally versatile, it’s a potential ‘party barn’ and also makes a great indoor play area for children. A small section is internally subdivided with the creation of a storeroom which has separate external access. To the east of the barn is a contemporary garden, designed and planted by Abi and Tom from Halecat Nursery, laid out with steel edged beds. Year round interest is provided with ornamental grasses planted under a selection of apple and quince trees. An unusual oak bench, commissioned from Charlie Whinney, sits in the corner. Above the garden are fruit bushes (blackcurrant, redcurrant and raspberries) and rhubarb. A path leads round the far side of the barn, the border being planted with moonlight hydrangeas which magically “glow in the dusk”.

Gated from the parking area and so enclosed for children and dogs, the main garden wraps around the house to the west, technically the back of the house this is where the views are to be had. Utterly glorious – take a moment to soak it all in. 

A flagged path edged with stone setts leads round to the main seating terrace in the corner between the striking black wooden elevations of the extension and the Tuscan Red walls of the farmhouse. Round edged kerb stones, reclaimed from Staveley railway station, form the edging of the terrace, well placed, it’s a lovely spot for outside meals catching the afternoon and evening sunshine. The terrace continues around the front of the dining room with space for a further table and chairs – a lovely spot for evening drinks as you soak in the setting sun. Beyond the lawn and adjoining the open field is a second seating terrace which attracts earlier sun.

An absolute haven, this wonderfully private garden is traditionally Lakeland in its design and planting scheme, gently undulating lawns with borders packed with perennial and herbaceous cottage plants, interspersed with flowering shrubs; azaleas, rhododendrons and the like. Traditional wrought iron estate fencing forms the garden’s boundary with the field and enables open and uninterrupted views.

A gap in the wall and you’re through into the ‘wild’ garden, which is covered in snowdrops and daffodils in spring, followed by a range of wild flowers. This garden is low upkeep, it’s strimmed twice a year and a path winds around the fruit trees; there are four apple trees (a mix of cookers and eaters) and a damson tree, as well as fruit bushes (blackcurrants and raspberries), and raised beds planted with herbs. A wooden deck by the pond, and a strategically placed bench offer another couple of options for outdoor seating with completely different aspects to be enjoyed.

Services
Mains electricity and water. Oil fired central heating from a Grant boiler in the utility room, controllable remotely through the HIVE App. Underfloor heating in the kitchen, dining area, garden entrance vestibule and cloakroom. Drainage to a private septic tank located in the field to the front of the property.  

Renewables: There are 30 solar panels on the barn roof. Myenergi EV charging point. 

There is power, light and water to the barn and the integral store. The potting shed, workshop and garage all have power and light. The potting shed also has a water supply and hot water heater. Garden tap in the main garden. 

Broadband
Ultrafast speeds potentially available from Openreach of 1000 Mbps download and 220 Mbps when uploading. 

Mobile
Indoor: O2 and Vodaphone are reported as offering ‘limited’ Voice services, but no Data services. EE and Three do not offer any services.
Outdoor: O2 and Vodaphone are reported as offering ‘likely’ Voice and Data services. EE and Three are reported as offering ‘likely’ Voice services, but ‘limited’ Data services.
Broadband and mobile information provided by Ofcom.

Local Authority charges
Westmorland and Furness Council – Council Tax band G

Tenure
Freehold 

Included in the sale
Fitted carpets, curtains, curtain poles, blinds, light fittings and integral kitchen appliances as listed: oil fired Aga, Miele fridge and freezer, Gaggenau fan oven, hot plate and coffee maker, Bosch dishwasher. Also included are the freestanding appliances in the utility room comprising Bosch washing machine, Hotpoint tumble dryer and Kenwood fridge freezer. 

Please note
The section of the lane from Elf Howe to the turn into Low Elf Howe is owned by Low Elf Howe. Low Elf Howe has 24/7 access to the septic tank in the adjacent field via the lane which leads to Over Elf Howe. There is no cross charging for maintenance of the lanes.

Directions 

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Use Sat Nav LA8 9JF with reference to the directions below:

In the centre of Staveley, turn off Windermere Road/Main Street by the village hall, following signs for Kentmere. Proceed north, with the River Kent on your right. Shortly, the road bears round to the right, crossing the river and then left, continuing up the Kentmere valley at which point, take the first turn right, signposted cul-de-sac “Elfhowe”. The lane climbs, Low Elf Howe is on the right and instantly recognizable by its distinctive Tuscan Red painted elevations, but if at all in doubt there is a carved stone name sign set into the left hand side wall.