The historic Bradford House, near Stourbridge in Worcs, is a fabulous manor house with two additional abodes and plenty of scope for horses and general entertainment.
In a rural location but just 17 miles from the centre of Birmingham, the property is in between Kidderminster and Stourbridge, both 15min away. Both are large market towns, with railway stations. Kidderminster has origins in the Domesday Book. It is famous for its part in the cloth industry, and later carpets. Stourbridge is renowned for its glass production, made from the local clay.
For equestrian families, if you’re looking to join a branch of the Pony Club, the Albrighton Woodland Hunt and Worcestershire Hunt are most local, while for those seeking a Pony Club centre, you’re in the vicinity of Hole Farm Trekking Centre and Stourport Riding Centre. Hunting folk can sign up with the Albrighton Woodland, or the neighbouring Worcestershire.
For racing fans, there are four tracks – Stratford, Warwick, Wolverhampton and Cheltenham – within 50 minutes, so there is something for all tastes. And Birmingham’s NEC is on your doorstep, so you’ll be popular with your horsey friends come Horse of the Year Show week – and luckily there’s accommodation aplenty and fantastic entertaining space.
There are a handful of equestrian centres running shows and hiring out their facilities within an hour’s drive, including Moreton Morrell and Onley Grounds.
Need a vet? Field Equine Vets is just a five-minute drive away.
Bradford House is on the market for £4.5m with Knight Frank. Let’s take a tour…
For prospective equestrian buyers, the property is well organised and set up for equine use with 11 stables (six internal, five external) as well as tack rooms, grooms’ tea room, fenced and watered paddocks and a recently refurbished manège. The property is set in 32.5 acres.
There are 11 stables in total, divided between internal and external
The equestrian facilities include a recently refurbished manège
You arrive at the house through electric gates between stone pillars and down an impressive avenue of ancient beech, American red oak, lime, sweet chestnut and London plane. The main drive leads to a turning circle and parking area in front of the main entrance to the house.
As referred to in Pevsner Architectural Guides, Bradford House is an historic 17th-century manor house with 18th-century additions plus a magnificent drawing room extension designed by Robert Adam Architects. The house has retained its lovely period architectural features throughout, including tall ceilings with moulded cornicing over some flagstone floors. There is extensive oak panelling together with numerous open fireplaces and yet it is a practical family home that has been improved and extended by the current owners. It looks to be a wonderful house for everyday family living as well as being able to entertain on a large scale.
Grandeur and style: there is extensive wood panelling on the ground floor
The hallway is positioned centrally with an open fire to one side and wooden panelling on the walls. The drawing room is a two-part room being a music room at one end with the original flower room positioned off it (now a useful glass store/servery) with the main entertaining room having a large open fire at one end, curved glass French doors leading out into the gardens and an elliptical skylight that floods the room with light.
Ready for a party? The main entertaining room – with a music room at one end
Other rooms of note are the dining room, again with an open fire; the garden room is a large, light room and leads straight into the garden. The kitchen is L-shaped, a breakfast area at one end that flows immediately into the everyday family space — and again you can head straight outside from there. Just off the kitchen is the impressive and spacious sitting room. The house has other useful rooms such as the butlers’ pantry, rear hall with adjoining utility/boot room and the playroom that forms part of the home office suite.
Upstairs is equally impressive, with seven bedrooms and five bathrooms over the first and second floors. Of particular note are both the principal bedroom suite with its views of the gardens and ensuite bathroom as well as the main guest room being double aspect with views and lovely proportions. Bedrooms four and five also have large connecting bathrooms and the second-floor bedrooms share a good sized shower room.
This pretty bedroom is one of seven in the main house
And one of the five beautifully decorated bathrooms in the main house
Outside a former 18th-century coach house with later additions has been converted into a four-bedroom, two-bathroom house with two very spacious ground floor rooms being the living room and kitchen/dining room. Separate from this accommodation, at one end of the building, is a gym with a sauna, workshop, storage, tack room and a run of five stables along the rear of the building.
An 18th-century coach house converted into superb ancillary accommodation
The large gym, which is at the end of the Coach House
Behind the Coach House is a spacious additional cottage with three bedrooms and two bathrooms and a very large living room with adjacent kitchen, pantry and utility room. The cottage also has its own garage and garden at the rear which can be reached from the secondary drive.
More ancillary accommodation, with three bedrooms
The formal gardens are very beautiful being predominantly laid to lawn interspersed with stunning trees, gravel paths, a south facing terrace with part walled garden, an orchard, discreetly positioned tennis court and a large pond that is teeming with wildlife. Additionally there is greenhouse, chicken run, ample parking and the house sits beautifully within its well-maintained land and surrounded by rolling countryside.
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Martha is an experienced journalist who is mad-keen on horses and dogs. Her reporting CV includes the Paris Olympics, European championships, Aachen World Equestrian Festival and World Cup finals. After growing up with assorted liver and white springer spaniels, she enjoyed 14 years with two rescue dogs. Now, her constant companion is Fidget, an extremely energetic and habitually muddy black and white springer. Martha has written on topics as diverse as a top horse’s clone to the best GPS trackers for dogs, as well as equestrian and rural matters for Country Life, The Field, The Times, The Spectator and The Telegraph alongside Horse & Hound.