Since owners Angharad and Chris purchased Haverbrack Country House in 2018, they’ve renovated it painstakingly using traditional Lakeland practices, local builders and highly skilled craftspeople, to transform it from dilapidated Georgian and Victorian wreck into a stunning retreat, with bespoke interiors and immaculate grounds with panoramic views.
Story of the House
Haverbrack means hill or slope where oats grow and reference to the hamlet and area can be dated back to the Norman Conquest.
Built in 1683, Haverbrack was originally a cottage before being extended in Georgian times with the addition of a sitting room and the billiard room and then the library was added in Victorian times.
Originally owned by the Dallam Estate, it’s had many tenants including Samuel Kay, a solicitor from Manchester, who acted for the Dallam Estate and used the house as a holiday residence and Laurence Hanson, agent for the estate, who collected rent monies at the back of the house, now part of the Ullswater Suite. The last tenant was R.A. Somervell, Director of K Shoes in Kendal, who lived at Haverbrack until 1976. It was then sold by the Dallam Estate to Basil Reckitt, great grandson of Isaac Reckitt, founder of Reckitt and Sons, a leading manufacturer of household products. The Reckitts lived at Haverbrack until 2018.
Story of the Gardens
Little is known about the garden and who created it but the croquet lawn was once a tennis court and there are references in the Lancaster Guardian newspaper to the orchards in the garden and fruit trees along the stone wall to the front of the property.
There are also references to the house being marketed as a summer residence in Victorian times for people from the cities to rent and enjoy walking down to Arnside and using Victorian bathing machines to bathe in the sea.
The fields to the side of Haverbrack are part of the local farm and known as High Croft and Little Croft and beyond them is Haverbrack Lake, excavated from a bog by the Dallam Estate in the 1970s and used as duck decoy.
Vision for the House
The current owners wanted to restore the house to its original glory and managed to preserve many of the period features including the original floors, window shutters, servants bells and grand fireplaces.
The house has now been transformed into a stunning Lake District property, with luxurious interiors and immaculate grounds for all to enjoy.
Explore the local area
There’s plenty to see just a stones throw from Haverbrack Country House.
