LIKE a well-trained gundog emerging from water, the country-house market shook itself down in late summer and early autumn before getting back to business and ending the year in a flurry of high-profile sales. Overseas buyers, returning expats and buyers looking to work either full- or part-time from the countryside all played a role in maintaining the market for landmark properties in 2022.
The cathedral city of Guildford and its surrounding towns and villages within the Surrey Hills AONB have long been an early port of call for London buyers in search of a country retreat. After a month of hectic trading that saw every house sold in Guildford fetch more than the asking price, Tim Harriss of Knight Frank launched idyllic, Grade II-listed The Old Rectory at Hascombe, eight miles from Guildford, onto the market on March 29, with a guide price of £8.5 million. The elegant Georgian house, set in 20 acres of gardens, paddocks and woodland in the heart of the AONB, was sold by mid May to an English family looking to trade up in
