A traditional Suffolk longhouse has come up for sale near Framlingham priced at £975,000 - and prospective buyers can head to Instagram to get a glimpse of what it's really like to live there.
PR expert Sara Green and her husband, Allan, bought their Grade II listed property, Lampard Farm, around 15 years ago. While it wasn't a renovation project, and didn't need much structural work, they've still made it their own to create a lovely family home that they have shared with their four children.
“We haven’t done anything substantial to the property, but we’ve done a lot aesthetically,” says Sara. “With four children at home taking on building work would have been difficult. The main thing we have done is the refurbishment of the barn to create an extra living, entertaining and working space.”
The property enjoys a tranquil setting and is surrounded by farmland as well as over 1.3 acres of its own beautifully sheltered grounds, which include formal and kitchen gardens and a 40ft barn.
Along with the standard marketing, overseen by estate agent Jackson-Stops, Sara has set up her own Instagram account, @suffolkfarmhouse2022, to help with the sale. As her day job is PR and social media (as Sara Green PR), she says she’s fascinated by how social media can be used to help tell the stories of people’s homes.
“I desperately wanted there to be more lifestyle photos to show how we use the house,” she says. “It’s a thatched Suffolk longhouse and it’s pretty but it was quite difficult to photograph in the right way.
“I so wanted to show people how we make the most of the house and barn throughout the seasons and particularly how we use the gardens and outside space. The usual agent photography doesn’t often show the lifestyle aspects of a property.”
She hopes that by showcasing her property on Instagram, which has become the go-to platform for those who love interiors, design and homemaking, she can better highlight what living at Lampard Farm could really mean. “You flick through Instagram, don’t you, and go ‘oh, I wish I lived there’, but flicking through Rightmove doesn’t usually give the same experience.”
“The house is comprised of two parts,” Sara says. “Interestingly, the thatched wing of the house is a new addition – a sign on the northern elevation dates it as 1670.
“We have been told that the other part of the house, with a tiled roof, is older, possibly from the Tudor period, but a brick façade added much later, probably in Victorian times, disguises this.”
The kitchen is located at the centre of the property and features a large walk-in pantry with an original brick floor, which Sara says is one of her favourite spots in the house.
The kitchen is flanked on either side by a reception room; in one direction there is an atmospheric sitting room and a good-sized study, and at the other end the principal sitting room looks out over the countryside.
Set off the rear hall is a ground-floor bathroom, cloakroom and laundry room and five bedrooms are arranged on the two floors above. One of these has a small en suite shower room.
The huge barn is accessed from the main house by an enclosed area – which Sara says has allowed the family dogs to go between the two without disappearing. “The barn is really tall, 40ft long and a bit like a mini village hall,” she says. “It had been built to house a steam engine so it was an unusually large space.
“A few years ago we tidied it up, painted it and insulated it. It has a kitchen area with an island, dining space and a sitting area with cinema screen, and through French doors there is a terrace with seating and a chiminea – we love it.”
The barn has been particularly useful during lockdown, Sara says, and even now her children use it to work from home - but for new buyers it could offer even more potential, perhaps as holiday accommodation, a self-contained annex – if a bathroom was built on the side – or as a home office or base for a business.
Sara and her family have loved living at Lampard Farm but now that three out of four of her children have flown the nest, she says it’s time to move on.
“It has been such a lovely family home, so close to the centre of Framlingham yet surrounded by fields and wonderful walks and absolutely ideal for the school run," she says.
Lampard Farm near Framlingham is on the market for £975,000. Contact Jackson-Stops on 01473 218218 for more information or see more on Instagram at
@suffolkfarmhouse2022.
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