The long hall: three homes where you can make a grand entrance

Have you got your tree up yet? If so, where have you put it?
Broxholme, Ripley - £1m with Knight Frank, 01423 530088.Broxholme, Ripley - £1m with Knight Frank, 01423 530088.
Broxholme, Ripley - £1m with Knight Frank, 01423 530088.

The one at Downing Street stands outside the door of Number 10, and the Queen has three put up every year in Marble Hall at Buckingham Palace.

For most of us, though, the answer is the living room, not least because it’s one of the few places that has enough space.

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But larger houses – albeit smaller than the Queen’s – often put them in the entrance hall, where they help to give visitors an immediate and warm festive welcome.

McKinnell Lodge, Ripley Road, Knaresborough - £1.45m with Carter Jonas, 01423 523423.McKinnell Lodge, Ripley Road, Knaresborough - £1.45m with Carter Jonas, 01423 523423.
McKinnell Lodge, Ripley Road, Knaresborough - £1.45m with Carter Jonas, 01423 523423.

Large entrance halls are very much the preserve of bigger homes. Many a middling property has a large kitchen or living room, but only houses verging on the grand devote so much space to what is, essentially, a holding area for arrivals.

To illustrate the point, just look at the smallest homes on the market; many of them don’t have any kind of hall at all, and opening the front door often means exposing the living room to the elements.

By contrast, visit any of our great stately homes, and you’ll find entrance halls big enough to play a decent game of cricket in.

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That’s not to say that every large house has a big entrance hall – if you want one, you will have to look for it.

80 St Winifred?s Road, Harrogate - £850,000 with Linley & Simpson, 01423 540054.80 St Winifred?s Road, Harrogate - £850,000 with Linley & Simpson, 01423 540054.
80 St Winifred?s Road, Harrogate - £850,000 with Linley & Simpson, 01423 540054.

To save you the bother, we’ve found three homes currently for sale in our area that all have fantastic halls large enough for a Christmas tree. Just right for those who like to make a grand entrance.

McKinnell Lodge in Knaresborough has not one but two entrance halls. Off the main one at the front of the house are three reception rooms and a long breakfast kitchen. Off the adjoining family room is another entrance hall connecting the main house with the gym, laundry and pool room opening onto the terrace, where there is a large outdoor heated swimming pool and hot-tub area. Upstairs, the master bedroom has an en-suite bathroom and dressing room, and there are five other bedrooms, two more bathrooms and plenty of extra storage rooms.

Outside, there is a detached stone-built garage, parking for several cars, and a sizeable garden.

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Broxholme, which constitutes part of the original Dower House to Ripley Castle, also has two halls, if not three. The main entrance hall, with study leading off it, opens onto a large, double-height dining hall (pictured), complete with grand staircase sweeping up to the five bedrooms and three bathrooms. This in turn leads onto the rear hall, with breakfast kitchen, sitting room and stairs to the lower ground floor, where there are stores, a wine cellar and laundry/utility room.

The house is approached via a sweeping driveway, past an enclosed 3.2-acre paddock which belongs to Broxholme. There are also gardens, an enclosed private courtyard, and the use of six acres of communal shared woodland.

Finally, 80 St Winifred’s Road is a very spacious detached house in the Saints area of Harrogate, near the Stray, St Aidan’s and St John Fisher High Schools. It has four bedrooms, two bathrooms, and off its large entrance hall are two reception rooms, sun room, study and dining kitchen. There’s also an integral single garage, off-street parking and good-sized gardens to the front and back.