Long-range views: three properties with stunning panoramic outlooks

If, as the artist David Hockney once said, “enjoyment of the landscape is a thrill”, then most houses don’t, in truth, offer much in the way of thrills
Sunnyside Far, Moorhouses, Bewerley - £625,000 with Dacre, Son & Hartley, 01423 711010.Sunnyside Far, Moorhouses, Bewerley - £625,000 with Dacre, Son & Hartley, 01423 711010.
Sunnyside Far, Moorhouses, Bewerley - £625,000 with Dacre, Son & Hartley, 01423 711010.

Overlooking roads, shops and, more often than not, other houses, they offer no grander view than the one on their TV screen.

Other properties, though, are positively rollercoasters of enjoyment by comparison, looking out onto rivers, hills, lakes, mountains or the sea, providing the owner with a 3D, full-colour panorama – which changes slowly, but grippingly.

The Mount, Church Street, Topcliffe - £POA with Beadnall Copley, 01765 698100.The Mount, Church Street, Topcliffe - £POA with Beadnall Copley, 01765 698100.
The Mount, Church Street, Topcliffe - £POA with Beadnall Copley, 01765 698100.
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Such is the allure of a good view that the world’s most expensive properties all tend to have at least one.

For example, one of the main selling points of the most expensive property ever sold in the UK – the two-storey B.10.01 penthouse at One Hyde Park – was its fabulous views over Hyde Park and Knightsbridge.

(That said, it was sold for £160m by developer and owner Nick Candy to an offshore company controlled by himself in a remortgaging transaction, so he evidently didn’t need any convincing.)

Our area is incredibly rich in properties with great views, due to its wealth of stunning scenery. The following three properties have some of the finest outlooks currently available locally.

High Bents Cottage, Fewston - £1.125m with Carter Jonas, 01423 523423.High Bents Cottage, Fewston - £1.125m with Carter Jonas, 01423 523423.
High Bents Cottage, Fewston - £1.125m with Carter Jonas, 01423 523423.
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On the eastern flank of Greenhow Hill, high above Pateley Bridge and Bewerley, Sunnyside Farm is a stone-built farmhouse with stunning views across Nidderdale.

It has four bedrooms, two bathrooms, kitchen and two reception rooms, with plenty of beams, stone floors and fireplaces. The house has been substantially extended to provide a utility room, barn, six stables and a workshop.

Outside, there is a garden, driveway with access to the grazing land and parking for cars and horse transport, plus a manège and 19.4 acres of grazing land spliced by becks feeding the River Nidd.

Twenty miles to the north-east, on one of the main streets in Topcliffe, The Mount is an imposing double-fronted Grade II-listed Georgian family home, built in the late 18th century. It has eight bedrooms, two bathrooms, a reception hall, spacious dining kitchen, three reception rooms, utility room and cloakroom.

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Outside, there is a separate, stone-built garage/workshop, with parking on the cobbled frontage. Situated at the top of the steep river bank (the ‘cliff’ of the village’s name), the house has a stunning view of the River Swale. Between the house and river below are the gardens, which have a terrace, fruit trees, vegetable plot, lawns and potting shed. It also has fishing rights on around 60 yards of the river bank.

Finally, back in the hills to the west, High Bents Cottage is a large detached property on the hills above the the Washburn Valley. It is believed to date back to the 18th century, it was converted into one of the valley’s ‘prestige’ properties in 1990. It has six bedrooms, two bathrooms, reception hall, three reception rooms, spacious living kitchen, utility room, study and cellar.

Outside, there’s a range of stone outbuildings, plenty of space for parking, and planning permission has been granted to build a double garage. The gardens include lawns, an orchard and a children’s play area.