Halecat

Overview

Halecat House is beautifully placed at the head of an ancient wooded valley with wonderful views over Arnside and Morecambe Bay.

As part of the Witherslack Estate at the southern end of the Lake District it's a very popular area for walkers and wildlife enthusiasts with glorious natural mixed broadleaf woodlands with many Sites of Special Scientific Interest.

The 750 acres of the 2000 acre estate are wooded, firewood has been cut and processed hereabouts since the Iron Age. The woodlands have now been brought back into profitable coppice production and they feed a biomass boiler which heats the house and surrounding buildings. 

The house was designed by Webster in the 1830s and the Stanley family have mostly resided there since that time. It was the home of Frederick Stanley, Governor General of Canada and 17th Earl of Derby. The beech lined driveway leads to the front of the grand house with its limestone porch facade. There is a grand wooden floored hallway with a magnificent staircase and bright glass atrium above. 

The formal gardens with their splendid terraces were meticulously designed by the late Fortune Stanley, who was heavily influenced by the garden of her girlhood at Ardtornish in Argyll. The gazebo, a listed building, is especially peaceful with beautiful stained glass detail and gleaming weather vane.