Picture yourself standing in a stone-framed farmhouse kitchen on a crisp autumn morning, watching mist rise from the River Skirfare as it meanders through your own meadow, steam curling from your coffee cup while the Rangemaster warms the room. This is the daily reality awaiting you at Ellershaw Farm, a working farmhouse built in 1994 with traditional Yorkshire stone under a York stone roof, nestled in the heart of Halton Gill within the Yorkshire Dales National Park. This is more than a vacation home—it's a gateway to a completely different way of life, where 42 acres of grassland become your private estate and each season brings new adventures across some of England's most protected countryside.
Ellershaw Farm delivers the rare combination international buyers seek: a spacious main residence providing comfortable family accommodation, an income-generating holiday cottage already producing approximately £10,000 annually through Yorkshire Cottages, and extensive land offering everything from equestrian possibilities to trout fishing along your own stretch of the River Skirfare. The property sits in Halton Gill, a peaceful hamlet where dry stone walls divide emerald fields, sheep graze on hillsides that have remained unchanged for centuries, and the nearest traffic jam involves tractors during lambing season. This is authentic rural England, just 45 minutes from the market town of Skipton with its medieval castle, canal-side cafés, and twice-weekly markets.
Entering through the practical utility room—essential for managing muddy boots after moorland walks—you immediately understand how this farmhouse has been designed for real country living. The large farmhouse kitchen serves as the home's natural gathering point, with dual-aspect mullioned windows flooding the space with northern light and framing views across rolling pastures. The room comfortably accommodates a large dining table where you can host Sunday roasts using locally reared lamb from Skipton farmers' market, while the Rangemaster cooker with gas hob provides the cooking power serious home cooks appreciate. Integrated appliances including dishwasher and fridge freezer ensure modern convenience within traditional aesthetics.
The main reception hall provides thoughtful circulation, offering access to front and rear porches that become essential when welcoming guests arriving from country walks. The family living room spans generous proportions with dual-aspect windows and a gas stove set within a stone fireplace surround, creating the cozy atmosphere that defines Yorkshire Dales evenings. The second sitting room, featuring a multi-fuel stove, adapts to your changing needs—formal dining room for holiday gatherings, playroom for grandchildren visiting during school holidays, or quiet study where you can manage your property while overlooking the landscape that inspired the Brontë sisters just valleys away.
Upstairs, four bedrooms provide flexible accommodation for extended family or guests. The principal bedroom includes an ensuite shower room with WC and basin, offering privacy and convenience, while three additional double bedrooms and one single room ensure everyone has space. Each bedroom frames different aspects of the surrounding landscape—watch sunrise over Pen-y-ghent from one window, sunset illuminating Fountains Fell from another. The landing includes a useful airing cupboard with shelving, a practical detail that matters during damp Yorkshire winters.
The attached one-bedroom cottage represents both lifestyle flexibility and financial pragmatism. Currently generating steady income through Yorkshire Cottages, this self-contained unit features independent access, an open-plan living area with rear kitchen fitted with traditional painted units and Belfast-style sink, and an upstairs double bedroom with built-in storage and fully tiled ensuite bathroom. Continue the existing holiday let arrangement to offset running costs, accommodate extended family seeking independence, or create a home office separate from family life. Many international owners of Yorkshire Dales properties use such cottages for caretakers who maintain the property between visits.
The external facilities demonstrate this property's versatility. An attached garage provides storage and houses the central heating system, the tarmac yard offers extensive parking for multiple vehicles, and the stable with borehole treatment room opens possibilities for keeping horses or converting to workshop space. A five-bar gate connects the yard directly to your fields, eliminating the need to trailer animals or equipment.
Those 42 acres transform this from a simple vacation home into a genuine rural estate. The land extends up the dale as rough grazing, accessed by a private track, while across the road lies a particularly attractive parcel where a stream meanders toward the River Skirfare. Fishing rights accompany this section, allowing you to cast for brown trout in waters that have sustained local anglers for generations. The land classification as Grade 4 and 5 under the Agricultural Land Classification makes it suitable for sheep grazing, while the existing Higher Level Stewardship agreement running until 2028 provides environmental management guidelines and potential income streams. Whether you envision keeping a small flock, establishing a wildflower meadow, or simply maintaining the land as private walking grounds, these acres offer remarkable freedom.
Halton Gill itself epitomizes the Yorkshire Dales experience. This tranquil hamlet contains just a handful of properties, connected by narrow lanes where you're more likely to encounter hikers than cars. The surrounding National Park provides endless outdoor recreation: follow the Pennine Bridleway across moorland plateaus, tackle the Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge starting from nearby Horton-in-Ribblesdale, or explore gentler riverside walks along the Skirfare. Winter brings opportunities for wild swimming in the River Wharfe's deep pools, while summer transforms the dales into cycling paradise with routes ranging from family-friendly to Tour de France-challenging gradients.
The location balances isolation with accessibility. Skipton lies approximately 30 minutes south, offering supermarket shopping, independent boutiques along its cobbled high street, and restaurants serving everything from traditional Yorkshire pudding wraps to contemporary British cuisine using Dales-reared ingredients. The Leeds Bradford Airport sits 45 minutes away, providing connections to European cities and making weekend visits feasible for owners based abroad. Manchester Airport, offering wider international routes, is reachable within 90 minutes.
Throughout the year, the Dales reveal different personalities. Spring brings lambing season when fields fill with newborns, early wildflowers carpet the verges, and daylight stretches into long evenings. Summer transforms the landscape into walking heaven, with the Malham Safari bringing classic cars through surrounding villages and agricultural shows celebrating traditional farming. Autumn paints the bracken copper and gold, grouse shooting begins on the moors, and local pubs fire up their log burners for hearty meals. Winter can bring dramatic snowfall transforming the dales into a monochrome masterpiece, though the stone farmhouse construction and modern heating ensure year-round comfort.
Key features include: Four bedrooms in main house plus ensuite principal bedroom | Separate one-bedroom holiday cottage generating £10,000 annual income | Approximately 42 acres of grassland with fishing rights | Large farmhouse kitchen with Rangemaster cooker and dual-aspect windows | Two reception rooms with wood-burning stoves | Attached garage and extensive parking | Stable and outbuilding facilities | Traditional stone construction under York stone roof | Higher Level Stewardship agreement until 2028 | Located within Yorkshire Dales National Park | 30 minutes to Skipton market town | 45 minutes to Leeds Bradford Airport | Private access track to upper land | Stream and River Skirfare frontage | Enclosed by traditional dry stone walls
For international buyers, this property offers practical advantages beyond its obvious lifestyle appeal. The agricultural occupancy condition means pricing remains more accessible than unrestricted rural properties, while still permitting ownership by anyone whose principal income derives from agriculture or forestry—a definition that encompasses everything from keeping sheep to establishing a smallholding or equestrian facility. The existing holiday cottage income helps justify the investment while offsetting maintenance costs between your visits. Properties of this type in the Yorkshire Dales National Park rarely become available, as families tend to hold them across generations.
Consider how ownership patterns might evolve: establish the property as your British base for extended summer stays, let the cottage year-round while using the main house during peak holiday periods, gradually transition toward permanent occupancy as you fall deeper in love with Dales life, or create a multi-generational retreat where children and grandchildren gather for walking holidays, fishing expeditions, and celebrations far from urban pressures. The space and land accommodate all these scenarios.
Ellershaw Farm represents something increasingly rare: authentic rural property offering genuine versatility, established income streams, and extensive private land within one of England's most protected and celebrated landscapes. This isn't a sanitized country house playing at rural life—it's a real farmhouse where stone walls are two feet thick, where you'll learn to recognize individual sheep, where seasons dictate rhythms more than calendars. Contact Homestra today to arrange a viewing and discover whether this Yorkshire Dales farmhouse with holiday cottage and 42 acres might become your English country escape, investment property, or eventually, your primary home.
