Dutch buyers for five-star Lake District guesthouse

The five-star Hazel Bank Country House guesthouse in the Lake District valley of Borrowdale has been sold to Rob Van Der Palen and Anton Renac from Ooij in the Netherlands.

The property was built in the 1840s and formed the setting for The Herries Chronicles series by novelist Sir Hugh Walpole, who chose it as the birthplace of his heroine Judith Paris.

The property occupies 4.5 acres of landscaped grounds above Rosthwaite village with a backdrop of Lakeland fells.

It provides eight en-suite bedrooms to sleep 16 guests, a sitting room, a bar and dining room normally set for 16, and a detached, double-bedroom self-catering cottage.

There is also a double-bedroom suite for the owners and two bedrooms for use by staff. .

The property, which trades for an average 225 days a year, returned a trading profit of £70,548 in the year to 31 March 2007.

The Manchester office of Colliers Robert Barry sold the freehold of an asking price of £1.25m on behalf of Glen and Brenda Davies, who are retiring.

By Angela Frewin