Flass

Flass remained in the hands of the Dent family until Sir Robert Dent and Lady Elspeth Dent sold it to the historian Frank Welsh for £17,000 in 1973. Welsh attempted to furnish the house in its original style, Flass was purchased from Welsh in 1982 for £115,000 by the retired solicitor Malcolm Whiteside, who ran the property as a care home with his wife, Mary. It was sold in 2000 to the musician Christine Holmes and her husband Paul Davies for £490,000. The couple subsequently divorced, with Davies retaining control of Flass. In the early 2010s, it was available to purchase or rent as "totally private and hidden away, with an unmatched seclusion and charm". Neighbours became suspicious…

Flass is set in a 15-acre estate in the Eden Valley, near the village of Maulds Meaburn. It is built in limestone that is partly rendered, and all is whitewashed; the roofs are slated. The house has an asymmetrical plan, and is in two storeys with attics. There is a string course between the storeys. The west (garden) front of the main part of the house is symmetrical, and in four bays. The lower storeys of the outer bays project forward, have flat roofs, and contain a three-light window on the front and French windows on the sides. Above each of the projecting bays is another three-light window, over which is a cornice and a small Diocletian window in a pedimented gable, this giving the…