Former Stonemill restaurant searching for new owners

An historic Monmouthshire farmhouse with holiday cottages, a former award-winning restaurant and potential wedding venue is back on the market for £1.9 million.

The properties at Steppes Farm in Rockfield, near the Wye Valley National Landscape and iconic Rockfield Studios, include a Grade II listed farmhouse, six holiday cottages, a converted barn, and stone cart shed.

Dating back to the 17th century, the farmhouse has kept its original internal doors but has been added to over the years and now boasts a Georgian facade, 18th century staircase, and a modern ground-floor extension.

From the formal porch, the L-shaped farmhouse comprises a drawing room and sitting room with original stone fireplaces and floorboards, a slate-floor dining room, kitchen with oil-fired Aga and original bread oven, a utility room, linen room, and cloakroom.

The en-suite master bedroom was converted by the current owners from its original use as a granary store, along with two double bedrooms, one en-suite, and a single bedroom also on the first floor.

The second floor houses the final two ‘attic’ bedrooms built into the eaves, with exposed beams and dormer windows.

Outside, a paved courtyard and side garden provide a sun patio and pond, a vegetable patch, greenhouse and garden shed, as well as flower beds in the front garden.

Also included on the property is a cellar, which leads to a ‘prep-room’ for what was once the Stonemill restaurant.

Housed in the Steppes Farm barn, the restaurant was converted from a cider mill with the original stones still in place.

Though it closed its doors in September 2023 due to the impact of the cost of living crisis, in its fifteen years of operation the restaurant gained two AA Rosettes and was listed in the Michelin Guide.

The building maintains the necessary amenities for a commercial restaurant, including space for 66 covers, a full kitchen, fitted bar, and car parking for up to 30 vehicles.

A formal lawn opposite offers potential to be used as a wedding venue, with a bar, dance floor and space for 150 guests, as well as a marquee available by separate negotiation.

The six holiday cottages, Mole End, Wood Cottage, Owl Cottage, Oak Cottage, The Haywain, and Dovecote were also popular with diners and continue to host holidaymakers despite the restaurant’s closure.

Converted from an old barn and the farm’s dairy, they each have flagstone floors, exposed beams, and wood-burning stoves in stone fireplaces, adding a “quaint charm”.

Alongside the gravel parking area for guests is a stone cart barn and coach house that the agents have suggested could be converted into two additional holiday lets.