Can it be called a farm?

[Gettingthere]

Hi there

Our house in Devon was a farm until the 1960s and since then the name of the property (from the legal and post office point of view) has dropped the word "farm" and is now just "Hartwell"

I don't really want to go to the trouble of changing it back officially to "Hartwell Farm" (particularly as everything else in the area with "farm" in the title really is one!) but it would make a much better web domain name than hartwelldevon which I currently use.

If people rent a place with the word "farm" in its name, what do they expect? Is it OK to be an EX-farmhouse or would people want there to be chickens running round the yard?

Angus

[Moliere]

Hi Angus

I agree that calling it Hartwell Farm might be construed as misleading.

Why not call it "Hartwell Farmhouse", as some friends in Surrey have done, or alternatively invest in a few hens and a duckpond?

Moliere

[Richard D]

I'd expect a real farmstay if the word 'farm' was in the title.

We brought an actual farm here in France and I restored the chook pens and keep about 20 chooks so guests can collect their own eggs etc. but I still describe the property as a "former farm".

I think you'd need to demonstrate that at leas part of your income is derived from livestock or agriculture before putting "farm" back into the title; but perhaps others would disagree ?

[A-two]

Hi Angus,
I agree with Mols, you can call it a Farmhouse, which is a word that would accurately describe it's original purpose, and the current style of house, assuming it retains many original features. This assumes you are still located next to or near to working farmland and that generally it is located in an area which has a "country" feel to it. I think you'll find the word farmhouse is very appealing, so I would definitely recommend keeping it.

P.S. I don't agree with Richard that you can only use the word farm if you are running an agricultural business from the rental house - you are describing style of house, not operation. It's also important to remember that farms generally can be noisy and smelly and involve things like crop spraying, early morning roosters, tractors etc.,Therefore if your former farmhouse is still surrounded by a working farmland, it helps attract the kind of people who will find it all very appealing, and not complain. That's our experience and we are surrounded by farms here, where "farmhouse" is routinely used to describe any house which has a history of being a farmhouse. So it seems entirely appropriate to me.

My 2 cents.

[Giddy Goat]

Agree. Our house is in France, and I advertise it as a restored farmhouse. No-one has ever commented that this description was misleading. "Restored" perhaps suggests that it was formerly a farmhouse and in some of our ads I do say that (also on our website) but not on all.