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Portraying rural life in the heart of the Suffolk countryside, John Constable’s The Hay Wain is considered by many to be the artist’s greatest depiction of the British landscape.

But what is now regarded as a national treasure had rather more inauspicious beginnings when it was first exhibited at the Royal Academy 200 years ago in 1821.

The painting initially failed to find a buyer and it was only when it was sold to an Anglo-French art dealer in 1824 that it began to attract attention. Showcased at the Paris Salon that same year it caused somewhat of a stir and was awarded the King Charles X Gold Medal for Art – propelling Constable and his work to a new level of fame.

According to the National Gallery, the painting even started life with a different name. Constable originally titled the work Landscape: Noon. It was his friend Archdeacon Fisher who nicknamed it The Hay Wain – referring to the wooden wagon used for transporting cut and dried meadow grass.

Central to the painting is the millpond at Flatford on the River Stour, now part of the Dedham Vale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and around a mile from Constable’s birthplace at East Bergholt.

And while much has changed in the intervening years since the work was created, the large skies that Constable regarded as the 'chief organ of sentiment' for landscape painting remain, so too Willy Lott’s cottage – now a visitor attraction managed by the National Trust

The timeless feel of the Dedham Vale, with its rolling countryside and quintessential English villages, ensures the area has an enduring appeal. Properties rarely come up for sale – particularly following the pandemic and buyers’ increased demand for larger homes with more space and access to the countryside.

But here are two examples of what you can expect from a home in what is affectionately known as Constable Country.