Up north, meander about to find a house (5)
I believe the answer is:
manor
'a house' is the definition.
(manor is a kind of house)
'up north meander about' is the wordplay.
'up' says the letters should be written backwards (in down clue: letters go upwards).
'north' becomes 'n' ('N' can be a synonym of 'north').
'meander' becomes 'roam' (I've seen this before).
'about' is an insertion indicator.
'n' placed inside 'roam' is 'ronam'.
'ronam' written backwards gives 'MANOR'.
'to find' is the link.
(Other definitions for manor that I've seen before include "patch" , "Large country house with lands" , "Land once belonging to a nobleman" , "lord's home" , "Lord's estate" .)