Imposing, £3m wedding venue now awaits new happy couple

FILLONGLEY Hall in Warwickshire isn’t just a nine-bedroom, grade II listed, 6600 sq ft country residence in 32 acres of grounds.

The family home of the McCullagh family since 2010, it also has a studio apartment and two-bedroom annexe.

Currently marketed as a wedding venue, the home, which is close to the pretty village of Fillongley, is now on the market for £3 million - one of the most expensive properties on sale in the county.

The neo-classical house was built in 1820 for the 1st Lord Norton and it was followed with an extension 20 years later and the addition of the grand entrance with its two Ionic columns, the hall, library and long driveway.

The house, which stayed in the Norton family until 2006, is grand and imposing from the outside and elegant inside, with high ceilings, ornate cornicing, picture rails and embellished stone fireplaces.

From the reception hallway there is a large drawing-room and a formal dining room opposite, both with ornate cornicing, feature fireplaces, wood floor and large sash windows.

At the end of the long hallway is a glazed, leaded panel doorway decorated with a coat of arms style design with the motto “Respice finem” (“consider the end”). This leads to the large breakfast kitchen.

The kitchen has lots of fitted white cupboards, black work surfaces, a central island with sink, plus a large Belfast sink by the window, integrated oven and a large AGA fitted into a central island that separates the main kitchen from the informal dining area.

Just off the kitchen is a utility and there is a separate laundry room, pantry, boot room, boiler room and store.

At the rear of the house is another reception room, with wood-burning stove and a bay window with views over the garden. From here, there are stairs to the cellar. A grand staircase from the hallway leads to the first and second floors. On the first floor are six bedrooms – four of which are en suite – and two family bathrooms and a library area.

On the second floor there are three further bedrooms and a bathroom. As well as the main house, this sale comes with additional accommodation – a studio apartment on the floor above the garage and a two-bedroom annexe.

The double garage has a side access into an entrance hall that has stairs to the studio, which comprises a large living room / bedroom and adjoining shower room, plus small kitchen.

The ground floor of the annexe has a sitting/dining room, a study and kitchen, plus a cloakroom, while upstairs there is an en suite bedroom and a second bedroom/office space.

The 32 acres of gardens and grounds are described as “beautifully maintained” and include a collection of specimen and traditional trees. There are areas of woodland, a natural pond and brook, lawns, hidden garden spaces, and vegetable garden and orchard.

Directly outside the hall is a large paved terrace with a sunny south-westerly aspect. If walking around the grounds isn’t enough exercise, there is a floodlit tennis court and a level lawn that could be used for badminton, croquet or bowls.

Fillongley Hall also comes with a twostorey timber summer house and workshop with power, lighting and built-in audio system.

The marketing agents say a solar array produces about £3,000 fees in tariffs and reduces the cost of electricity to the main house.