Kent Messenger Maidstone

Millions knocked off mansion price

- By Alan Smith ajsmith@thekmgroup.co.uk

Agents have knocked £3.5 million off the price of a grand Georgian mansion and its extensive estate.

Linton Park is in a prominent position on a hill overlookin­g the Weald and can be seen by motorists using the A229 from Staplehurs­t to Maidstone. It first went on the market in May last year with a price tag of £32m.

That included 440 acres, a set of farm buildings let on commercial leases, a cricket pitch, 14 other properties, and a separate plot known as Ranters Land, comprising 89.4 acres of arable land along with six acres of woodland.

The price now being asked is £28.5m.

Alternativ­ely, you can buy just the mansion and its immediate 20 acres of parkland for a mere £12m.

For that you get the Grade Ilisted house, with its six reception rooms and 12 bedrooms. It is reached via an avenue of lime trees ending in a turning area around a lavender-fringed

island. The house was designed by Robert Mann around 1730 and was later extended for the fifth Earl Cornwallis by Thomas and William Cubitt in 1825.

They added a third storey to the original building and constructe­d two-storey wings on each side.

The north entrance is at ground level, but as the house is built into the slope, this is effectivel­y first-floor level along the southern front.

The garden floor below has large windows opening onto the southern terrace.

The current owners have carried out extensive renovation­s throughout.

The house comprises an entrance hall, east and west ante rooms, a salon, dining room, morning room, and breakfast room.

There are eight bedrooms on the first floor and a further four on the second.

A wide central passageway gives access to a large summer room, commercial kitchen, garden room, estate office and vaulted room.

Along the northern front the rooms include a billiard room, cloakrooms, staff room, lift lobby, various store rooms and a substantia­l boiler room with oil-fired boilers.

A back door at the end of the garden floor gives access to a hidden parking area accessed by a spur from the main drive, which has three electric carchargin­g units.

From the basement, stairs lead down to a small cellar with wine bins around the walls and a separate small store room. Outside, the gardens themselves are Grade II* listed and extend to 20 acres.

It is on sale through Strutt and Parker.

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 ?? ?? The south view of Linton Park, which is now on the market at the reduced price of £28.5m
The south view of Linton Park, which is now on the market at the reduced price of £28.5m
 ?? ?? Inside the listed mansion, which has six reception rooms and 12 bedrooms
Inside the listed mansion, which has six reception rooms and 12 bedrooms
 ?? ?? The grand main staircase
The grand main staircase

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