Property market
The ‘best of everything for man and beast’ in Buckinghamshire, Surrey and Sussex
IN the bad old days, a typical equestrian property was a scruffy bungalow with a couple of stables and five acres of land at the end of a muddy lane. Not any more, however. Equine aristocrats—be they showjumpers, eventers, dressage horses or polo ponies—can now expect to be housed in surroundings every bit as grand as the homes occupied by their owners.
Today’s Country Life sees the official launch onto the market of peerless Russell Farm near Wendover, Buckinghamshire, which offers the best of everything for man
and beast, at a guide price of £7 million through Savills Equestrian (020–7016 5715). The farm occupies an idyllic position between Wendover and Great Missenden within the Chiltern Hills AONB, surrounded by some 130 acres of immaculate gardens and lush paddocks.
During their 30-year tenure, the owners have consistently improved and maintained the impressive main house, which is unlisted and offers 5,178sq ft of elegant, light and airy living space on three floors, including a reception hall, three main reception rooms, a garden room, study, family room and a kitchen/breakfast room—the heart of the house with views over the rear courtyard. The first floor houses the master suite and four further en-suite bedrooms, with two more bedrooms on the second floor. A separate barn conversion provides a games room, gym, spiral wine cellar and kitchenette.
Equestrian facilities here are second to none, comprising a main yard with a light, well-ventilated, American-style barn with 25 Loddon boxes, a veterinary-inspection unit, a tack room and a staff office. Within
the main yard is a small indoor riding arena; a further three-stable unit is housed in an open-fronted courtyard building nearby.
Away from the main house and currently let is a second, self-contained yard, comprising a wooden stable block of 15 boxes, an outdoor riding arena and a Dutch barn, with access to a six-furlong, all-weather gallop running along the southern and western boundaries.
Selling agent Louise Harrison comments: ‘With an excellent network of bridleways and the main road network close by, Russell Farm is equally well-placed to offer superb off-road riding or, for the serious equestrian competitor, easy access to the major national competition venues.’
For sale through Knight Frank (01344 592800) at a guide price of £5.95m, everything about Burrow Hill Farm at Chobham, Surrey, is ‘top drawer—from the charming, 16th-century main house, set in almost 26 acres of gardens, grounds and paddocks, to the outstanding equestrian facilities, currently home to a team of high-goal polo ponies’, says selling agent Tom Shuttleworth.
According to its listing, timber-frame Burrow Hill Farm House, listed Grade II, stands on the site of a much older house and was extended in similar style in the early 20th century when it was occupied by members of the Tate family. It offers 4,381sq ft of accommodation, including three good reception rooms, a study and a kitchen/ breakfast room, with five bedrooms and three bathrooms on the first floor. Of particular note is the drawing room, referred to as ‘the barn’—said to be a 15th-century Sussex barn that was moved to its present location some time before the First World War.
A short walk from the house is a pretty, American-style stable block comprising
eight loose boxes, a rug-wash room, feed store, hay barn and tack room. Handily located close to the stables and the various paddocks is a sand-and-silica outdoor school.
‘You get more for your money in West Sussex,’ believes Toby Whittome of Jacksonstops (01444 484400), who are joint agents with Savills (020–7409 8809) in the sale of imposing Plummerden House near Lindfield—located three miles from the commuter hub of Haywards Heath—at a guide price of £4.775m.
Once part of the Paxhill estate, unlisted Plummerden House stands in 37 acres of gardens, paddocks and woodland, and boasts outstanding southerly views of the glorious South Downs. The substantial Victorian main house offers 9,668sq ft of living space on three floors, including three reception rooms, a study, kitchen/breakfast room and six bedroom suites, with a studio/ gym on the first floor and cinema/games room on the lower ground.
‘With seven beautiful stables, a sand school and extensive paddocks surrounded by quiet country lanes in all directions, Plummerden House is every young rider’s dream,’ adds Mr Whittome.
Former Australian eventer Robyn Whitehead and her husband, Bruce, started the search for their ideal equestrian property in Somerset on returning from Australia, to be close to Bruce’s parents, some five years ago. However, their compass soon switched to East Sussex when Bruce discovered its proximity to the wine cellars of Calais and a crumbling Arts-and-crafts house called Darwell Hill at Netherfield, near Battle, showed up on their radar.
Designed in 1926 by the architect Leslie Macdonald (Max) Gill for Harold Heal of Heals of London, Darwell Hill featured in an article in Country Life (March 3,
1928), which revealed that Mr Heal had been searching up and down Sussex, Kent and Surrey for a suitable site on which to build his dream country retreat.
The account continues: ‘It had to be a high site, with woodland all round, and at last he came to Darwell Hill. The house was built into the hillside, with its front windows looking across to the sea, Beachy Head on the left and the South Downs in the westward distance... Obviously, with this open view must come exposure to weather, and in carrying out the work, it has been very necessary to make everything stout and proof against wind and rain.’
Wind and rain had evidently taken their toll during the tenure of the previous owners, who had been there since 1970, although the site and the views were as captivating as ever. Having bought the property, the Whiteheads set about systematically remodelling and improving it, rebuilding the roof, installing new windows, heating and wiring throughout.
The house now offers five reception rooms, six bedrooms and two bathrooms. It stands amid enchanting gardens that include a walled garden, an old rose garden and a sunken garden partially screened by trees. Excellent equestrian facilities, with separate vehicular access, include a large Cheval Liberté American-style barn, a tack room and wash-down area, plus direct access to riding trails in Darwell Wood and beyond.
Darwell Hill is for sale through the Tunbridge Wells office of Knight Frank (01892 515035) at a guide price of £1.7m for the house, buildings and almost 12 acres of gardens and grounds. A further nine acres of paddocks, with a field shelter, are available by separate negotiation.