Live in simply splendid style in this mini Downton
IT’S only one more sleep until the next series of Downton Abbey and a legion of fans are excited at the prospect of joining the Earl of Grantham, Lady Mary et al as they enter the Jazz Age.
The plot is important, of course, but the success of Downton also lies in the fashions and the splendid house. While such a property is beyond the limit of most budgets, Thorpe Lodge offers a more manageable alternative.
This mini Downton boasts beautiful interiors and grounds thanks to its owners Juliet and Tommy Jowitt. The couple bought it in 1982, when it was in desperate need of modernisation.
“A friend told us that Thorpe Lodge was coming up for sale and we went round and made an offer. We’d visited the house and they are now part of the National Garden Scheme.
The grade two listed house dates back to the 1700s, though the main part was built in 1821 and it has a reception hall, drawing room, dining room, supper room,sitting room/ library, office, kitchen, sunroom/ breakfast room, laundry, two cloakrooms and a utility room. Upstairs, there are six bedrooms, five bathrooms and a dressing room to the master bedroom.
Outside, there is extensive garaging, storerooms and workshops, formal gardens, a walled garden, a series of ponds, an orchard and a swimming pool in 12 acres.
There is also a staff flat plus The Wood House, a self-contained north wing, with five bedrooms and two bathrooms.
The couple are selling to downsize.
“We have loved living here,” says Juliet.