5 bedroom detached house for sale

Dating back to the 14th Century and having been adapted and extended over the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries the manor house has remained in a single family's hands since 1947 and comes to the market as a wonderful collection of historic main house, accompanying annex, ample garaging and storage and exceptional gardens. It is approached from Gallants Lane along a substantial gravel driveway, abutted by an original stone wall, which leads to a large parking courtyard area alongside a detached double garage.

The main house is an attractive part ragstone property with tile hung elevations with exposed timbers. The house sits in the heart of its land in a delightfully elevated position and is surrounded by beautiful gardens. The historic main entrance hall now opens out onto the garden and the day-to-day entrance comes in from the parking courtyard. A welcoming hallway, coat storage and guest WC lead through a dining room (with hatch to storage cellar) into the main hallway. On the north-east side of the house an open plan kitchen (with shaker style units together with an oil fired Aga) opens onto a light and bright conservatory/breakfast room with french doors out into the gardens. A large room, originally the manor's kitchen and now currently in use as a working study, sits to the north side of the kitchen alongside a utility room. To the south of the house, with floor to ceiling windows that open out onto the garden, is the manor's formal drawing room with wonderful volumes, dual-aspect views of the gardens and an open fireplace. Completing the ground floor ensemble is a further sitting room/snug with large fireplace, feature glass cabinets built into the stonework and east facing windows. With access underneath the mains stairs the manor has excellent cellar storage comprising of two separate storage areas.

On the first floor the staircase from the entrance hallway rises up onto a large, light and bright landing which links all the bedrooms and bathrooms. The master suite, with new en suite bathroom, enjoys south facing views (as well as a westerly view from the side windows) over the gardens whilst four additional double bedrooms, many with their own period features, currently share a family bathroom and WC.

Outside of the main house the annex is divided into two rooms with adjoining WC and with plumbing in place for kitchen/bathroom fittings should a new owner (subject to the appropriate permissions) wish to.

The gardens and grounds form a stunning backdrop to the house and the current owners have spent a lifetime transforming them into a garden for all seasons. There is a delightful mix of formal areas divided by mature beech hedging and formal lawns surrounded by a area of mature parkland with a vast array of Spring bulbs and specimen trees including flowering cherries, Prunus Padus, acers and Raywood ashes. To the rear of the garden is a spectacular water feature that was specifically designed for the garden linked to a series of specially constructed ponds. The remainder of the gardens are divided by banks of trees and mature shrubs. There is a paved terrace to the side of the house that continues to the garden room in one direction and behind the barn in the other and is ideally laid out for al fresco dining and entertaining. A hard standing tennis court, ideally set with a north/south configuration, is hidden behind hedging giving a perfect private location to play.

The house is situated in a delightful elevated position within the middle of its land. The house whilst surrounded by farmland and with the benefit of far reaching rural views is also very conveniently situated. Coxheath is 1.6 miles offering facilities for day to day needs. The county town of Maidstone is 3.7 miles away with a comprehensive range of shops and recreational facilities, together with mainline station serving London Victoria whilst the delightful market town of West Malling is 6.4 miles away with a mainline station to London Victoria (55 minutes). Staplehurst, whilst being slightly further away, then gives you the flexibility of trains into Charing Cross (1hr 4 mins)

There are numerous excellent schools in the area including Maidstone Grammar School for Boys, Maidstone Girls Grammar School, Invicta School for girls and Sutton Valence School and prep school.

The M20/M26 then link the area to the channel ports and the M25 with its airports at Gatwick and Heathrow together with London and the wider UK motorway network.