8 bedroom house

Magnificent Edwardian country house with Arts & Crafts influenced gardens located deep in Gertrude Jekyll and Edwin Lutyens country within the beautiful Surrey Hills.


Description

Situated in prime Surrey Countryside, Norney Wood is a magnificent Edwardian country house, understood to have been built in 1903, very much in the Arts and Crafts style, comparable to other properties designed by Charles Voysey and Edwin Lutyens, who are both famous for their country houses, particularly in Surrey, and designed around the turn of the century.

Norney Wood has been transformed by the current owners into an eco-friendly version of the original property, but with all the grace and refinement of a country house built in the 1900s. Throughout the property the neutral interiors create an elegant setting, including mouldings in the National Trust acorn pattern framing the high ceilings and tall, elegant picture windows allowing endless south facing views out to the gardens.

The property has been comprehensively and sympathetically refurbished and extended to a high standard, including separate accommodation. The grounds have been landscaped to provide a variety of parkland, formal and informal gardens.

This magnificent home has acquired eco-friendly status through the installation of ground and air source heating, complemented by solar panels, full insulation and underfloor heating to the entire ground and first floors. The modern double glazing enhances the property’s Edwardian character. The extensive Cat 5/6 cabling, Lutron lighting, Crestron, and iPad controlled audio-visual system, allows modern day families to feel comfortable at home in an elegant setting.

A domed, decorative entrance porch provides access into the spacious reception hall that features two ornate fireplaces, one operational and one decorative, and a grand sweeping staircase. Acting as the heart of the home, with direct access to the rear terrace and garden, the hall leads to a versatile selection of reception rooms which include an elegant drawing room, magnificent dining room and a comfortable TV room, and a study that enjoys a double aspect view out to the front of the property.

The family kitchen is fitted with bespoke hand painted cabinetry featuring a peninsular breakfast bar and island, and a range of built-in appliances. The kitchen, which is open plan to a family area, includes a walk-in cold room, pantry and leads to a utility/boot room and access to the side of the house, providing an informal and convenient everyday entry to the property.

The grand staircase arrives at a wonderfully generous landing with a seating area enjoying an elevated view of the gardens and Surrey Hills beyond. The principal bedroom takes up the sunny south west corner of the first floor with a dressing room and en suite bathroom complete with shower and steam room. The guest suite is equally well-arranged enjoying south facing views across the garden and tree top views beyond with a dressing room and en suite bathroom.

There are five further bedrooms across the first and second floor, four that are en suite. The vaulted room on the second floor provides a space for a studio, cinema room or an eighth bedroom. This area could also be developed into a studio flat by converting the neighbouring storeroom to a kitchenette and bathroom. Many of the bedrooms enjoy double aspect views of the surrounding gardens and all the bathrooms are well appointed. On the first floor there is a laundry room and a secondary staircase providing everyday access from the bedroom accommodation down to the kitchen.

The annexe ground floor is entered via a timber framed loggia with a vaulted ceiling. This provides an impressive setting for outdoor dining and entertaining. Within the ground floor of the annexe is a garden room or studio, a perfect home office, art studio, or addition to the reception rooms of the main house. There is also a kitchen and shower room.

A private entrance leads up to the first floor of the annexe where there is a generous self-contained flat. The accommodation here comprises a contemporary kitchen and open plan family area, utility room, a sitting room and two en suite double bedrooms.

Please see below in additional information for notes about the the gardens.

Location

Norney Wood is located within the picturesque village of Shackleford, a quiet rural location within the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding National Beauty. The sought-after village of Shackleford has a village shop, post office and public house.

The nearby attractive market towns of Farnham and Godalming offer a range of shops, restaurants, boutiques, coffee shops and supermarkets. A more extensive variety of shopping and recreational facilities are available in the nearby county town of Guildford.

There is excellent access via the A3, providing a direct route to London and Portsmouth and, via the M25, easy access to the airports and the national motorway network.

Rail communications are also excellent, with main line stations at Farnham, Milford, Godalming and Guildford offering fast and frequent services into London Waterloo (within an hour).

There are a number of highly regarded state and private schools in the area, including St Mary’s Infant School and Aldro School in Shackleford. Godalming College, Charterhouse, St. Hilary’s and Prior’s Field can be found in Godalming, and Rodborough in Milford. Edgeborough, Frensham Heights and More House Schools in Frensham, King Edwards and Barrow Hills in Witley, The Royal Grammar School, Lanesborough and Guildford High School in Guildford and Amesbury and The Royal School in Hindhead.

Sporting facilities nearby include The Surrey Sports Park in Guildford and David Lloyd in Farnham. There is a selection of stunning golf courses nearby which include Puttenham Golf Club, Hankley Common Golf Club, Hurtmore and West Surrey Golf Club in Godalming. There is racing at Goodwood, polo at Cowdray Park and sailing at both Chichester Harbour and nearby Frensham Pond.

This part of Surrey is renowned for its open countryside offering excellent walking and riding opportunities. Of particular note is Puttenham Common, where there are miles of walking, cycling and riding along a number of public foot and bridle paths directly accessible from the property, taking in wonderful Surrey countryside views. In addition, Hankley Common and Frensham Common, both owned by The National Trust, as well as Alice Holt Forest, are all close by to enjoy.

Square Footage: 13,380 sq ft




Acreage: 20.75 Acres


Additional Info

A gated gravel carriage driveway flows through a natural parkland frontage, with a schedule of lighting illuminating the trees after dusk and offers the property natural screening and privacy. The driveway continues through, opening up to reveal Norney Wood, bordered by established hydrangeas, wonderfully setting the scene for the property.

The long drive divides to give access to the entrance of the property. The driveway spurs to the left to give a service drive providing access to the large triple garage which includes an extended central bay.

The grounds have been completely transformed by the current owners, who have created a series of interconnected gardens that transition into the natural woodland while reflecting the heritage of the Edwardian house with English country garden style, influenced by Gertrude Jekyll.

To the west of the property is a courtyard garden providing an entrance to the formal gardens, featuring a waterfall and lily pool made of Bargate stone with elegant box hedging, edged with rhododendrons. This area links the front and rear gardens, bringing you round to a magnificent York stone terrace. This is a perfect setting for al fresco entertaining, with a view across an expansive level lawn, flanked by roses, lavender and the pleached lime walk on the right side. A pathway bordered by a yew hedge, frames the lawn and leads you to the Thunder House which offers a view of the Tranquillity Garden below. The Thunder House is a tribute to a structure of the same name, designed by Lutyens at Jekyll’s home at Munstead Wood in Surrey. The Tranquillity Garden, accessed by descending the wide steps from the main lawn, is a secluded formal garden with a rill and pond and simple stone and timber-framed loggia with open fireplace, offering a further sheltered space to escape to.

Further on, the garden returns to a natural woodland, with seasonal bulbs, where you will discover a tree house, vegetable garden, cutting garden and a pond with a deck providing a sanctuary to spend summer evenings, the pond is fed by the rainwater harvesting system and borehole and drains naturally if it overflows.

Surrounding the east Loggia is a courtyard that gives access to the renewed tennis court, which is cleverly masked from the house by a level change and a tall hedge. This courtyard and covered dining area provide a brilliant, additional area for outdoor living and entertaining.

There is planning permission to add an outdoor swimming pool that could be built between the tennis court and outdoor dining area. The storeroom beneath the annexe could house the pool equipment and the ground floor of the annexe would become the changing facilities and all would form a leisure complex, and furthermore would benefit from the low running costs of the property thanks to the arrangement of the renewable energy sources on offer.

Services
Mains power (3-Phase), supplemented by photo-voltaic solar panels, mains water, private drainage - modern sewage treatment plant (high specification / low maintenance)

Landline + Superfast broadband

Heating and Hot Water
Underfloor heating throughout the ground and first floors. Main House: Provided by a 9kW (37kW capacity) ground-source heat-pump (GSHP). Annexe: Provided by a 4kW (16kW capacity) air-source heat-pump (ASHP)

In the Garden
Irrigation system for the garden and pond captures rainwater from the house roofs in two large linked underground tanks automatically topped-up from a borehole as required.

Marketed by: Savills, Farnham