With global uncertainty still clouding the outlook for the country house market in 2025, leading agents expect demand to remain strongest in established local hotspots. That said, good houses in spectacular settings will continue to find buyers, whatever their location — and that leads us to the sale of Sandridge Park, which is on the market with Knight Frank for £6 million.
This imposing house is set in some 27 acres of gardens, parkland and woodland, 2½ miles from Melksham, a Wiltshire town just south of Chippenham, and an easy drive to the east from Bath.
The pristine 12,389sq ft Georgian-style house, which is unlisted, was built on Sandridge Hill between 1858 and 1860 by Ralph Ludlow Lopes, a successful barrister who was the High Sheriff of Wiltshire in 1869. According to British History Online, Lopes’s grand new house replaced Lord Audley’s Sandridge Hill House, which previously stood on the site.
In the mid 1970s, the Lopes family decided to sell Sandridge Park, which stands in a sheltered south-facing spot on high ground with views towards the Vale of Pewsey, Salisbury Plain and the Mendip Hills. It was bought by Andrew Hoogeweegen, a former managing director of Heineken UK, who established the property as a venue for weddings, private parties and conferences.
In 2019, Sandridge Park was acquired by the present vendor, who embarked on an extensive refurbishment that included the addition of a new porch and entrance hall and saw Sandridge Park revert to its original status as a grand family home. And 'grand' really is the word: the furnishings, fittings and finish are all impeccable; this is a sort of Georgian fantasy mansion made real.
Immaculately presented throughout, the main house offers no fewer than seven impressive ground-floor reception rooms — reception hall, entrance hall, drawing room, dining room, library, sitting room and study — plus a vast bespoke kitchen and various utilities.
The first floor houses a luxurious principal bedroom suite and seven further double bedrooms, with bathrooms or shower rooms en suite.
Two further bright and spacious double bedrooms, both equipped with en-suite shower rooms, are located on the second floor. With fast-moving modern living in mind, the house has been re-wired with cat 6 cabling to each room run by a 50+ port matrix system. We're not even going to pretend to know what that means, but it's probably a really good thing, or the agents wouldn't have mentioned it.
Excellent secondary accommodation includes The Apartment, a two-bedroom annexe, and The Lodge, a self-contained, two-bedroom cottage.
Outbuildings include a workshop, gym and stores, and a new, four-bay garage with electric sectional doors, each bay pre-wired with charging stations for electric vehicles.
Sandridge Park is for sale at £6 million — see more details and pictures.
'An inspirational renaissance': The house and gardens of Sandridge Park
A historic house has been saved from ruin by sympathetic owners, who have mixed modern planting with tradition to create
Credit: Strutt and Parker
Best country houses for sale this week
An irresistible West Country cottage and a magnificent Cumbrian country house make our pick of the finest country houses for
-
A remarkable $100 million numismatic collection reappears after being buried for more than 50 yearsA collector hid his treasure from the Nazis, his widow kept it secret for decades, but now Roman aurei, Greek staters and British pounds so rare that some have never been sold at public auction have resurfaced and will go under the hammer.
-
The Hollywood legend with an even more famous daughter: Country Life Quiz of the DayFrom buns to bubbly in Wednesday's Quiz of the Day.
-
A £1.5 million flat on the street where wig and pen once metIt doesn't get more central London than Fleet Street.
-
A spectacular coastal estate in Dorset set on its own private peninsulaThis 160-acre estate is part nature reserve and part country home, with a beautiful Arts-and-Crafts home at its heart.
-
A converted bothy on the shores of Loch Tay from which to enjoy the fresh tastes of SpringWaterfall Cottage offers four bedrooms and a garden that stretches right down to the lapping waters.
-
An idyllic home in Hampshire that's perfect for the musical mindLyewood House sits in 3.5 acres and comes with a purpose built recording studio and an outdoor heated pool.
-
A well-connected rural playground with 23 acres on the edge of the South Downs National ParkOld House Farm is an impressive family home with a wealth of amenities that would inspire any rural passion.
-
18 magnificent homes for sale from £550k to £20 million, as seen in Country LifeFrom a charming thatched cottage to a 300-acre estate with its own vineyard, here's our pick of places to come to the market via Country Life of late.
-
A converted monastery for sale where the chapel has become the most incredible swimming pool we've seen in yearsYou can't help but wonder what the Trappist monks who once owned this 80-acre site in Devon would make of how the place has turned out.
-
The sounds of spring and stained glass in an Arts-and-Crafts masterpiece in DorsetWith 35 acres, more than 10 bedrooms, a swimming pool and tennis court, Winterfield has it all.
