A 700-year-old home where ancient stone and timber meets a gazebo and a hot tub
The medieval Burstow Manor offers as intriguing a mix of ancient and modern as you'll ever see.
When you come across a 692-year-old house, it's not hugely surprising to find out that it has a moat. Nor is it a shock to know that the place has leaded windows, ancient beams, hand-carved stone features, four-poster beds or a suit of armour in the hallway.
What is a bit of a surprise — to put it mildly — is to discover that the house also has a hot tub, double glazing, high-speed fibre broadband and a gazebo. It's a bit like finding a horse and cart with a turbo charger.
But that is Burstow Manor for you. It's a house that's a mass of contrasts, an astonishing medieval relic mashed-up with a very 2020s house, and it's for sale with Fine & Country at £2.25 million.
This Grade II*-listed home is originally believed to have been a hunting lodge owned by the Archbishop of Canterbury, although recent archaeological investigations didn't dig up any evidence of the ecclesiastical connection.
The dendrochronologists had more luck than the archaeologists, however. Analysis of the tree rings in the beams of the oldest parts of the house apparently led them to proclaim that Burstow Manor is 'surely the finest of its period in Surrey'.
While this is one of the oldest surviving homes in Surrey, any building that comes through 700 years of history sees immense change along the way. Changes and improvements over the centuries have seen the place re-built (15th century), re-fronted (19th century) and expanded (19th and 20th centuries).
The 21st century has seen a huge amount of love and care going in to the place: the aforementioned double-glazing, for example, is of bespoke, oak-framed design to make sure it's within keeping with the look and feel of this home.
'We bought the house nearly twenty years ago to rescue it and we are immensely proud of what has been achieved,' say the current owners.
'It has been a privilege to care for such an extraordinary building and to preserve it for future generations.'
As it stands today, Burstow Manor has been configured as a seven-bedroom home over three storeys, with over 4,000sq ft of space.
The ground floor has a large sitting room and dining room off the main hallway, both of which have huge inglenook fireplaces.
There's a kitchen/breakfast room with a walk-in larder, as well as utility and cloakroom. That kitchen is a great example of how old and new come together, with a traditional Aga sitting immediately next to a modern, stainless-steel cooker.
A huge master bedroom suite, with dressing room and en-suite bathroom, is on one side of the first floor, while a second bedroom also has an en-suite.
The remaining rooms on the first floor all share one bathroom, while on the second floor there's another en-suite bedroom.
Should you need more accommodation, an annexe above the garage is set up as a separate, self-contained home with its own kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and living space. It's currently used as an office, but it has its own entrance via a little staircase, and thus could easily be put into play as a small flat for multi-generational living.
The gardens are one of the highlights: 2.75 acres of grounds with lawns, woodland, a paddock, the moat — crossed over by a wooden bridge — and charming seating areas here and there. It's elegant, natural and completely secluded.
The house is in the village of Smallwood, not far off the M23 and within easy reach of Gatwick Airport. 'This one offers the unique opportunity to become the owner of an irreplaceable piece of English architectural history while enjoying the comfort, privacy and practicality of a beautifully maintained country home,' say the agents.
Burstow Manor is for sale through Fine & Country — see more details.
