A 'Tudor' mansion on the Tube, in 30 acres of countryside
Ripley Grange is one of the most remarkable houses on the market in the Home Counties today.
Country-house agent Tim Phillips quotes a guide price of £10.5 million for Grade II*-listed Ripley Grange at Theydon Bois, Essex, which stands in more than 40 acres of formal gardens, woodland, open pasture and established parkland on high ground abutting Epping Forest, with views over its own gardens and the surrounding countryside towards the distant London skyline.
The house enjoys total privacy within its own grounds, yet central London, the City and Canary Wharf remain readily accessible, with Theydon Bois Central Line Underground Station only a mile away.
Ripley Grange was built in the Tudor style between 1928 and 1930 for Charles Frederick Clark, whose fortune was derived from the manufacture of carbon paper and type-writer ribbons at his Caribonium factory in Leyton, south-west Essex.
First listed in March 2020, Historic England’s decision was largely based on the building’s importance as ‘an interpretation of a Tudor house inspired by some of the most significant and impressive buildings of the Tudor period, every element of which demonstrates craftsmanship of the highest order’.
Clark left no stone unturned in his search for the perfect site on which to build the house, which he regarded as the crowning success of his life. After touring Essex and Hertfordshire for two years, he bought 40 acres of farmland at Loughton between Epping Forest and the River Roding, a picturesque and hilly location that, following the arrival of the railway in 1856, saw the construction of a large number of good late-19th- and early-20th-century houses for discerning commuters.
Wallis, Gilbert and Partners, the designers of Clark’s Art Deco factory, later demolished, were commissioned to design the house of its owner’s dreams. Their brief was to create a perfect reproduction of a grand Tudor mansion, drawing upon the Tudor and Jacobean buildings Clark most admired, with individual rooms influenced by Hampton Court Palace in Surrey, Penshurst Place in Kent, Lavenham Guildhall in Suffolk and Plas Mawr in Conwy, Wales.
Work started in 1928 and took 15 months to complete, although Clark continued to make substantial alterations throughout the 1930s, resulting in today’s spectacular country house, which offers almost 15,000sq ft of accommodation on three floors.
Highlights include the oak-panelled Great Hall and the drawing room overlooking the formal gardens; the morning room inspired by Lavenham Guildhall and Plas Mawr.
Another standout is the library with its linenfold panelling and modelled plaster ceiling, while there is a smaller private study that retains its original joinery.
There's a fine kitchen, which has been modernised and adapted for contemporary family life.
Nine bedrooms and five bathrooms are laid out across the first and second floors.
Ripley Grange is for sale at £10.5 million through Tim Phillips — see more details and pictures.
