An iconic Surrey home created by Sir Edwin Lutyens has defied the property market — and it's not hard to see why
The Grade II*-listed Red House in Godalming has only just appeared on the market, yet has already found a buyer.
The summer might have been hot and sunny, but there was a definite gloom in the property market analyses that emanated from Britain's top estate agents over the last few months.
'The summer slowdown deepens' wrote Knight Frank's Liam Bailey at the end of July, while the research team at Savills lamented that 'levels of supply remain high and sales are slow', pointing to Zoopla figures that show three-fifths of houses put on the market in 2026 so far remain unsold.
Ongoing wars, rising mortgage rates, an uncertain economy and political change all feed in to this wider picture, but Strutt & Parker's Matthew Henderson explained the impasse succinctly. The prime property market, he wrote in his summer review, 'continues to suffer from either buyers or sellers differing market views,' explaining that sellers remain convinced that prices should be rising, while buyers are just as certain that a 'correction in values' is imminent. 'This has led to slow moving markets across the country where it takes an ever-increasing time to agree a price and complete a transaction.'
Every so often, though, a house comes up for sale which throws all those reports on their heads — and the Red House in Godalming, for sale through Knight Frank at £1.35 million, is the perfect example.
Julie Harding covered the launch in the print edition of Country Life last Wednesday, but by the time the September 2 issue hit the newsstands, the Red House was sold (the issue in question, incidentally, is absolutely superb and full of timely things about the Norman influence on Britain).
A cursory look at the listing — designed by by Sir Edwin Lutyens, 12 bedrooms, almost 7,000 sq ft of space plus a leafy, secluded plot in a sought-after part of the Home Counties — might make you think 'well, of course it did', but as you'll see from the pictures here, this is a house that hit the market with some caveats to do with its condition. There is work to be done.
The Victorian Society describes the Red House as an ‘early and seminal house’ by Lutyens, which has both a Grade II*-listing and a reputation as being one of the most inventive domestic works of one of Britain's finest architects.
It was built in 1897–99 for the Revd Henry James Evans, a retired housemaster and honorary chaplain of nearby Charterhouse School (the house looks over the school's site).
Constructed in red brick with dramatic chimney stacks, it stands on a steeply sloping hillside with a garden of just under an acre, the design of which was influenced by Gertrude Jekyll.
Having been in the hands of the current owners since 1975, and (according to Tim Harriss of Knight Frank), was reroofed, replumbed and rewired in 1991/1992 with a grant from English Heritage.
There are beautiful original fireplaces, joinery and windows, and a wonderful Arts-and-Crafts grace and beauty to the architecture and interiors. That said, you'll also see stained and peeling walls and ceilings, and plenty of higgledy-piggledy bits here and there that feel like they might need attention. This is not a house for somebody expecting slick perfection. But it is a house for somebody who loves period charm.
Outside, there's also a lot to love. The gardens, set into the hill and amid mature trees, are not listed as designed by the great Gertrude Jekyll, whose house at Munstead Wood is just outside Godalming, but they are certainly influenced by her, with their series of terraces, pathways and charming planting to create a succession of 'garden rooms'.
All that considered, and added to the fact that at this price in this postcode you'd normally be shopping for a four-bedroom new build home, it's hardly surprising that the Red House sold so quickly. We wish the new owners well, and can't wait to see what they do with the place.
See The Red House in Godalming at Knight Frank's website.
