A country house with a swimming lake, walled garden and a dash of style everywhere you look
Penny Churchill takes a look at the wonderful Hilmarton Manor.
Despite the vagaries of the current ‘hit-and-miss’ marketplace, Seb Hipwood of Blue Book (07535 150888) has been heartened by the early response to the recent launch onto the market of Grade II-listed Hilmarton Manor, set in 4½ acres of enchanting gardens near Calne, Wiltshire, for which he quotes a guide price of £3 million.
Originally built in the mid 19th century as a shooting lodge on the Poynder family’s Hilmarton estate and later enlarged in about 1910, the manor was the principal house on the estate before being sold in 1936, following the death of John Dickson-Poynder, 1st and last Lord Islington.
Renovated and refurbished to an exacting standard by the current owners, the house, which boasts some fine late-Georgian features, provides more than 7,400sq ft of versatile family living space.
Downstairs, there's a sprawling floorplan with so many rooms you might need to keep the sat nav on for the first few weeks after moving in.
The reception hall is at the heart of things, leading off to a dining room, study, library and a separate dining hall which attaches to the kitchen, plus a grand stone staircase that takes you to the seven bedrooms, all but two of which have en-suite bathrooms.
It's not just the list of spaces that's impressive, though: it's the style with which everything has been done. It's a delightful mix of old and new, pretty much everywhere you look.
Beyond the hallway, however, there is far more to come. Several more rooms are arranged around a pair of courtyards, with kitchen, butler’s pantry, utility, boot room and cellar all accessible.
A separate wing contains both a cinema room and one of the most extravagant home gyms we've seen in a long time.
The gardens include the owners’ pride and joy: a colourful walled garden with a cutting garden and a kitchen garden. A huge gardener's store (it's almost 70ft long) can hold every plant and tool you could think of, while there is also a generously-sized greenhouse.
Also in the grounds you'll find a delightful swimming lake, which is a new addition to the house — or at least, it definitely wasn't there when it came up for sale in Country Life in 1955.
Natural swimming pools can be chilly, but the good news is that the owners have also installed a sauna house close by, to warm you up after your dip. There's also a rare and original shell house.
Hilmarton Manor is for sale through Blue Book — see more details.
