The story of east Devon’s grandest country mansion, Grade I-listed Mamhead House, set in 164 acres of glorious gardens and parkland on the slopes of the Haldon Hills north of Dawlish, with glorious views over Exmouth, is essentially one of survival.
Designed by the architect Anthony Salvin, a pupil of Nash and a fervent admirer of Pugin, the vast, 37,437sq ft, late-Georgian mansion was built between 1828 and 1833 for Robert (later Sir Robert) Newman, MP for Exeter – an enormously rich shipping magnate whose forebears were described locally as ‘adventurers’. Mamhead is now on the market through Strutt & Parker, at a guide price of £10 million.
Inspired by a ground plan proposed by Charles Fowler of Plymouth in 1822, Salvin’s brief was to create a grand mansion in the Tudor style with Classical influences, siting the house to make the most of the spectacular coastal views, while nestling it securely within the surrounding woodland.
This Salvin did brilliantly, combining the grace of the late-Georgian style with the drama and colour of Gothic interiors, the whole executed to the highest standards of craftsmanship and attention to detail. According to Country Life (June 2, 1955), the high standard set at Mamhead ‘contrasts notably in the fine quality of its materials and workmanship with the jerry-built ostentation of much early-19th-century architecture’.
Sir Robert Newman was succeeded in 1848 by his son, Capt Sir Robert Lydston Newman, who was killed at the Battle of Inkerman in November 1854, after which Mamhead passed to his brother, Sir Lydston, whose son, a prominent churchman, was created Lord Mamhead in 1931.
He died unmarried in 1945, leaving the life tenancy of the estate to his brother-in-law, Frederick Lumley, together with the contents of the mansion. On succeeding in 1948, Sir Ralph Newman, a great-grandson of the 1st Baronet, was able to buy back the furnishings, but eventually abandoned the idea of trying to live on the scale imposed by such a house.
Thereafter, Mamhead served a number of institutional roles: an evangelical holiday-and-conference centre in the 1950s, a special school in the 1980s, an events venue and, finally, as the offices of the Forestry Commission, until, in 2013, it was bought by the current owner, an overseas investor with substantial property interests in the UK.
Having considered a number of alternative uses for the estate, which has been carefully maintained throughout his tenure, he has now opted to put Mamhead House back on the market.
It will take a buyer with cash, courage and extraordinary vision to take on this remarkable house and realise its full potential. With its grand reception rooms, wonderful fan-vaulted staircase, vast galleried halls, landings and corridors, extensive domestic offices, 16 main bedrooms, eight bathrooms, 11 attic rooms and romantic camellia house, Mamhead House represents a considerable challenge for any investor, but also an opportunity to preserve and enhance a unique estate that has remained, quite magnificently, untouched by time.
Spectacular Scottish castles and estates for sale
A look at the finest castles, country houses and estates for sale in Scotland today.
A breathtaking West Highlands estate with mountains, forests and lochs to call your own
A magnificent sporting estate, extending to 11,105 acres in total, has come to the market in the West Highlands – and
An Isle of Wight 'super-cottage' built by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert is up for sale
Queen Victoria's children and guests lived for years in the exquisitely detailed Osborne Cottage, which offers its buyer the opportunity
The Great Barn at Harmondsworth: 600 years of grandeur, history and restoration, now under threat by Heathrow's third runway
The Great Barn at Harmondsworth is the largest standing medieval timber-framed structure in Britain – and it has just been restored.
-
All fired up: 12 of our favourite chimneys, from grand architectural statements to modest brick stacks, as seen in Country LifeNothing says winter like a roaring fire, and plenty of the houses that we've photographed for the magazine's architectural places have fireplaces and chimneys worth boasting about.
-
What is everyone talking about this week: More than half the country owns a pet and nearly half our marriages end in divorce — no wonder pet-nups are on the risePet-nups, a formal agreement between couples over what should happen to their pets in the event of a split, are on the rise.
-
Utterly wonderful country homes for sale across Britain, from a 10-bedroom mansion to a Devon hideaway, as seen in Country LifeFrom an irresistibly charming house in Devon to a 400-year-old commutable home in Hertfordshire, here's our pick of some of the best homes to come to market via Country Life in the past week.
-
The London house where Rolls-Royce's co-founder Charles Rolls tinkered with his very first car is for sale at £17 millionCharles Rolls, the engineer and co-founder of Rolls-Royce, got his hands dirty when using the stables of this fine London home as a makeshift garage. Annabel Dixon reports.
-
A vineyard for sale on the slopes above 'the best beach in Britain' is for sale at just £650,000In the beautifully unspoilt Devon village of Bantham, an award-winning vineyard is for sale. Toby Keel takes a look.
-
This spectacular 14th-century castle has had its price cut by £7.5 million. Here's whyThe art and science of being an estate agent is never trickier than when dealing with homes that are being sold for the first time in centuries — and Ripley Castle in Yorkshire provides the perfect example. Lucy Denton explains more.
-
A simply perfect thatched cottage in Devon, with charm, walled gardens and all the space you need for family lifeThatched cottages are often pretty, but pretty small — but Julie Harding finds one brings which blends cottage charm with the space of a country manor.
-
'A rare gem' of a country house, in 163 acres of the idyllic Colne Valley, just 50 minutes from the CityThe Regency-style Over Hall in Colne Engaine is a country house whose previous owner has spent 40 years getting everything just right. Penny Churchill takes a look.
-
Five home offices so good that every work day will feel like a holiday (well, probably)Five years on from the Pandemic, millions of us are still working from home much of the time — and thus the appeal of a home office is as strong as ever. They don't much nicer than these.
-
A grand country house and 329-acre estate for sale at £1.89 million — and it's on the market for the first time in a quarter of a millenniumArabella Youens takes a look at the beautiful Monreith House and Estate on the south-west coast of Scotland.
