To Esssex, where Paddy Pritchard-Gordon of Knight Frank quotes a guide price of £2.95m for handsome, Grade II-listed Boxted Lodge, which stands in 24 acres of gardens, grounds and paddocks near the village of that name, five miles north of Colchester and 24 miles north-east of the county city of Chelmsford.
Boxted is located on the edge of the picturesque Dedham Vale National Landscape and was the site of a series of skirmishes between Royalist and Parliamentary forces in July 1648. Known as ‘the Battle on Boxted Heath’, it ended in a Royalist defeat and the lifting of the siege of Colchester.
Today, all is quiet around Boxted Lodge, which stands in a peaceful country setting at the end of a long gravel drive. The secluded, three-storey Georgian house dates from the early 1800s, when it was built as the hunting lodge for Boxted Hall. It was extended in 1792 and again in 1886, and has been owned by the same family since 1978.
Described as ‘an elegant and traditional family home, flooded with lots of natural light and set in glorious gardens and grounds’, the striking, 7,570sq ft main house is entered through a central front door, which leads into the reception hall, off which are two bright reception rooms.
The south-facing drawing room, which overlooks the garden, retains many original features, including ornate cornicing, sashed bay windows and a large open fireplace. The study/sitting room on the opposite side of the hall has a marble fireplace, with views and proportions similar to those of the drawing room.
Also off the entrance hall is the music room, where arches frame the corridor that leads to the dining room at the front of the house, and the kitchen/breakfast room, office and pantry at the rear. A fine staircase rises to an open landing, leading to four large bedrooms, two smaller bedrooms, two dressing rooms and three bathrooms. The two principal bedrooms at the front of the house have large sash windows and balconies overlooking the gardens. There are two further bedrooms on the second floor.
Additional accommodation is provided in the two-bedroom Garden Cottage that forms part of the old stable block and Tower yard, and the two-bedroom Gate Cottage at the head of the drive. A courtyard of period outbuildings off the main drive houses traditional stables, garaging and stores with potential for conversion or modernisation, subject to the usual consents.
In addition to the magnificent gardens, Boxted Lodge’s 24 acres of land include 14 acres of paddocks and meadows, which are well fenced with a ready supply of water.
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