A 'Sleeping Beauty' house, covered in wisteria and tucked away in ancient woodland, has come up for sale in Sussex
The impossibly romantic Durrant House, set amid woodland, gardens and ancient rocks, is like nothing we've seen before.
It seems only fitting that a couple of days before Valentine's Day we came across Durrant House. Hidden away in the trees, covered in wisteria, tucked discreetly and perfectly into its setting, this is a house it's impossible not to fall in love with.
On the market via Savills at £1.5 million, this four-bedroom home isn't — as the pictures suggest at first glance — hidden away within miles of virgin woodland, but instead it sits within a village in Sussex. The house was built in 1939 by Stanley Durrant, a local master builder who gave the place his name, and the setting he chose is breathtaking: 3.7 acres of woodland and lawns, peppered with natural sandstone outcrops, towering fir trees, twisting pathways, sunken gardens, and a pool so romantic you'd half expect to find woodland nymphs frolicking in the water. This is, quite simply, the most romantic setting we've seen in years.
Inside, it's almost as charming: just under 4,000 sq ft of space, laid out in a rectangle to allow all almost all the rooms to look out on the view. Downstairs you'll find a sitting room, dining room, family room and a study, plus a long kitchen that leads into a semi-circular conservatory that juts out at the centre of the house.
While less than 90 years old, the house is full of character: huge, stone-built open fireplaces, wooden floors and ceiling beams, Crittal-style windows and glorious use of natural timber — the bannister, fashioned and curved from local wood, is a perfect example.
Above, there are four bedrooms, one of which is en-suite, while the others share a bathroom. If you need more space, the good news is that a separate annex in the garden has two more bedrooms, plus a self-contained space currently set up as an office.
It's the gardens that really sell Durrant House, though — well, that and the fact that there is a roof terrace from which to enjoy the beauty that surrounds you.
Yet almost as much of a pull is that this is a rural hideaway that's an eminently practical choice for family life. 'Durrant House is a real gem,' says Rohan Vines of Savills' Haywards Heath branch, 'It's a characterful country home which is within straightforward reach of village and town amenities, schooling and transport.'
The village in question is Cooper's Green, which sits just off the A272 that traverses the South Downs from Winchester to Heathfield. Uckfield, with its direct rail services to London Bridge and an 'Outstanding' rated secondary school, is a short drive away.
For all that, we'd bet that those practical considerations aren't what'll drive the next owners of Durrant House. It's like Arts-and-Crafts meets Sleeping Beauty.
Durrant House is for sale via Savills at £1.5 million — see more details.
