The New Forest estate formerly owned by one of Britain's most flamboyant billionaires has come to the market for the second time in six years.
Newtown Park is a classically beautiful Grade II*-listed Georgian manor house sitting in 405 acres of woodland and parkland just a few minutes from Lymington, on the edge of the New Forest. It was the main UK residence of Charles Burnett III, who was killed in a helicopter crash in 2018.
Burnett was heir to a family retail empire with interests in shops including Selfridges and Fortnum & Mason, but he was better known for his lavish lifestyle and eccentricity than his business life. A self-avowed adrenaline junkie, he held — and still holds — the world record for the fastest steam-powered vehicle, achieved in 2009 by hitting 139.8mph in a car officially named 'Inspiration', but affectionately dubbed 'The World's Fastest Kettle'. Mixing work and play was seemingly in his blood: his uncle was the late British-Canadian billionaire Galen Weston, a man who both founded a food distribution empire and played polo with King Charles.
All this seems a little incongruous alongside the quietly secluded and truly idyllic Newton Park, close to both the charming town of Lymington and the south coast. In Burnett's time here, though, Newton Park catered to all sides of his personality: the 11-bedroom home would ring out with music and laughter from the parties he threw here when he was home. And it's hard to imagine a better spot for entertaining.
The parties didn't always make him popular with the neighbours — and especially not at his birthday celebration in 2007, when a Harvard plane swooped over the property and mock bombs exploded in the grounds, while off-duty soldiers re-enacted battles from the Falklands War.
Burnett was something of a war fanatic — you've probably guessed that from the last paragraph — and had an extensive collection of tanks, planes, speedboats and fast cars, several of which he kept in the three hangers within the grounds at Newtown Park. If you're thinking of bringing your own aircraft, it's an ideal house: there is a private grass airstrip on site, and a designated helicopter landing area on the lawn.
The house was built in around 1790, according to its listing, and barring a few 20th century additions is has all the graceful elegance of the the Georgian era. It is classically proportioned and symmetrical with stuccoed elevations and sash windows. Views from the main house stretch towards the Solent and across the formal lawns to open paddocks and ancient oaks.
Inside there are more bathrooms — 12 — than there are bedrooms (11), a large kitchen, an orangery at the back that opens onto the gardens, and wine cellar.
Perhaps our favourite element, however, is the circular lookout room beneath the dome at the top of the house, offering panoramic views across Hampshire.
There are three more properties in the grounds included in the price: the Old Rectory, North Lodge and Keeper's Cottage. On top of this, there is also an estate office, garages, a swimming pool, tennis courts and a walled garden.
In 2018, Burnett died at the age of 61 in tragic circumstances, when a helicopter he was travelling in crashed in New Mexico, killing five people. The sole survivor was Burnett's long-term partner, Andra Cobb. Cobb also lost her father in the accident.
Shortly after the horrific accident, Newtown Park estate was sold to the current owners for £19,000,000. Six years later the new owners have decided to move on, with Sotheby's International Realty listing the estate for 'offers over' £16,500,000. The lower price reflects changes in the market in recent years — everything from post-Brexit concerns to non-dom taxation and the UK's general economic growth have made this end of the market cautious — but Sotheby's Alex Collins is confident of a sale.
'We feel the house in the current market is worth well in excess of £16,500,000, due to the current market conditions and climate we wanted to price the house competitively to garner interest,' Collins tells Country Life. 'There are few options like this in the New Forest and to be able to have a sizeable country estate which is completely private within a five-mile drive of Lymington is unique,' he adds.
His confidence seems well-placed: there are already three parties bidding on the property. Those interested should move quickly.
The Newton Park estate is for sale at £16.5 million — see more pictures and details at United Kingdom Sotheby's International Realty.
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