Lavenham, which is located some 12 miles south-west of Stowmarket in Suffolk, as the crow flies, is one of the finest and best-preserved medieval villages in England.
Steven Ray of Bury-based agents David Burr is handling the sale of Grade II-listed Lavenham Hall in Lavenham Hall Road on behalf of Anthony Faulkner and his sculptor wife, Kate Denton, who moved there from London in 2009.
Mr Ray quotes a guide price of £2.75m for the impressive, seven-bedroom country house, described in its listing as ‘a mainly 16th–17th century timber-framed and plastered building considerably altered in the 18th century and later, [which] stands to the west of the original hall, the home of the de Vere family’, the ruins of which can be seen in part of the garden next to the lake.
Ms Denton, a member of the Royal Society of British Sculptors since 1993, has worked as a sculptor for more than 40 years, producing both her own creative pieces, as well as private and public commissions.
Although she loves Lavenham Hall, she admits that it was its 10,000sq ft range of outbuildings, which now house her studio, a bespoke exhibition gallery and premises where she teaches sculpture, that sealed the deal for her.
She has also established a sculpture garden within the 4¾ acres of beautifully maintained grounds, which feature well-placed terracing, sweeping lawns, a meadow, specimen trees and the impressive lake.
Although located near the centre of the village, Lavenham Hall enjoys a parkland setting that harks back to the days when it served as a hunting lodge used by the Earls of Oxford.
The 5,925sq ft house was extended and altered in the 19th century by William Biddell, who added the panelling and the square window in the dining room. The window is one of the house's more remarkable no ordinary window: the window was salvaged from HMS Foudroyant, which served a spell as Lord Nelson’s flagship during the Napoleonic Wars.
The dining hall with Nelson's window at one end.
The drawing room overlooks the grounds and lake in one direction and the tower of St Peter and St Paul’s church in the other; the study is thought to have been the ‘pay office’ from when Lavenham Hall was a 600-acre farm; the first and second floors offer a variety of bedroom suites with splendid views over the grounds.
Lavenham itself is full of history — and some of the quirkiest properties in Britain, not least the 'Crooked House' on Lavenham High Street, whose owners Country Life interviewed a couple of years ago.
Alex and Oli Khalil-Martin at home in The Crooked House, Lavenham, Suffolk.
The manor of Lavenham was held in 1086 by Aubrey de Vere, an ancestor of the Earls of Oxford, in whose family it remained until 1604. In the 15th and 16th centuries, a booming wool trade brought enormous wealth to Lavenham, until a flood of cheaper, more fashionable European imports led to its decline.
Happily, later generations failed to modernise many of its magnificent timber-frame buildings, thereby preserving them for today’s owners to enjoy.
Lavenham Hall is for sale at £2.75 million — see more pictures and details.
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