Harts House: A home straight out of a fairytale for sale in Kent

George Orwell wrote in his seminal essay Politics and the English Language that a writer should ‘never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print’. In short, avoid a cliché. I spend a lot of time reading property listings, which are often full of clichés, which is fine because the work of the estate agent is to sell houses, not concoct prose that would pass through the fine eye of one of Britain’s best ever journalists.

What it does mean, however, is that I have become rapidly desensitised to terms such as ‘idyllic’, ‘breathtaking’ and, most of all, ‘fairytale’. There are rules about using those words here at Country Life, chief among them that you can only describe something as a ‘fairytale’ if it looks like it might actually be used in one. I challenge you, dear reader, to argue that Harts House does not qualify.

For sale with Fine and Country for £1.25 million, this elegant Tudor hall house is near the Kentish village of Boughton Monchelsea. Observe the main picture on this page and tell me you cannot imagine fairies frolicking through these gardens. Look at the image below and try to think of anything other than two fat nosy children being baked in an oven within the walls. You cannot.

When it is not busy being a fantasy, Harts House is a Grade II*-listed home with six bedrooms, two acres and a nice lake. It dates from the 16th century and offers more than 4,000sq ft of living space.

The gardens are naturally a highlight, so we will start there. The lake is fed by a small stream that's enhanced by a waterfall. An Elizabethan style rear garden is supplemented by sloping lawns and woodland, as well as plenty of mature plants and shrubs throughout.

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Inside, the property is set over three floors, and features a vast sitting room, as well as a separate galley-style kitchen, study and dining room. The interiors probably could do with a little bit of updating, but there are plenty of period touches in situ that lend this house astonishing amounts of character.

Location-wise, the property is just south of Maidstone, providing plenty of easy rail access to London if required, while the M20 motorway is also easily accessible. But why you would want to go away from this magical property is beyond me.