Lord Baden-Powell's childhood home up for sale, with cricket pitch and nuclear bunker
Langton House and estate near Tunbridge Wells has some extraordinary features: it takes in a beautiful house, a bluebell wood and even the village green.


Trailing clouds of imperial glory, the 80-acre Langton House estate at Langton Green, two miles west of Tunbridge Wells, was the childhood stamping ground of Robert Baden-Powell. The family of the founder of the Scouting movement reputedly built the house in the early 1800s – it is now for sale at £6m.
Recently launched on the market at a guide price of £6m through the Sevenoaks office of Strutt & Parker, the estate boasts some enviable trappings of a grander age.
There is a large cricket ground, for example, maintained by a professional groundsman; the estate also includes ownership of much of the village green.
In a throwback to a very different age, there is also an underground nuclear-bomb shelter. It was built in the garden by the Sufist thinker Idries Shah, who owned Langton House from 1964 to 1989.
Widely regarded as the finest house in the immediate conservation area, Grade II-listed Langton House is built in classic Regency style of brick, washed white with blue shutters under a slate roof with a colonial-style verandah.
Ideally positioned on the edge of the village, it stands in lovely mature gardens and farmland that guard its privacy in an AONB that is the gateway to the Kent and Sussex countryside beyond.
It retains many original period features throughout its more than 8,000sq ft of living accommodation on three floors, which includes three main reception rooms, a kitchen/breakfast room, a family room, offices, nine bedrooms and a self-contained one-bedroom annexe.
Exquisite houses, the beauty of Nature, and how to get the most from your life, straight to your inbox.
A detached coach house, currently used as garaging, could provide additional living space, subject to the usual consents.
Other amenities include stabling, a tennis court and a bluebell wood plus some 58 acres of arable pasture currently producing an income of about £5,000 a year.
Langton House is for sale via Strutt & Parker – see more pictures and details.
-
Don't judge a plant by its smell: Why 'the little stinkers of the natural world' are just doing their job
Reminiscent of love and with an unmistakable odour of death, the little stinkers of the natural world might incite repulsion, but they are only doing their job, pleads Ian Morton
By Ian Morton Published
-
What everyone is talking about this week: Are people marrying younger?
Week in, week out, Will Hosie rounds up the hottest topics on everyone's lips, in London and beyond.
By Will Hosie Published
-
19 charming homes for sale, from picture-perfect cottages to beachside retreats, as seen in Country Life
This week's selection of some of the best homes to come to the market via Country Life this week.
By Toby Keel Published
-
Tim Burton is selling the house he shared with Helena Bonham-Carter, a sublime home on the Thames that comes with three private islands
Mill House in Sutton Courtenay, Oxfordshire, might just be the perfect English country home.
By Rosie Paterson Last updated
-
A spectacular tower for sale that's a blend of Victorian folly, architectural marvel and 21st century family home
Hadlow Tower has space, and a back story of love, jealousy and intrigue.
By Toby Keel Published
-
A spectacular, light-filled home on the Isle of Wight where you can see the water from practically every window
Penny Churchill takes a look at the grand and impressive Fishbourne Quay House.
By Penny Churchill Last updated
-
The former stables — and recording studio for the Pet Shop Boys — transformed with a magical blend of city and country aesthetic, now seeking a new owner
In the heart of Clerkenwell, what was once a Victorian industrial unit is now a beautiful home.
By Toby Keel Last updated
-
The Good Life 2025? A development promising 'Britain's greenest homes' blends zero carbon, organic allotments and a touch of luxury in the Kent countryside
Hartdene Barns, sitting on a disused dairy farm in Kent, is a vision of what sustainable living one day mean for all of us.
By Annunciata Elwes Published
-
Breathtaking views and gardens that run down to the water's edge at this delightful home in Cornwall
The Garden House in Polruan sums up the appeal of waterside living. Penny Churchill steps inside.
By Penny Churchill Published
-
A 500-acre estate that spent 11 centuries in the same family, for sale for only the second time in its history
In the beautiful hills of north Wales the Garthewin estate has come up for sale, including a great country house once restored by the architect who created Portmeirion. Penny Churchill takes a closer look.
By Penny Churchill Published