It takes quite a lot to make me stop and say wow, but every once in a while there is a home that achieves the feat. It’s one of the downsides of the job, leafing through this much property. You get desensitised to the joys of housebuilding, of architecture, chasing something more sublime and more ridiculous each week, like a junkie.
Well I’ve found this week’s hit, and it’s Middleton Park in Oxfordshire. There are sizable homes. There are big homes. There are mansions, castles, estates. And then there is Middleton Park. It’s for sale with Savills for offers in excess of £18 million.
It’s almost overwhelming. This home, one of Edwin Lutyens’s last, was built in 1938 and commissioned by the 9th Earl of Jersey. It was listed Grade II, but that’s clearly ridiculous, so it was soon upgraded to Grade I.
The word ‘home’ doesn’t feel quite right when describing Middleton Park. It’s got 27 bedrooms for goodness sake. I am not sure I have enough friends to fill it. It’s got a cricket pitch (and, crucially, a pavilion) within its 86 acres of gardens and listed parkland. It is surely one of the great houses of Britain. How would you even begin to decorate it?
One of the nice things about homes such as these (apart from living in them) is taking the listing down to the pub and chatting with your friends about how you might use it. Imagine the parties. If you had a home office on one side, and your bedroom on the other, you could very realistically describe the journey between the two as a proper commute. Trying to make sense of the floorplans instills something akin to a Lovecraftian madness.
The good news for those more sensible and architecturally curious is that much of the property’s period grandeur has been retained and restored, despite Middleton Park being converted into 18 apartments in the 1970s. The glorious neo-Georgian façade, the squared limestone and ashlar dressings all sparkle. The interiors are sublime and extremely well maintained.
The gardens and grounds are, of course, extensive. As mentioned, there is a functioning cricket pitch, outdoor tennis court, swimming pool and an icehouse, in case you need one of those.
There are also plenty of further properties within the estate, with various lodges, gardeners cottages and garages providing further accommodation. Lastly, a property known as Homewood is, all by itself, a five-bedroom home of some 4,000sq ft.
Bigger does not necessarily mean better, but it is always impressive to see the grand scale of Edwardian opulence when the shackles are removed. The options available to you with such a stately home are vast — something to think about over a beer and a packet of crisps for sure.
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