A country house by Ben Pentreath that has one of the great masterpieces of medieval architecture in the back garden
One of the most celebrated architectural designers in Britain created this superb, modern country house right on the River Avon at Warwick Castle.
There's always a little bit of one-upmanship when it comes to our houses.
Don't get me wrong — the British are far too polite to rub each others' noses in it; we're not American, after all. But you can spot the subtle humblebrags a mile off: 'Oh yes, we're so lucky to have a [boot room / open fire / outdoor kitchen]', or 'I know it's silly really, but Jonny always dreamed of having a [workshop / underwater den / dedicated Scalextric wing], and he's been so good about my [flower room / hand-made linen curtains / helipad] that I just couldn't stand in his way.'
Just imagine, then, how good it would feel to casually drop into conversation that you have one of medieval Europe's greatest castles at the end of your garden. Rather amazingly, that's the case at Castle Reach, where you have Warwick Castle quite literally in your backyard. And that's just the start at a house that's priced at £4.5 million through Fine & Country.
Warwick isn't just any old pile of battlements and turrets. Our esteemed colleague John Goodall, the man who literally wrote the book on castles, described it earlier this year as 'one of the most celebrated and imposing of all English castles', and 'a theatre, where fantasy and history meet' in a pair of articles he wrote earlier this year (you can read them here and here). It's a 700-year-old masterpiece that is the stuff of fantasy, the sort of castle that's inspired everyone from Walter Scott to Hollywood directors, a picture-perfect building that's as close to the Platonic ideal of 'medieval castle' as you'll ever see. And it's also the view from the kitchen-diner of this house.
Here's your garden, here's the bit of the River Avon that you own, here's your very own river island, and there's your very cool backdrop.
Castle Reach is much more than just a view, though: it's a new-build country house (something that we discussed just the other day) built by the multi-talented and multi-award-winning Ben Pentreath, one of the most sought-after architectural designers working in Britain today, and a man who has been featured in Country Life repeatedly in recent years (this piece, and this, are good starting points to get a feel for his design philosophy).
Set over three floors, it's a six-bedroom home laid out almost on an H-shaped plan, with most of the rooms linking off to the sides from the central space.
On the ground floor, that gives you a sitting room and dining room in one wing, with cloakrooms, boot room, utility and snug on the other side of the house — and the aforementioned kitchen-breakfast-family room at the back.
The latter is vast: 34 feet wide, and 20 feet deep, with light coming in both from the French windows at the back of the house, and from a skylight above.
The first floor is home to one of the most impressive bedroom suites we've seen in a while, taking up the entire south wing with its two dressing rooms (his and hers, as they're set up at the moment) and an en-suite bathroom so big that you could probably install a grand piano next to the bathtub, should you be so minded.
On the other side of the first floor are two more bedrooms, plus a 'plant/comms room'. We're not sure what the latter is for, exactly, but it definitely feels like another nice addition for that humblebrag list.
There are three more bedrooms on the second floor, two of which are en-suite; and if you're looking for a multi-generational living set-up, it's good to know that there's a self-contained one-bedroom apartment above the detached double garage.
This run-through of all the spaces probably detracts from the big selling points of the house: the finish and the fittings in place are beautifully done, happily straddling that line between smart and cosy, from the brick-walled wine room to the hallway with sweeping staircase and a chessboard stone floor.
Finally, though, we get to the outside, where the two acres of gardens go up to, and indeed across, the River Avon that streams along beside you. A private island on the river is part of the deal (again, add it to that list) as well as woodland, lawns and river frontage... and all of it with that quite amazing backdrop: Warwick Castle, the 700-year-old masterpiece at the end of the garden.
Warwick Castle in Warwickshire.
Castle Reach is for sale through Fine & Country — see more details.
