Period homes are the cream of the crop of any estate agent. Beautiful, wreathed in history (and often a fair bit of land besides), they're particularly highly desired when they also benefit from a fairly central location.
One such picture-perfect Georgian house that dates from Tudor times is Grade II*-listed Hurst Lodge, in the village of Hurst, two miles from Twyford and seven miles from Henley-on-Thames, which comes to the market through the Henley offices of Savills and Knight Frank at a guide price of £10m.
For sale for only the second time in more than 80 years, the Elizabethan core of the house was built in about 1580 by John Barker, who was Gentleman Usher to Elizabeth I for 34 years.
In 1697, the property passed to Barker’s granddaughter, Frances Fairfax, wife of 4th Lord Cardross, later Earl of Buchan; they added the Georgian façade in about 1700.
In the 1740s, her family sold Hurst Lodge to lawyer Robert Palmer, in whose family it remained until 1919, when it was bought by Sir Philip Martineau.
Shortly before the Second World War, James Palmer-Tomkinson bought Hurst Lodge and added a major extension before leaving it, in the 1950s, to his daughter, Lady Ingram, in whose family it remained before being sold to its current owners in 2004.
One of Berkshire’s most important historic houses – soon to benefit from Twyford’s long-awaited Crossrail link – Hurst Lodge stands in 46 acres of splendid gardens and grounds that include cottages, paddocks, ponds and woodland, stabling, barns, extensive garaging and a former squash court.
During their tenure, the owners have modernised the previously ‘tired’ interior to create a vibrant contemporary living space with seven reception rooms, a large master-bedroom suite, 11 further bedrooms and nine further bathrooms laid out over two floors.
Hurst Lodge is the market through the Henley offices of Savills and Knight Frank at a guide price of £10m. Click here for more information and images.
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