'One of the finest homes on the Kent coast' has come up for sale with a £4 million price tag

Down on the coast of south-east Kent, the picturesque village of Saltwood stands on high ground overlooking farmland and the Romney Marsh, a mile or so north of the coastal market town of Hythe. Here, Alice Luxmoore-Styles of Strutt & Parker’s country department is overseeing the sale — at a guide price of £4m — of one of the area’s finest houses, Grade II-listed Saltwood House in Rectory Lane.

This is the former village rectory, of which Hasted wrote in 1799 ‘the parsonage stands at a small distance westward from the church. It was a very antient gothic building; but Mr Randolph, the present rector, has entirely modernized it, and made it, at no small expense, a very commodious and handsome house, in which he resides one half of the year’.

According to its Historic England listing, Saltwood House was built by the Rev Thomas Randolph around a medieval core in 1770, and extended in the early 19th century. Sold away by the Church in the late 1920s, the house was in dire straits when its knowledgeable owner, a stalwart of Folkestone’s Arts scene, bought it in 2011 and, over the years, has meticulously renovated it, inside and out.

The scene is set by the bright and welcoming reception hall, which leads through to the three main ground-floor reception rooms at the front of the house, all of which boast sash windows and original herringbone flooring; a corridor to the rear provides access to the cellar, snug and treatment room.

The heart of the house is the modernised open-plan kitchen/breakfast room, which boasts an exposed inglenook fireplace and log burner. On the first floor, the principal bedroom suite has delightful views over a five-acre paddock towards the Norman village church of St Peter and St Paul.

There are three further bedrooms and two bathrooms on this floor, one currently used as a library/sitting room, with a rear annexe providing a further two-bedroom apartment. A well-appointed bedroom suite is located on the second floor, directly above the annexe, and an attic staircase leads to four further bedrooms and two bathrooms that are still unmodernised, but offer great potential.

The gardens at Saltwood House are spectacular and include an Italian-style garden to the south, lawns separated by a pergola filled with climbing clematis and wisteria and, beyond, a three-tiered pond and a sheltered swimming pool, which was re-lined last year. A courtyard garden and kitchen garden are located to the north of the property. Outbuildings include a mini-gym and the former stables, with the original horse trough and flooring.

For sale via Strutt & Parker at £4m — see more details and pictures.