One of the most beautiful houses in the New Forest has come to the market, and its an Arts-and-Crafts dream
Penny Churchill takes a look at the irresistibly pretty Malwood Walk House, in a village not far from Lyndhurst.
Things are stirring at Savills’s Lymington officein Hampshire, following the launch onto the market of exquisite, Grade II-listed Malwood Walk House, 1½ miles from Minstead village and 3½ from Lyndhurst. Selling agent Giles Muddle quotes a guide price of £4.25 million for the classic Arts-and-Crafts house set in 12½ acres of glorious gardens, grounds and paddocks with direct access to the myriad bridleways of the New Forest.
It was built in about 1924 by international designer George Abraham Crawley for the diplomat, playwright and Liberal politician Robert Venables Vernon Harcourt, whose portrait still hangs over the fireplace in the hallway. Its listing describes the house, which is timber-framed with brick infills and a stone slate roof, as ‘a very convincing copy of a Tudor building’.
Harcourt died in 1962, leaving Malwood Walk House to his daughter, Mary, who lived there with her husband, Cdr Ian Rochfort Johnston, until their respective deaths in 1998 and 2006. By then, the building had fallen into disrepair and was sold in 2010 to a buyer who embarked on a comprehensive renovation programme.
This was completed by the current owners, who bought the property in 2019 and have further improved it, adding the splendid orangery with its kitchen-breakfast room and the delightful outdoor swimming pool.
The house provides 4,757sq ft of bright and cheerful living space on three floors. This includes a reception hall, and a vast drawing room with a full-height bay window, a double-height, carved ceiling, and a huge stone fireplace reminiscent.
The effect is incredible and unusual, more reminiscent of a Tudor great hall than an Arts-and-Crafts home.
There are two further reception rooms downstairs, plus a boot room, utility room, cellar and a wine store.
Three of the five bedrooms are on the first floor — unusually, none are en-suite, but there are in any case three separate bathrooms. There's also access from the landing onto a mezzanine overlooking that magnificent drawing room.
The second floor has two more bedrooms and two more bathrooms.
Secondary accommodation is provided in the charming, part-tile-hung Gate House annexe.
The gardens also include a pool, yoga studio/gym and sauna, several storage buildings, and a barn which — subject to relevant permissions — looks ripe for conversion into another space.
It's also a home ideal for equestrians: adjacent to the barn is a stable block with three loose boxes, from where we can just imagine saddling up and heading off trekking through this beautiful part of southern England.
All in all, it's a house that's a true dream. 'Opportunities to acquire country houses in the New Forest of such high calibre do not come around that often,' says Giles. 'Just stunning.'
Malwood Walk House is for sale through Savills at a guide price of £4.25 million — see more details.
