At Godwins House near Christchurch, tradition and modernity embrace to create exquisite results.
There’s something immensely reassuring about seeing a house that looks like an old house but is, in fact, a new house. I like modern homes, somewhat scandalously considering where I work. I like glass, and modernism, and clean lines, and underfloor heating. I like those kitchens that don’t really look like kitchens where everything is hidden away. I also, however, like new houses that look like old houses.
Godwins House. A perfect period country home with a surprise behind its glorious façade.
Take Godwins House, surrounded by paddocks and woodland within Waterditch, a small rural hamlet in Dorset. For sale with Fine and Country for £3 million, it is, as you might have deduced, a charming red brick family home under a thatched roof situated in some pleasant gardens and grounds. It is also brand new!
The ‘kitchen’ part of the kitchen/dining/living room on the ground floor.
Yes, this is a new-build house, which, considering what pops into my head when I read or hear the word ‘New Build’ is very exciting. It goes to show that they don’t all have to be featureless brick boxes on the edge of towns. Yes it’s £3 million, but also, it is proof that the sympathetic new-build is possible. Rejoice.
Two bi-folding doors blend the lines between the interior and exterior.
Thankfully, for your £3 million you get not one, but two properties — the aforementioned Godwins House in all its brick-built EPC-rated-A glory, and an attached converted barn. Together, they provide six bedrooms on three acres land. If all that isn’t enough, there are also garaging and stables and planning permission for a large master bedroom and a larger utility room. There is also no chain. Nothing but the hits at this place.
The main living area of the barn extension.
The interiors have been finished to a sublime standard, continuing the theme of the entire property, mixing modern comforts with traditional styles. A particular highlight is the triple aspect kitchen/dining/family room, in which folding doors open the full length of two sides to seamlessly blend the interior and exterior.
A view from the living room out towards the pergola dining area.
And what an exterior it is. As mentioned, the gardens and grounds are 3 acres in total, and are mostly laid to lawn with hard and soft landscaping, surrounded by paddocks and countryside. The rear garden also slopes down to a small stream. A patio area with pergola provides the perfect space for al fresco dining, with an outdoor fire and chimney, as well as a soundsystem.
The property as a whole extends to some three acres.
And that EPC rating of A is not to be sniffed at either. The property benefits from its own sewage treatment plant, air source heat pump, a solar-power system, battery storage and an EV car charger. All the new, in a blanket of the old.
To take a video tour, click here
Best country houses for sale this week
An irresistible West Country cottage and a magnificent Cumbrian country house make our pick of the finest country houses for
For sale for the first time in 50 years, an unlisted Sussex farmhouse surrounded by a ‘thriving 117-acre nature reserve’
https://www.knightfrank.com/properties/residential/for-sale/wards-lane-wadhurst-east-sussex-tn5/CHO180010
18th century elegance and some 6,500sq ft of space with views over the citadel of Rye
The Victorian elegance of Mountsfield House stands in stark contrast to the town's history of smuggling and piracy.
22 superb homes for sale from £260k to £15 million, as seen in Country Life
From huge estates to delightful cottages, there really is something for anyone thinking of moving to the country.
