GUIDE PRICE £1,250,000 - £1,350,000.
This elegant, detached period house is situated in a prime position within the boundaries of the sought after and picturesque Shoreham Village. Copthall has been extensively and sensitively renovated throughout, whilst great care has been taken to preserve the authentic features of the period.
This striking and superbly restored four-bedroom period property, (C1800) was originally built by Squire Humphrey Mildmay, of Shoreham Place as the Bailiff’s house for the extensive Mildmay Estate.
In 1881 (known then as Copt Hall House), it became the home of William. M Roberts and his family, curate in the Parish of Shoreham.
Whilst the restoration works to Copthall have been extensive, both the interior and exterior works have been sympathetically and expertly carried with a precise eye to detail to preserve the charm and character of the period.
Features of note include the leadlight mullioned casement windows which clearly replicate the original windows, the gabled entrance porch and the centre gable with the arrow slit window and the very distinctive twin chimney shafts.
During the renovation of the property an ancient and long hidden spring fed well was uncovered. This is now an exceptional feature of the garden room/office, with a reinforced glass cover and internal complimentary lighting illuminating the ancient brickwork.
The internal décor is in cool neutral colours with engineered oak floors throughout the ground floor and quality fitted carpets to the upper floors.
The accommodation is arranged over three floors.
Location The village of Shoreham sits beside the River Darent as it winds through the North Downs and is situated six miles north of Sevenoaks, in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Reputed to be the most bombed village in Britain, the famous great white cross, cut in the chalk hillside is a monument to commemorate the dead of the First World War. The fascinating Shoreham Aircraft Museum holds hundreds of aviation relics and has a charming tearoom and tea garden. The village has a primary school, recreation ground, several pubs serving food, an excellent village store and post office. Shoreham Village hosts lots of events throughout the year, including the famed 'Duck' Race, Village Fete, Garden Safari, Midsummer Festival and the Heavy Horse Show. The Mount in Shoreham is a boutique Vineyard producing award winning still and sparkling wines and holds regular wine tasting events. Darenth Valley Golf Course is located on the edge of the village. Shoreham railway station has trains on the Victoria line, Blackfriars, St Pancras, the line also goes direct to Sevenoaks in just 9 minutes, where there are a variety of trains into central London, taking approximately 40 minutes. For more information on Shoreham visit. www.shorehamvillage.co.uk
Directions From our office proceed to the roundabout and take the first exit onto Station Road/A225. Continue to follow A225. The property can be found set back from the road on the right-hand side.
Sellers Insight Built by Squire Humphrey Mildmay (Circa1800), Copthall is a very handsome period home that was originally the bailiff’s house of the Mildmay Estate. Interestingly, it was a descendent of Humphrey Mildmay, Lord Anthony Bingham Mildmay, a keen amateur steeplechaser, who, when he sat next to the Queen Mother at a dinner party in Windsor Castle in 1949, persuaded her that she should buy her a horse to share with the then Princess Elizabeth, thus igniting both the Queen’s and the Queen Mother’s passion for horse racing. The property, which has been the subject of a major project of renovation, sits in a very scenic location on the edge of the delightful Kentish village of Shoreham.
“I was originally intending to buy another property just across the way from Copthall when the estate agent suggested I might like to take a look at this one instead, and I must say that I was absolutely blown away by the sheer beauty of the house, the garden and this lovely setting,” says the developer. “The previous owners had been here for around forty or fifty years and it was clear that it had been a much-loved family home, but it was in definite need of a fair bit of TLC. However, I could immediately see its potential, that with a bit of hard work and imagination it could be sympathetically enhanced and transformed into a gorgeous home ideal for modern family life, and that’s exactly what my team and I have done.”
“We essentially had to strip it right back and start again, and along the way everything from the wiring and plumbing to the insulation has been brought right up to modern standards. We have also altered the layout slightly, creating a large kitchen/diner that runs round into a handy boot room, we also extended up into the loft area and we converted an old outbuilding into a beautiful home office. It’s now much more spacious and the layout will be perfect for busy family life and entertaining, however we’ve also restored and enhanced, and in some cases reinstated all of the beautiful period features so it retains every bit of its original character.”
“Something else we were keen to achieve was a really nice feeling of connection between inside and out, so we’ve added large sets of bi-folding doors along the back of the house, and the office has been almost fully glazed. The garden, within the quarter of an acre plot, has been beautifully relandscaped and designed with family life and entertaining in mind, and it will also be extremely low maintenance which will give the new owners much more time to enjoy it.”
Favourite room: “The open-plan kitchen/diner will definitely be the heart of this home. It will be a place where the family can gather together to cook, eat, relax and entertain, and during the summer months the bi-fold doors can be pushed back to extend the room out onto the patio beyond. We’ve also added a veranda so the patio can be used whatever the weather.”
Favourite aspect of the grounds or surrounding area: “Shoreham, which is a lovely little village that boasts a handful of pubs, a boutique vineyard (The Mount Vineyard) producing award winning wines and holds regular wine tasting events plus a primary school is just a short walk from the house; there’s mile upon mile of beautiful open countryside right on the doorstep, and the station, which operates direct services into London is quite literally a stone’s throw away, so it’s a fantastic location for a commuter. In my opinion it’s a location that would be hard to better.”
Memorable event “The office is another standout feature of the property and ideal now that so many people are choosing to work from home. When we were converting it, we uncovered the old water well, which is around 90ft deep, so we’ve covered it with toughened glass and put a light down there so it’s now a stunning feature and will no doubt be a real talking point.”
What they will miss most / why they are leaving: “The house was beautifully designed and built over two hundred years ago, however the work we’ve done has enhanced it even further and made it wonderfully conducive to modern family life,” says the developer. “All of the work has been done to the absolute highest standards so it can now be enjoyed for many more years to come.”
Front Copthall is approached via a five-bar gate and crunch shingled drive with access to a double garage. There are two parking bays on the side drive with two additional parking spaces in front of the garage.
Front steps to decorative enclosing brick wall with centre wooden latched gate. Landscaped frontage with side lawns. Full height side fencing with double gates and side pedestrian access.
Entrance Porch Gabled roof. Period solid wood door to front. Arrow slit side windows. Tessellated tiled floor. Ceiling light.
Reception Hall Engineered oak floor. Staircase with carved wood balustrade rising to galleried landing. Downlights. Cast iron style radiators. Door to dry cellar.
Cellar 11'10" x 9'9" (3.6m x 2.97m). Window at drive level.
Cloakroom & W.C. 9'7" x 4'8" (2.92m x 1.42m). Window to side. Wood floor. Part tiled wall. Vanity unit with inset wash hand basin. ‘Burlington’ chrome high level cistern and WC. Downlights.
Study 12'2" x 10' (3.7m x 3.05m). Window to front. Wood floor. Door to hall. Downlights. Cast iron style radiator.
Sitting Room 15'5" x 11'1" (4.7m x 3.38m). Dual aspect windows to front and side. Wood floor. Open fire hearth with decorative cast iron fire surround. Door to hall. Downlights. Cast iron style radiator.
Family Room 17'10" x 10'11" (5.44m x 3.33m). Dual aspect windows to side. Wood floor. French doors to covered terrace. Original wood fireplace with exposed brick inset. Door to Dining Room. Downlights. Cast iron style radiators.
Breakfast/Dining Room 17'6" x 9'10" (5.33m x 3m). Bi-fold doors to covered terrace. Wood floor. Exposed brick fire surround with high mantle and wood burning stove. Door to hall. Open plan to kitchen. Downlights. Cast iron style radiator.
Kitchen 11'4" x 10'8" (3.45m x 3.25m). Dual aspect window to side. Wood floor. ‘Kreider’ bespoke fitted kitchen in soft grey comprising eye level wall units with task lighting, soft close drawer and base units with pale ivory polished work tops running above. Inset ceramic sink with extending mixer tap. Inset induction hob with extractor and light above. ‘Siemens’ integrated appliances include dish washer, twin eye level electric ovens in housing flanked by two full height fridge freezers. Breakfast bar. Downlights.
Boot Room 8'4" x 8'2" (2.54m x 2.5m). Door to garden. Skylight window. Recessed cloaks unit with boot/shoe cupboards with seating above. Door to utility/laundry room. Two pendant lights. Cast iron style radiator.
Utility/Laundry Room 8'4" x 5'3" (2.54m x 1.6m). Window to side. Skylight. Wood floor. ‘Siemens’ washing machine and tumble drier in full height housing. Side base unit with inset sink. Downlights. Cast iron style radiator.
First Floor Landing Carpet to stairs and galleried landing. Access to loft space. Stairs to top floor. Window to front. Arrow slit window to front. Downlights. Cast iron style radiator.
Principle Bedroom 14'1" x 11'7" (4.3m x 3.53m). Dual aspect windows to side and rear. Fitted carpet. Downlights. Cast iron style radiator.
Dressing Room 11'8" x 10'8" (3.56m x 3.25m). Window to side. Fitted carpet. Door to en-suite. Downlights.
Ensuite 11'9" x 4'10" (3.58m x 1.47m). Window to front. Decorative tiled floor. Part tiled walls. Double shower cubicle, rain head shower. Victorian style heated towel rail. Vanity unit with inset wash hand basin, marble top. Love level WC with concealed flush.
Bedroom Two 15'7" x 12'2" (4.75m x 3.7m). Dual aspect window to front and side. Fitted carpet. Downlights. Cast iron style radiator.
Bedroom Three 14' x 11'9" (4.27m x 3.58m). Dual aspect windows to side and rear. Fitted carpet. Downlights. Cast iron style radiator.
Family Bathroom 11'4" x 8'10" (3.45m x 2.7m). Luxuriously spacious. Window to rear. Decorative tiled floor. Part tiled walls. Free standing roll top bath, centre mixer taps and hand- held shower. Double shower cubicle with rain head shower. ‘Burlington’ chrome high level cistern and WC. Twin wash hand basins in vanity unit. Victorian style heated towel rail. Shaver socket. Downlights.
Second Floor Landing Lobby with roof window. Fitted carpet. Downlights. Cast iron style radiator. Low level handing space.
Bedroom Four 9'11" x 9' (3.02m x 2.74m). Roof windows. Fitted carpet. Sloping ceiling. Downlights. Cast iron style radiator.
Ensuite 6'6" x 4'8" (1.98m x 1.42m). Roof window. Part tiled walls. Tiled floor. Shower cubicle with rain head shower. Racked shelving to side. Vanity unit with inset wash hand basin. Close coupled WC. Towel rail.
Exterior Rear Secluded and fenced on all sides. Extensive flagstone patio with covered terrace and paved pathways to detached garage and external gates. Extensive manicured lawns extending to the side of the house. Courtesy wall lights. Boiler cupboard.
Office/Garden Room (attached to the main house) 9'4" x 8'4" (2.84m x 2.54m). Glazed on three sides. Tiled floor. The spring fed well with reinforced glass cover and lighting is situated in the centre of room.
Garden/Summer Kitchen & attached WC 6'1" x 5'5" (1.85m x 1.65m). Wall and base units. Inset sink. Tiled floor. Wall lights. Window to side. Electric heater.
WC 5' x 4'5" (1.52m x 1.35m). Close coupled wc. Wash basin. Tiled floor. Part tiled walls. Electric heater.
Detached Double Garage 18'3" x 15'9" (5.56m x 4.8m). Approached via five bar gate to the front of the property. light and power. Electric up and over doors.
Parking Two parking bays plus parking in front of the double garage.
Additional Property Information Double glazed throughout.
New oil-fired central heating system and oil-fired boiler.
Security system.
TV areal sockets to all rooms.
Wireless BT Internet line.
Mains water.
Private drainage with septic tank.
Transport Information Shoreham Railway Station: 0.1 miles
Otford Railway Station: 1.3 miles
Eynsford Railway Station: 2.2 miles
All distances are approximate and calculated as the crow flies.
Local Schools Primary Schools:
Shoreham Primary School: 0.5 miles
Otford Primary School: 1.35 miles
Kemsing Primary School: 2.36 miles
Secondary Schools:
The Knole Academy: 3.1 miles
Trinity: 3.12 miles
The Weald of Kent Grammar School (Annexe): 3.12 miles
Independent Schools:
Russell House: 1.5 miles
St Michaels: 1.43 miles
Walthamstow Hall: 3.66 miles
SEN Schools:
Browns School: 2.9 miles
Bromley Beacon Academy: 4.09 miles
Parkwood Hall: 4.42 miles
Please check with the local authority as to catchment areas and intake criteria.
Golf Clubs The Darenth: 0.1 miles
Lullingstone Park: 2.4 miles
The London Club: 4.4 miles
Health Clubs Dartford Mecure Brands Hatch Health Club: 5.7 miles
St Julians: 7.3 miles
Reynolds Retreat: 8.5 miles
Useful Information We recognise that buying a property is a big commitment and therefore recommend that you visit the local authority website for more helpful information about the property and local area before proceeding.
Should any of the information be critical in your decision making, then please contact Sevenoaks for verification.
Council Tax We are informed this property is in council tax band G you should verify this with Sevenoaks Borough Council.
Tenure The vendor advises us that this property is Freehold. Should you proceed with the purchase of the property your solicitor must verify these details.
Appliances/Services The mention of any appliances and/or services within these sales particulars does not imply that they are in full efficient working order.
Measurements All measurements are approximate and therefore may be subject to a small margin of error.
Opening Hours Monday to Saturday – 9am – 6pm
Viewing Strictly via Fine & Country Sevenoaks
Reference MT/LG/SEV200081
Read less
