12 bed country house for sale

Leacon Hall, Warehorne, Kent TN26

Why We Love Leacon Hall

‘A perfect example of a Queen Anne house’

As described by the eminent architectural historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner.

There is something magical about houses built in this short period at the start of the 18th century. Perfectly proportioned and dignified, Leacon Hall personifies the best of Queen Anne architecture inside and out and has consequently been designated a Grade II* listing, as a building of Special Architectural Interest.

Leacon Hall is privately situated on a hill on the edge of the village of Warehorne, surrounded by over 12 acres of stunning gardens and grounds with green views all around, including over Romney Marsh towards Dungeness.

The house has been sympathetically modernised and maintained by a succession of custodians, including the current owners, to create an elegant and comfortable home which embraces its historic character. The interiors have kept a wealth of early period features including high ceilings, heavy painted panelled doors with deep architraves and brass door furniture, sash windows, working shutters, working fireplaces, exposed wood flooring, raised and fielded panelling, dado rails and period-style cast iron radiators.

Set back from the road behind an avenue of trees and hedging, the house is approached via a sweeping gravelled driveway which continues round the house to further parking near the back door. The lovely front façade is of unusually fine quality, being built of decorative Flemish bond red and blue brick and with a hooded doorway featuring splendid carved corbels. The satisfying symmetry is enhanced by sash windows, twin chimneys and the sine qua non of the English country house, a lushly trailing wisteria.

Accommodation

Ground Floor

The front door opens into a large and beautiful reception hall with original exposed floorboards, panelling, and ornate shelved alcove, and a working corner fireplace typical of the Queen Anne period. An archway decorated either side with a lion and unicorn rampant presents a highly original ccoat of arms, whilst the upper part features charming cupids and baroque scrolls. The frieze was commissioned by the original owner and builder of the house, Thomas Kenneth Hodges, and is dated 1708, presumably the year the house was built. (See further details in the Chapters past section below). Through the archway is a magnificent period dog leg staircase with turned balusters, enriched scroll tread ends and with pedimented shelves on the landing.

All the main rooms throughout the house are bright, light and airy with excellent ceiling heights and handsome proportions. The principal reception rooms lead off the reception hall, comprising a dual aspect Drawing Room with open fire painted panelling and ornate shelved alcove, dual aspect Dining Room with wooden panelling with original floor to ceiling hidden crockery cupboards and open fire, and a fine Music Room painted in an elegant green and featuring a walk-in alcove. A separate study with woodburner sits along the hall.

The traditional kitchen is situated at the back of the house. This lovely room is flooded with natural light from a lightwell and dual aspect windows overlooking the garden including, French windows out onto an outdoor terrace. The kitchen includes an enormous aga with four ovens and an electric module, an Island with butler sink, and space for a large breakfast table. The kitchen is supported by a back kitchen/utility which is fitted with a range of storage cupboards with wooden work surfaces by Fired Earth, double butler sink and plenty of space for white goods and additional fridge/freezer space. There is also a boot room and downstairs loo conveniently located next to the back door.

Extensive original cellars provide plenty of wine storage.

Upstairs

The rooms on the first floor are just as impressive as those on the ground and include a wonderful drawing room with panelling painted in a soft teal, exposed floorboards and a beautiful corner fireplace with striking patterned tiles. The generous dual aspect principal bedroom with duck egg blue painted panelling and open fire has an adjoining dressing room and large bathroom with bath. Across the landing is the second bedroom with pale pink painted panelling, open fireplace, period fitted cupboards and a superb art deco style wash basin, as well as an adjoining bathroom with shower. A third bedroom down the hall has an adjoining bathroom with separate bath and shower and a dressing area. A laundry room and storeroom, and separate upstairs loo are conveniently located down the corridor next to the back stairs.

The second floor comprises five further bedrooms, one of which is used as a sewing room, and a large family bathroom with freestanding rolltop bath and separate shower.

The Lodge and The Oast House

The Oast and The Lodge, both curtilage listed, are situated to the south west and west of the main house. Both benefit from their own private gardens and enjoy separate vehicular access from School Hill. The beautifully presented Oast features a roundel sitting room, fitted kitchen, three bedrooms and two bath/shower rooms. The Lodge, an architect-designed converted farm building has great charm and benefits from under floor heating with individual thermostatic controls, a wood burning stove to the open plan sitting room/kitchen, oak flooring, two bedrooms and two bath/shower rooms.

The Oast is rented out by the current owners as a holiday let. The Lodge has previously been used as additional accommodation but has more recently been rented out as a holiday let, too.

Glorious Gardens and Grounds

Kent has long been referred to as the garden of England and the gardens at Leacon are a true delight.

Leacon Hall sits in just over 12 acres surrounded by wonderful gardens and grounds. The gardens have been thoughtfully laid out with input from leading landscape architects Marian Boswall, who specialises in historic landscapes and sustainable gardening, and the late Anthony du Gard Pasley, who was renowned for his control of space and extensive plant knowledge.

French doors open out from the kitchen onto a York stone terrace overlooking a large formal lawn flanked by herbaceous borders planted for year round interest, and mature beech hedges. To the east side sits a gravelled Italian-style courtyard to planted with olive trees and neatly clipped box hedges, providing a perfect spot for outdoor dining and entertaining. A gate leads through this courtyard past an extensive range of potting sheds to an enchanting and substantial period walled garden. The mellow walls encompass an abundance of planting including a kitchen garden with raised beds, a greenhouse, espaliered apple trees, lawn and surrounding borders which are a riot of colour. A pool house in one cornerleads through to a heated outdoor swimming pool with stone seating and terrace, sheltered from the wind and view of the house by beech hedging.

Beyond the formal garden to the north lies a large orchard with mature pear, cherry, apple and damson trees flanking a central mown path leading up to a charming Chinoiserie pagoda summer house. The wider grounds consist of a pond and two large grazing paddocks and a substantial agricultural barn with stabling.

Chapters Past

‘Five and twenty ponies,
Trotting through the dark -
Brandy for the Parson, 'Baccy for the Clerk.
Laces for a lady; letters for a spy,
Watch the wall my darling while the Gentlemen go by!’

- A Smugglers Song, Rudyard Kipling

The village of Warehorne is an ancient settlement first mentioned in a charter of Egbert the Saxon King of Wessex and grandfather of Alfred the Great in 820 ad. Situated on the Saxon Shore Way (the shoreline before the marshes were developed), close to the present South coast and the early medieval Cinque Ports of New Romney, Rye and Winchelsea, Warehorne was perfectly positioned for trade, and later as a stop-off for smugglers using landings along Dungeness and bringing goods through the Romney Marshes to the South. The tower of the medieval church of St Matthew provided a convenient look out post and there is reputed to be a tunnel between the church and the historic village pub the Woolpack Inn.

Leacon Hall itself stands on a hill to the North of the village known as the Leacon, an area originally cleared for allotments. The house was built in 1708 by gentleman farmer Thomas Kenneth Hodges, who probably supplemented his income and building funds through smuggling French brandy. Hodges, as churchwarden, commissioned artist Mr. Ward to paint a coat of arms and prayer boards in St. Matthew's Church in Warehorne, and to translate his heraldic artistry onto the archway in the front hall of Leacon Hall. Ward depicted the lion of England and unicorn of Scotland from the royal coat of arms. This interior design is dated 1708, the year following the Act of Union forming England and Scotlan into a single kingdom called Great Britain.

The rare survival of all the wonderful panelling in the house can be ascribed to Lady Everett Millais, the daughter-in-law of Sir John Everett Millais, the renowned Pre-Raphaelite artist. She and her husband bought Leacon Hall in the early 20th century, and she remained there as a widow until 1942. Many houses along the South coast were requisitioned during the Second World War and stripped of their panelling, which was used by soldiers as firewood. Lady Millais, however, staunchly defended the house and refused to allow it to be requisitioned, thus preserving its many fine features.

Living in Kent

Leacon Hall provides the best of town and country living. With the fast train link from Ashford to London (38 minutes), the facilities of the capital are easily reached. Yet the local delights, such as the stunning medieval walled town of Rye, the charming market town of Tenterden, (both of which are unusual amongst provincial towns in having many interesting, independent shops), the beaches at Camber Sands and eerie landscape of Dungeness are all a mere 15 minutes' drive away. Shopping is well catered for, with all main supermarkets in Ashford and Tenterden, excellent local farm shops, and freshly caught fish at Rye and Dungeness.

Tenterden 7.4 miles, Ashford 7.5. Miles, Rye 10 miles, Canterbury 21 miles

London 65 miles | London Gatwick 61 miles

(Distances and times approximate)