Sometimes, when I’m bored, I like to imagine hypothetical situations where people from the past would be presented with something from the present, and how they might react.
What would occur, for example, if you showed a Victorian chimney sweep an Iphone? Would the mind of a serf from the Middle Ages be able to tolerate the concept of a Vauxhall Corsa? Could legendary garden designer Gertrude Jekyll comprehend the mechanics of the Hawker-Siddeley Harrier?
Silly questions really, but they help pass the time.
The Jekyll-Harrier question sprung to mind when browsing through the particulars of Durford Edge near Petersfield in Hampshire. The property — with Savills for £3.95 million — is everything we love at Country Life: an Arts-and-Crafts home, built in the late Edwardian period by the esteemed architect Inigo Triggs, with gardens laid out by the aforementioned doyenne of the English country garden, Gertrude Jekyll.
At some point, however, the owner of this beautiful Hampshire home decided that one ornament the garden was missing was the world’s first Vertical Take off and Landing (VTOL) aircraft, the Harrier jump jet. So they went and got one.
Some questions. Many questions, actually, but we'll start with these.
Firstly, which shop does a person visit when they wish to purchase a Harrier? Is it one of those strange army surplus stores that you used to sneak into when a kid to look at some crossbows? Or does the Ministry of Defence have an account on Ebay?
Secondly, does it come with missiles?
The third, and in my opinion more important, question is why, in the agent’s particulars, it is not mentioned at all? This is surely the first time in history that the elephant in the room is actually a fighter jet in the garden.
It's not as if there aren't plenty of other important details included. For example, I can tell you that the main home extends to more than 4,800sq ft, offers six bedrooms over two floors and has been sympathetically modernised in recent years. I can even assert with some confidence that there's a WiFi-enabled fridge-freezer.
Other important details are the secondary accommodation included in the asking price, named The Hollow, itself with four bedrooms, the 10 acres of gardens (designed by Gertrude Jekyll, not sure if I mentioned that) and the very pleasant pond.
Not mentioned is the Harrier jump jet.
I suppose at this point, a half-decent journalist would do some digging to find out if the fighter aircraft is included in the sale price, or available via separate negotiation. But that sounds like a job for a conveyancing lawyer, and I don’t want to step on their toes.
So, to recap, for £3.95 million you will receive two properties, 10 bedrooms, 10 acres and a Harrier (maybe) in the Hampshire countryside.
Sounds like a pretty good deal.
Durford Edge is on the market with Savills Guildford. Click here for further details
Credit: Strutt and Parker
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