Having an unusual name is equal parts blessing and curse. Take my friend with the surname ‘Marjoribanks’. It's a Scottish moniker uncommon enough that it's one you won't forget, especially given that it’s pronounced ‘Marshbanks’. Being remembered at parties is one thing, though; dealing with call centre staff is another, and my poor friend, despite usually sounding it out as ‘Mah-jaw-ree-banks’ when on the phone, has spent his life getting post to all sorts of names: Marsh-Banks, Mr Marchbanks, and even a promotion to Major Banks at one point. My favourite was the day he opened a new bank account, with the cards arriving a few days later all made out in the name of Miss Marjorie Banks.
Potential buyers should probably take this in to account when taking a look at Joldwynds, am intriguing Grade II-listed house in Boxhurst, on the edge of the Wealden village of Sandhurst, that’s 3½ miles from Hawkhurst on the Kent/East Sussex border. It’s up for sale at a guide price of £2.5m via Jackson-Stops, and it’s got pretty much everything going for it apart from that unpronounceable, unspellable name.
The house has been meticulously designed to create a striking family home full of innovative ideas for modern living, yet retaining many original, even Lutyens-esque features. Recent additions are a state-of-the-art kitchen and a pool house, which blend seamlessly with the building’s original structure.
Originally two barns with an oast, the building was converted in the 1930s by the prolific English architect Oliver Hill, an admirer of Lutyens, as an ‘entertainment complex’ for Boxhurst Farm, which was owned at that time by Wilfred Greene, 1st Baron Greene, later Master of the Rolls.
As for the odd name? Well, shortly after having the barns converted, Greene moved to Holmbury St Mary in Surrey, where he commissioned Hill to design a Modernist house called Joldwynds to replace an 1874 Arts-and-Crafts-style house designed by Philip Webb, which Greene had demolished in 1930. The Surrey Joldwynds, completed in 1932, is a beautiful place that's celebrated as one of the great Modernist country houses. As you can already tell, this Joldwynds isn't that Joldwynds: somewhat confusingly, back at Boxhurst Farm, the present owner of the former entertainment complex converted the building to residential use in the 1980s, and renamed it Joldwynds. And then there were two.
The converted barn Joldwynds is a wonderful family home has another benefit to offer: it’s within the Cranbrook School catchment area. Alastair Hancock of Jackson-Stops in Cranbrook is handling the sale at a guide price of £2.5m, and it looks lovely. Just steel yourself for a lifetime of post addressed to Goldwings, Gold Winds, Joel Wynds, and many more amusing variations.
Joldwynds is for sale at £2.5 million via Strutt & Parker – see more pictures and details.
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