Few homes mix old and new with the chutzpah shown at Ollerton Grange, and it's hard not to be impressed at the result.
In these days of ups and downs it’s not uncommon for houses to come to the market, get taken back off again, then find themselves relaunched some time later. That is exactly the scenario being dealt with by Jackson-Stops’s Crispin Harris, who is handling the relaunch onto the market of Grade II-listed Ollerton Grange, at a revised guide price of £12.5m, a spectacular home near the quaint market town of Knutsford on the Cheshire Plain, between the Peak District to the east and the Welsh mountains to the west.
The sales particulars describe the property as ‘an unparalleled country estate with a Grade II-listed, eight-bedroom country house with a leisure suite, three cottages, out-buildings, manicured gardens and parkland — in all just under 43 acres, with a further 98 acres available by separate negotiation’.
Having bought the Grange with 141 acres of land in 2000, the owner — then in his thirties — embarked on a painstaking restoration and modernisation of the main house, which was built in the Arts-and-Crafts style in the early 1900s.
No expense was spared in the course of the renovation, which resulted in sumptuous interiors, with many of the furnishings provided by the late Robert Kime, one of The King’s favourite interior designers.
The manor has almost doubled in size to some 25,000sq ft following the addition of a spectacular entertaining wing, comprising a grand entertaining hall and a truly remarkable leisure complex.
The house now offers luxurious family accommodation on the ground and first floors, including seven reception rooms, a kitchen, five bedroom suites and a family bathroom, with a three-bedroom penthouse on the second floor.
Somewhat less than conservative in style, the leisure suite is entered via an enclosed atrium with a two-storey, Moorish-style wooden screen forming the entrance to the swimming-pool complex, which has folding doors on all sides allowing access to the surrounding stone terrace and an electrically operated retractable roof that makes it feel more like an outdoor pool in the summer months.
Also included is a leisure zone with a hot tub and various treatment rooms, with a 68ft-long gymnasium and a yoga room on the first floor.
Ollerton Grange is for sale at £12.5m — see more details and pictures.
Best country houses for sale this week
A stunning Cornish farmhouse, a grand Yorkshire mansion, a delightful Arts and Crafts home in Surrey and a wonderful Cotswolds
