‘I was always strong and active in my limbs,’ wrote Gertrude Jekyll of her childhood in the village of Bramley, near Guildford, where the family moved in 1848 and where she and her sister were each given their own gardens to tend.
‘I had no girl companions... It was therefore natural that I should be more of a boy than a girl in my ideas and activities, delighting to go up trees, and to play cricket, and take wasps’ nests after dark, and do dreadful things with gunpowder.’
In 1904, her lifelong love of Nature inspired her to commission Sir Edwin Lutyens to build Millmead House, in the same village, with a view to developing the gardens herself. This five-bedroom house, with a hint of early Georgian in its style, has been enjoyed by the current owners for the past 50 years.
The gardens are ‘sensationally laid out,’ say agents, and, covering just over an acre, they include a summerhouse and two pavilions also designed by Lutyens.
Millmead was first featured in Country Life in 1907 — and its timeless elegance once again graces our pages, 115 years later, as it finds itself on the market via Knight Frank with a guide price of £2.25 million.
Designed by the heavyweights of the architecture and gardening world, Millmead naturally packs a (subtle) punch. Formed of snecked Bargate sandstone with red brick quoins under a tiled roof, the house offers 'the most incredible bones and architectural features in which to create a perfect family home,' say the agents.
Millmead is currently on the market via Knight Frank with a guide price of £2.25 million — see more pictures, or enquire with the agent for further details.
Bramley: What you need to know
Location: About 3 miles south of Guildford, in the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. There are trains from Guildford to London, as well as great access onto the A3. Gatwick and Heathrow airports are also both less than an hour's drive away.
Atmosphere: The village of Bramley offers everything you need for day-to-day living with a good range of shops, a pub and two churches. Further amenities are available in Guildford, which not only offers plenty of restaurants and shopping options, but a theatre and leisure centre, too.
Things to do: Golf is available at Bramley Golf Club and nearby Guildford offers plenty to do, from visiting the Medieval Castle, art galleries and shopping along its cobbled streets. The Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is pretty much on the doorstep — visit Box Hill, Leith Hill, The Devil's Punch Bowl and Newlands Corner, just to name a few.
Schools: Plenty of excellent choices in the area with St. Catherine's in Bramley, Charterhouse, Priorsfield and Cranleigh School.
See more property for sale in the area.
Credit: Strutt and Parker
Best country houses for sale this week
An irresistible West Country cottage and a magnificent Cumbrian country house make our pick of the finest country houses for
-
Good things come in threes: Sir Cecil Beaton's love of flowers, fashion and fabulous friends in a trio of exhibitionsIt’s been 45 years since Sir Cecil Beaton died, but he has inspired not one, not two, but three new exhibitions this year.
-
Murder, 25 acres, and 'the magic of a bygone era' at this eight-bedroom home in DevonUpcott Barton is a family home steeped in history and comes with more than 5,000sq ft of living space.
-
Murder, 25 acres, and 'the magic of a bygone era' at this eight-bedroom home in Devon
Upcott Barton is a family home steeped in history and comes with more than 5,000sq ft of living space.
-
The 'best places to live' ranking that lists all 1,447 towns, cities and large villages in England and Wales — who is this year's winner?Redbourn has been named the best place to live in the country.
-
A six-bedroom house in Wales with estuary views and some gloriously fun interiorsBrynymor House is somehow more beautiful on the inside than the outside.
-
Number of international buyers of UK property reaches record lowA mix of economic uncertainty and tax changes are stemming the flow of overseas house hunters, according to Hamptons estate agents.
-
Five grand rural homes for sale, as seen in Country LifeWe take a look at some of the finest homes to come to market via Country Life this week.
-
The treehouse of your dreams is for sale, and it even comes with a country houseBuy the treehouse, get the country pile free.
-
Harts House: A home straight out of a fairytale for sale in KentWe try not to use cliché too often, but sometimes only cliché will do.
-
In search of Arcadia at Ayot Bury, the Georgian home and estate that's 30 minutes from central LondonThe bucolic dream.
