Country house in Canterbury

Dawes Court, on the market at a guide price of £1.6 million, is not far from the train station, schools, shops and restaurants of Canterbury in Kent, while still managing to be hidden in a quiet countryside spot just two-and-a-half miles north of the cathedral city.

The Art Deco meets Italianate-style house built about 30 years ago for a local businessman has many of the attributes of a period home as well as the pluses of a more modern property, according to selling agent Nigel Maclean from Calcutt Maclean Wood in Ashford (www.cmwea.co.uk).

'With a play on words, this secluded gem has been heard of, but not seen. Now that word has got out, there is great interest in the house with seven reception rooms, five bedrooms and a magnificent central staircase in the main hall,' he says.

Dawes Court has many features expected in a serious 21st-century country house, including electronic gates, video entry-phone, portico entrance, marble floors, solarium and Gaggenau kitchen.

Located in conservation and special landscape areas, one of Dawes Courts’ main selling points is found beyond the house’s lawns. A bluebell woodland called Daw’s Wood that is part of the well-known ancient Blean Woods, adds to the rare feeling of seclusion enjoyed by the current owners.

'The combination of a very special house and the old woodlands round you makes this an unusual and appealing prospect,' adds Mr Maclean.

Country houses for sale