Inside the £28 million mansion designed to 'shake things up' and 're-define the English country house of the 21st century'

With a 12-metre indoor swimming pool, helicopter landing area and custom wallpaper by French fashion designer Christian Lacroix, it’s fair to say that Harford Manor is no shrinking violet.

Located a stone’s throw from Windsor Castle, this award-winning estate — which is for sale at £28,000,000 – has an extensive list of top-notch features that most of us can only ever dream of. Little wonder that it’s rumoured to have attracted the rich and famous over the years.

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But it’s not just the eye-popping features that make this property stand out. Built in 2018, the developer, Quada, always inteded Harford Manor to be different: a bold and contemporary take on a country estate. The company's founder CEO Richard Bellman set out to shake things up, and create a rural home that attempts to redefine the English country house for the 21st century.

‘There are a few modern houses but they tend to be soulless,' Bellman tells Country Life. 'The idea was to do a contemporary design that produced a home.

‘It requires attention to architectural features. For example, certain living areas will be grand-ish in height. Then you step into more of a snug and the whole ceiling area will come down to denote the difference and provide intimacy.’

The size of Harford Manor certainly brings the grandeur: it's set in a 40-acre parcel of land just off the M4, with the main house at the centre extending to nearly 20,300 sq ft of carefully-designed space, according to the listing via Harding Green.

A substantial chunk of the ground floor is handed over to a ‘galleria’ flooded with natural light. In other words, an enormous hall. From here, there’s a spacious reception room with jaunty angles. It opens out to a gallery here and a library there. The dining room is no less spacious, with scope to host up to 28 people.

Beyond the formal areas, though, you soon find evidence of the homely spaces that Bellman refers to, with an orangery and morning room offering 'casual spaces’, in the agent's phrasing. These things are all relative, of course: the cosy entertainment room is still big enough to house a bespoke snooker table and a nine-screen video wall.

The large open-plan kitchen is bolstered by a second, more discreet kitchen, described as the ‘chef’s kitchen’.

And then there are all the other practical rooms you’d expect of a large countryside home, such as a boot room, laundry room, and utility room.

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Upstairs is a myriad of rooms. Six bedrooms come with their own ensuite bathrooms - and two have their own terraces too. There’s no shortage of dressing room space up here either.

Three further bedrooms are earmarked for staff (which you would need to keep this place in good nick).

This write-up would not be complete without mentioning the plush study, also on the second floor, which has its own dedicated staircase.

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This is a home that leaves little, if nothing to be desired. There’s a sauna, spa, luxe gym, and that swimming pool. A 1,000-bottle wine cellar. Two roof terraces. And as well as space to park your helicopter, there is also an eight-car garage. Need we even add that there's a tennis court? Of course there's a tennis court.

And as for the Christian Lacroix wallpaper, that’s in the powder room. Bellman says he wanted to get away from ‘greige’: ‘In the more common areas, we have splashes of colour’.

The estate also has considerable equestrian form. Its extensive facilities include stable yards and an indoor arena. It is in polo territory, after all. Guards Polo Club and the Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club are nearby. Ascot Racecourse is not far either.

Bellman says that he’s ‘very proud that it’s a complete one-off.

‘We have people who live in larger homes than this. They live in very classic pieces. A lot of them come in and they love the space.

'It’s different to what they’re used to. We have produced something that flows and is more engaging,’ he adds.

‘There are plenty of areas where you can stand at one point and see through two or three rooms. You get this wonderful interaction of space.’

Harford Manor is for sale via Harding Green for £28,000,000 – you can see more pictures and details here.