‘A completely faded glory… a place that time forgot’. How could you not warm to a place immediately on hearing such a description?
The property in question is Coombe Park at Whitchurch-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. This 125-acre estate on within its Repton landscape on the banks of the Thames is for sale at a guide price of £10m via Strutt & Parker (whose agent Mark McAndrew provided that enticing description) and Knight Frank.
Created by James Gardiner, scion of a Bristol family, which derived its wealth from sugar and slavery, on his return from the East Indies in 1865, the heart of the estate was a grand, 18th-century mansion, the main part of which was demolished after the Second World War, with the former servants’ wing and coach house adapted to form the principal estate residence.
This was extended and refurbished in 1982 to create the still imposing, 13,368sq ft main house, which is now said to be ‘in poor order’, having remained unoccupied for more than four years; it has four main reception rooms, six bedrooms, five bathrooms and an indoor swimming pool.
Yet while work is needed, the grandeur is clear to see. From the romantic gates which guard the property's entrance to the beautiful ceilings and parquet floor in the ballroom to the sweeping staircase in the main hallway, this is a house with all manner of fine touches which just need the right hand to bring them back to their best.
Reflecting Coombe Park’s ownership by the Howard family of racehorse owners and breeders from 1898 until after the Second World War, which saw the estate expand to 670 acres in 1920, is a complex of period stud buildings, cottages and offices, and a range of 10 stables and outbuildings, together with a large traditional brick barn.
Shades of Edwardian splendour are evoked by the picturesque brick-and-tile boathouse on the leafy banks overhanging the Thames. Even at this chilly time of year it’s almost impossible not to imagine yourself enjoying warm summer’s evenings down by the water’s edge.
Coombe Park is for sale at a guide price of £10m via Strutt & Parker and Knight Frank – see more details and pictures.
How to restore a listed building
If you're planning a restoration, or any works on your listed building, make sure you consult our guide to who's
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
'The project of a lifetime': A ruined mansion that needs saving in the 'Midsomer Murders' village
Brightwell Park offers the opportunity to re-create a beautiful quintessential English estate with a traditional 'big house' at its heart.
-
How an app can make you fall in love with nature, with Melissa HarrisonThe novelist, children's author and nature writer Melissa Harrison joins the podcast to talk about her love of the natural world and her new app, Encounter.
-
'There is nothing like it on this side of Arcadia': Hampshire's Grange Festival is making radical changes ahead of the 2025 country-house opera season
-
Welcome to the modern party barn, where disco balls are 'non-negotiable'A party barn is the ultimate good-time utopia, devoid of the toil of a home gym or the practicalities of a home office. Modern efforts are a world away from the draughty, hay-bales-and-a-hi-fi set-up of yesteryear.
-
Five beautiful homes, from a barn conversion to an island treasure, as seen in Country LifeOur pick of the best homes to come to the market via Country Life in recent days include a wonderful thatched home in Devon and a charming red-brick house with gardens that run down to the water's edge.
-
The finest interiors in Edinburgh? A seven-bedroom townhouse furnished by Robert Kime comes to marketSituated on one of the New Town's grandest terraces, this four-storey property is a collector's dream.
-
A Grade II*-listed country manor with one of the most beautiful drawing rooms in EnglandIf Old Manor Farm in Somerset is good enough for Pevsner, it's good enough for you.
-
An eight-bedroom home in Surrey where an army of robots will look after your lawnsDo not fear the bladed guardians of Monksfield House. They are here to help.
-
A French castle for sale on the banks of the Dordogne? With a swimming pool? Where do we sign?This chateau in Lalinde is nothing short of a historical delight in the south of France. And it comes fully furnished.
-
Sip your morning tea where Churchill once paced, as his former Pimlico home comes up for saleThe five-bedroom flat in Eccleston Square offers ‘historical gravitas and modern comfort’ in a leafy pocket of London.
-
Live a life of Tudor fancy in this five-bedroom London home with links to Cardinal Wolsey and Henry VIIIFans of Wolf Hall rejoice, as a rare chance to own a Tudor home inside the M25 comes to market.
