It?s the famed architect?s first major project If the words ?English country house? sends you into a reverie, you might want to sit down for this. Over in Surrey Hills, an ?Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty? located about 30 miles south of London, the storied estate of Chinthurst Hill has gone on the market. Completed in 1895, the property was the first major commission for renowned Victorian-era British architect Edwin Lutyens, who would go on to design many a spectacular country residences and much of New Delhi, India.
Sitting on a whopping hillside 69 acres, the main residence is surrounded by gorgeous gardens, which Lutyens collaborated on with garden designer Gertrude Jekyll. Marked by ample shrubbery, natural paths, and lots of color and texture, the Chinthurst Hill gardens are emblematic of the Jekyll-designed gardens that would populate many other Lutyens designs.
The main residence, built of Bargate stone quarried near the site, features a Great Hall with oak floors and ceilings, tiled kitchen, and renovated bedrooms and drawing room. As Country Life details, the property had been subdivided a few times as it changed hands over the years.
In 1999, however, the current owner, Anna Hunter (now Mrs. Graham Bonham-Carter), owner of London?s Belgravia Gallery, acquired the property and began rehabiliating the place, reuniting the nine bedrooms and restoring the gardens as well. The whole thing is now available to snag, with a guide price of £...