Two drawings by Lutyens of Munstead Wood; one includes a sketch of Gertrude Jekyll. Courtesy of RIBA Collections
Lutyens Houses on the Market: Summer 2023
Richard Page’s regular property column
Munstead Wood, Busbridge, Surrey, acquired by The National Trust
A very satisfactory outcome has been achieved with the sale of Munstead Wood as news broke recently that The National Trust has acquired this gem. The house, designed by Edwin Lutyens for Gertrude Jekyll in 1896, was on the market through Knight Frank for £5.25m.
Hilary McGrady, Director General of the National Trust, commented: “I’m delighted we have had the opportunity to acquire this special place, which has such strong connections to garden and building design history. The survival of both house and garden offers an extraordinary chance to tell their story and that of Jekyll’s enormous impact, which inspired a new generation of gardeners and nature lovers.”
Andy Jasper, Head of Gardens and Parklands at the National Trust, added: “Munstead Wood is not only a rare surviving example of Jekyll’s work, it is the birthplace of her rich collaboration with Lutyens. It was the source of the planting experiments she described in her writing, the hub of her garden design and nursery business and had a huge influence on garden design and planting in Britain and internationally. There is no greater example of a classic English garden.”
In the coming months The National Trust will be developing its plans for Munstead Wood.
39-40 Sussex Square, Brighton, East Sussex
In Brighton, the freehold interest in the 39-40 Sussex Square mansion, formerly home to Lady Sackville, who bought it in 1918, is for sale.
The Grade 1-listed building dates from the original development of Kemp Town in 1823. This estate of stucco-fronted houses was designed by Amon Wilds and Charles Busby for the developer, Thomas Read Kemp, after whom the area was named. Thomas Cubitt built a significant proportion of Sussex Square.
In 1916 Lutyens met Victoria, Lady Sackville – mother of Vita Sackville-West – and they struck up an instant friendship, nicknaming each other MacSack and MacNed. Lutyens altered a number of houses for her, including White Lodge, The Cliff, Roedean and houses on Hill Street and Ebury Street in London.
Lady Sackville commissioned Lutyens to convert the two houses on Sussex Square into one home. Of these internal alterations, she enthused at the time: “MacNed remodelled (39&40) in half an hour in the most wonderful manner. I must admit his genius: it never struck me more forcibly than today, which was fairy-like as if he had touched the houses with a wand”.
This work, alas, didn’t survive entirely intact for long: in the 1930s, the property was converted into 23 flats. Yet they still exist and are now let on “assured shorthold tenancies”, producing an estimated income of £331,500pa. It is the freehold of this historic building of 18,759sq ft which is for sale, with a guide price of £7 to £8m through Kendrick Property Services.
Kiln Wood Cottage, Preston, near Hitchin, Hertfordshire
From 1908 to 1911, Lutyens worked on Temple Dinsley, an 18th -century manor which had been acquired by Herbert Fenwick (of the Northumberland banking family). Lutyens enlarged and remodelled it to make it more appropriate for entertaining on a grand scale. (The property later became The Princess Helena College, which closed as a result of Covid-19 and was sold last year.) Bertie was cousin to Mark Fenwick, who recommended Lutyens as architect. Mark owned Abbotswood in Gloucestershire to which Lutyens made additions in 1901.
Lutyens also added a home farm and many estate houses and cottages to Temple Dinsley. One of these, Kiln Wood Cottage, built for the estate carpenter in 1912, is for sale.
Located just outside Preston, this Grade II-listed house has been meticulously restored and maintained by its owners of 39 years. It has brick elevations and a steeply pitched tile roof with a distinctive central chimney stack. The 2,900-sq ft accommodation includes a drawing room, dining room, sun-room, sitting room, study, kitchen-cum-breakfast room, four bedrooms and two bathrooms. The garden extends to one-third of an acre, with views over open countryside.
Available through Norgans. Guide price: £1,600,000.
The Clockhouse, Crooksbury, Tilford, Farnham, Surrey
Crooksbury was Lutyens’s first country house commission, which he designed aged only 20 while a pupil in Ernest George’s office. The 1889 commission from Arthur Chapman, family friend and chairman of the Farnham Liberals, enabled him to set up his own practice in 6 Gray’s Inn Square, London. The original house was in the vernacular style and Lutyens extended it for Chapman in 1898 in a bold neo-Georgian style. (New owners in 1914 asked Lutyens to part-remodel this extension into the timber-and-tile vernacular style that survives today.)
The Clockhouse is a striking Grade II-listed family home that was created by bringing together Lutyens’s outbuildings, stables and cottages for Crooksbury House to the designs of local architect Ian Adam-Smith. Their centrepiece is the 1901 clockhouse with its remarkable “Wrenaissance”-style cupola surmounting an elliptically arched throughway.
The accommodation extends to over 7,200sq ft and includes an entrance hall, drawing room, dining room, sitting room, study, kitchen and breakfast room, utility room, boot room, two cloakrooms, seven bedrooms and five bath/shower rooms. The property also includes a tennis court, swimming pool, gymnasium, games room, garage, gardens and six acres of grounds.
Available through Hamptons. Guide price: £4,950,000.
Richard Page’s 40-year estate-agency career has included senior roles at Savills, John D Wood & Co, UK Sotheby’s International Realty and Dexters. He is now an independent marketing consultant and director of www.themarketingcafe.net, a video production company. Over the years, he has handled or advised on the sale of several Lutyens houses, including Deanery Garden, The Salutation and Marsh Court. If you have any Lutyens-related property news, please contact Richard at landseer75@hotmail.com.
Disclaimer: prices and availability correct at time of going to press