Loth Lorien, Wadhurst, East Sussex – a striking period Arts & Crafts family home
Built in 1924 by the architect William H Bidlake, a leading figure in the Arts and Crafts movement, Loth Lorien is a distinctive family home listed in ‘Pevsner’s Buildings of England’. The house commands a wonderfully elevated position with southerly views over sweeping gardens and woodland and is accessed via a rural, single-track no through lane serving only four houses, just 1.2 miles from Wadhurst mainline station.
Loth Lorien has been sympathetically updated over the years to retain the aesthetics of the original style with leaded light windows, extensive bespoke joinery including exposed oak and pine flooring, wall panelling, decorative plasterwork and fireplaces.
The adaptable accommodation in the main house is arranged over four floors with an attractive outlook to all sides and a characterful hallway providing access to the living space. The spacious drawing room with its wide recessed period fireplace links to a large study, with a mezzanine level and doors out to a decked balcony for appreciation of the beautiful views.
A generously proportioned modern country-style kitchen/breakfast room with flagstone flooring features a notable period fireplace adorned with a commemorative cockerel emblem dated 1924 and fitted with a stylish wood burner. The adjoining dining room and the kitchen/breakfast room open out onto the wide terrace on the south side, creating delightful space for entertaining.
There is extensive practical domestic space off the kitchen, including a large walk-in pantry on the north side, a boot room and a lower ground floor bath/shower room/laundry.
The lower ground floor rooms below the study provide adaptable leisure space comprising a shower room, summer room and bedroom, both with access out to the swimming pool.
The principal bedrooms on the first floor have a lovely outlook over the gardens and woodland and include a spacious and well-appointed principal suite with a dressing room (or bedroom), a further three bedrooms on this floor and a family bathroom. There is a further en suite bedroom on the second floor and a guest suite on the east side, with its own terrace.
In addition to the guest accommodation in the main house, Loth Lorien benefits from extensive additional living space in the grounds, ideal for extended family members or staff, or as home office space. There are two studio bedrooms above the barn garages in the main driveway, and a further self-contained detached one bedroom guest cottage to the rear of the top garage lying to the east of the house.
The property is approached from the lane via a wide sweeping gravel driveway leading past the barn garages with the studio bedrooms above, up to a large parking and turning area and the front door.
The formal gardens lie mainly to the south and west sides of the house where there is a wide raised Yorkstone terrace providing lovely space for entertaining, being accessed from the main living areas. Steps descend to a lawned area which falls away to a pond, a dell and an area of woodland, rich with bluebells, with rides of azalea and rhododendron forming a burst of colour in the spring.
Steps from the terrace lead down to a Roman-ended swimming pool on the west side, ideally placed for maximum sunshine, flanked by a wisteria-clad arbour and enclosed by wrought-iron balustrade railings and a mature beech hedge for privacy. A delightful turreted folly lends an interesting architectural feature providing a shady seating area and store room below.
It’s hard to believe just how close you are to Tunbridge Wells and London when looking out from the terrace over the valley.
Guide price £2,850,000.
Contact Will Peppitt, Savills, 01892 – 507000.
Loth Lorien is located within the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty on a no through lane serving just four properties. The popular village of Wadhurst (1.7 miles) has an excellent range of shops including a butcher, florist, delicatessen, convenience store and two supermarkets, including one with a post office, whilst Tunbridge Wells (about 7 miles) offers more comprehensive amenities.
Private and state schools: There are primary schools in Ticehurst, Wadhurst and Mayfield; preparatory schools include Holmewood House in Langton Green, Saint Ronan’s and Malborough House in Hawkhurst, Sacred Heart in Wadhurst and The Schools at Somerhill, Tonbridge. At secondary level, Uplands Community College in Wadhurst and Kent grammar schools in Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge offer entry by academic selection. Independent schools in the area include Mayfield and Benenden, Tonbridge, Sevenoaks, Worth, Eastbourne and Bedes.
