Inspired by its near neighbour Aldworth House overlooking the South Downs, built for Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Spur Point is a nine-bedroom 13,538 sq.ft (1,257.7 sq.m) contemporary English country house with a health spa, gym, private cinema with cocktail bar and indoor swimming pool set in 1.5 acres of landscaped gardens with an outdoor swimming pool and tennis court located on the crest of a hill at Harley Heights near Haslemere.
Set in an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the elevated location offers 180-degree panoramic south-facing views over the South Downs National Park, giving Spur Point one of the finest vistas in Surrey: for sale via joint sole selling agents Beauchamp Estates and Obbard.
Built in 2017 and recently refurbished in 2021 Spur Point provides luxurious contemporary accommodation over lower ground, ground and two upper floors.
Offering a contemporary take on Arts and Crafts country house architecture Spur Point has a façade of contrasting stone and brickwork, with multi-storey mullion bay windows overlooking the South Downs. The ground floor includes a grand entrance hall with main staircase, five reception rooms, a study, two guest cloakrooms and a family kitchen/breakfast room with separate walk-in larder and utility room with separate WC.
The lower ground floor provides the leisure and wellbeing amenities including a cinema and games room with cocktail bar; pool room with swimming pool bordered by leisure desks; spa with sauna, steam room and showers; wine cellar and a gym that opens onto a covered loggia, providing an outdoor exercise area for yoga, pilates and meditation.
On the first floor the principal bedroom suite spans the entire depth of the house and has a bedroom with mullion bay window and a double height vaulted ceiling, two ensuite bathrooms and a large walk-in dressing room with steps up to a mezzanine floor with a glass wall overlooking the bedroom below. The mezzanine provides a day room, dressing area and further storage. There are three further bedroom suites (all ensuite) on the first floor.
The second floor has four bedrooms (two ensuite). Two of the bedrooms provide staff accommodation and are accessed by a separate “back-of-house” second staircase to all floors that is for staff use. The house is complete with a garage wing providing a double garage and staff catering kitchen, with an annex above the garage providing a sitting room, bedroom and bathroom.
Renowned for its natural beauty the 628 square mile South Downs, designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1956 and registered as a national park in 2010, has for centuries attracted famous artists, poets and writers including residents Virginia Woolf, Jane Austen and Duncan Grant and frequent visitors Joseph Turner, E.M. Forster and Ivan Hitchens.
Queen Victoria’s Poet Laureate Alfred, Lord Tennyson, found the beauty of the South Downs so inspiring that just a 15-minute drive from Spur Point, on Tennyson’s Lane in Blackdown, he commissioned architect Sir James Knowles to build in 1869 Aldworth House, a Gothic revival style country house with the principal rooms with mullion bay windows designed to face south over the South Downs.
Lord Tennyson lived at Aldworth House for the remainder of his life, he died at the house on 6th October 1892, and the South Downs setting is believed to have inspired his poems “The Brook” (1886) and “Crossing the Bar” (1889).
Spur Point provides a contemporary take on Aldworth House with the principal rooms featuring mullion bay windows facing south over the South Downs. The house has been built to an exceptionally high specification with interiors showcasing custom-made joinery, bespoke finishes and lighting schemes, with the Control4 audiovisual and smart home systems offering the finest in home entertainment.
The kitchen/breakfast room features Smallbone Shaker-style cabinetry with white Quartz stone counters, Quooker tap, double Woolf oven and wine cooler. The family room has a spectacular vaulted ceiling and bespoke joinery whilst the 16-seat dining room has Crittall glazed internal doors and three sets of French doors opening onto the terrace, overlooking the stepped gardens, outdoor swimming pool and tennis court.
The drawing room has a 17th century white marble fireplace sourced in Paris and a bespoke walnut wood cocktail bar topped with black marble, created by Smallbone, the bar wall hand-painted with gold leaf by expert gilder Benjamin James.
The velvet-clad cinema room has been inspired by London private members’ clubs such as Annabel’s and The Arts Club, and is complete with a built-in cocktail bar area. The indoor pool features gilding to the walls and an “endless” pool, overlooked by the gym which has “SP” monogrammed weights. The wine cellar has a secret door leading onto a gun/safe room.
The magnificent principal bedroom suite has a vaulted ceiling, large open fireplace, Murano glass chandeliers and a window seat to the mullion bay window. The walk-in dressing room is designed by Smallbone with beautiful wood and marble features and its own built-in bar. The principal suite’s two bathrooms are a duet of pale marble, with an Art Deco inspired design.
Jeremy Gee, Managing Director of Beauchamp Estates, says: “Offering 180-degree views over the South Downs National Park, Spur Point has been designed to provide spectacular views and follows in the tradition of great English country houses designed around the panoramas they offer such as Lord Tennyson’s nearby Aldworth House, overlooking the South Downs, and Winston Churchill’s Chartwell House overlooking the Weald of Kent. Showcasing peerless bespoke design and luxury throughout Spur Point has arguably the finest views in Surrey.”
Hugh Obbard, Co-Founder & Director of Obbard, says: “Set in nearly two acres of landscaped grounds, Spur Point is located on a spectacular elevated plot offering stunning views over the South Downs which over centuries has attracted famous residents such as Virginia Woolf, Jane Austen, E.M. Forster and Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Spur Point is perfect either as a year-around main family home, or the ultimate weekend country house retreat, with its swimming pools, gym, cinema room, cocktail bar, wine cellar and state-of-the art security and smarthome tech.”
Just a 49-minute train journey into London Waterloo from nearby Haslemere station, and just 12 miles from Godalming and 19 miles from Guildford, Spur Point is available for sale for £12,950,000 (freehold). For further information or to arrange a viewing, please contact joint sole selling agents Beauchamp Estates on Tel: +44 (0)20 7499 7722 / www.beauchamp.com and Obbard on Tel: +44 (0) 20 7349 8920 / www.obbard.co.uk
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