Wealden Times | WT172 | June 2016 | Kitchen & Bathroom supplement inside

HOUSE OF THE MONTH by John Graham-Hart
1.
Hearth & Home
John Graham-Hart finds homes with beautiful kitchens...
My grandmother’s kitchen was not a welcoming space. It was attractive
enough but it was a kingdom where she, as butcher, baker and even
occasional candlestick-maker, reigned supreme. Intruders were
invited, in no uncertain terms to remove themselves from beneath her feet and
seek amusement elsewhere.
To her generation, the kitchen was a purely utilitarian space. It was certainly
not where fathers read papers, children communed with iPads or family pets
ever set foot. It was here she hovered, muttering incantations, over half a dozen
bubbling cauldrons. Any creature, man or beast, that trespassed was in serious
danger of being transformed instantly into something wingless and crawling.
How times have changed. In the 1960s and 70s the kitchen began to
develop into a more family-friendly environment. By the 1980s, the idea of a
completely open kitchen, where at least children ate and were welcome, had
been born. By the 1990s, the trophy kitchen had arrived.
And the kitchen continues to play an ever more significant role in family life,
busily annexing neighbouring ground floor space to create not only an elegant
and high-tech cooking environment but a venue for dinner parties and a
comfortable crash space for children and adults alike. Where once it was merely
somewhere to prepare the meals of the day, it’s rapidly becoming the true heart
of the home.
Cast your eye over a few properties whose kitchens would have had my
grandmother spellbound…
1. Ashley House
Where? Ashley House is located on the
rural outskirts of the village of Marden
with its main line rail connection to
London (Google Maps TN12 9LW).
What? A lovely Elizabethan Grade II
listed period property Ashley House also
boasts an elegant extension with a bright,
spacious contemporary kitchen/breakfast/
dining/family room. Also on the ground
floor are a beamed split level drawing room
with an inglenook fireplace, large study,
boot room and utility room.
Upstairs is a double aspect master
bedroom, three further double bedrooms,
one with en suite shower room and one
with en suite bathroom. Outside, in
grounds of approximately three acres,
there is a detached garden room, an area
of orchard, a paddock, a vegetable garden,
pond, terrace and a tennis court.
How much? Ashley House is on
the market at £1,295,000 and is with
Harpers & Hurlingham in Cranbrook.
Call 01580 715400 or visit www.
harpersandhurlingham.com
www.wealdentimes.co.uk
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