Surrey Homes | SH38 | December 2017 | Health & Beauty supplement inside

HOUSE OF THE MONTH
1.
1.
Fine Dining
Maggie Alderson finds homes to host the most joyful of Christmas feasts
Christmas dinner – there’s nothing like it. The one meal of
the year when the extended family gets together to eat far
too much and drink far too much, while wearing silly hats
and reading out sillier jokes. Dogs may be sporting antlers.
It doesn’t matter if you hate one of the crucial elements of
the meal – and everybody seems to loathe one of them, be it
Brussels sprouts or brandy butter, with even Christmas pudding
itself anathema to many. I’m not very keen on stuffing.
Even if this year’s cook doesn’t make gravy the way you like it (too
thick! too thin! he’s used too much wine! she’s used Bisto!), or there’s
one in-law who gives you a severe case of the pip, there’s an overriding
sense of joy to the occasion, which infects even the most whinging of
Winnies with the jolly spirit of the Ghost of Christmas Present.
Such is the happy reputation of the occasion that citizens from many different
religions in our multicultural society choose to join in, for the lark of it – just
as many British non-Hindus now celebrate the spring festival of Holi. Because,
just as there is so much to like about playfully throwing around loads of bright
colour – what’s not to love about a proper feast of (truly) Biblical proportions?
While religious purists may say this is coming at it from the wrong
angle – celebrating Christmas as an excuse to eat too much and Holi
to give yourself licence to dump bright pink gulal powder on your best
friend’s head – that’s a miserabilist way to look at it. Both festivals and
their traditions celebrate joy. And joy has to be a good thing for us to
acknowledge and cover ourselves with, whatever its derivation.
All of which makes it a very good thing to have a wonderful dining room
to enjoy the splendid banquet in. One big enough for a table to seat everyone
and with décor – be it traditional dark walls, or a thrillingly contemporary
scheme – to set the mood. Here are four houses with just such rooms.
Merry Christmas. Hic.
surrey-homes.co.uk
24
1. Sussex House Farm
Where? Sussex House Farm nestles in
203 acres of rolling countryside to the south
east of Cowden, a charming village on the
tri-border of Kent, Surrey and Sussex. East
Grinstead is 7 miles to the west, Tunbridge
Wells 8 miles to the east. M25 junction 6
is about 13 miles and central London only
35 miles away. Cowden station is one mile.
What? This Grade II*-listed house
is built around a two and a half storey
timber-framed house dated 1580. It has
been owned by the actor Sir John Mills,
and later by Roger Hargreaves, who
wrote some of his Mr. Men books there.
Sussex House Farm has been beautifully
renovated by its current owners. In terms
of accommodation, the floorplan spreads
across three pages, with three cottages,
a barn and a gym building as well as
the main house. The ground floor there
sprawls across six reception rooms, two
large halls, one with original panelling,
and an eat-in kitchen. Upstairs there are
four bedrooms (one with dressing room
and en suite) and three further bathrooms
on the first floor, a master suite on the
top floor. Outside there are glorious
gardens, tennis courts, a swimming
pool and serious equestrian facilities.
How much? Sussex House
Farm is on the market with a guide
price of £5,500,000, in the care of
Knight Frank, Tunbridge Wells.
020 7629 8171 knighfrank.com