House For Sale £3,750,000
An exceptional Georgian Hall<br/></br>
<b>Situation</b>
Ravenstone is a small village in North West Leicestershire, within the National Forest. Archaeological excavations have revealed that its history dates back to the Roman occupation of Britain, but the first documented record of the village was in the Domesday book.
The village presents an attractive mix of architectural styles centred around the conservation area in the heart of the village. Ravenstone Hall sits just to the west of the picturesque 14th century church. The village provides everyday amenities including a post office/village shop and a primary school. There is a more comprehensive range of amenities in nearby Ashby de la Zouch.
Ravenstone is conveniently situated between Nottingham, Derby and Leicester and provides easy access to the M1 and M42. East Midlands Airport is 25 minutes away and Birmingham 40 minutes. The railway station at Loughborough provides access to London in 75 minutes.
<b>Description</b>
Ravenstone Hall is an elegant country house dating from the mid-1700s and is of mellow redbrick construction, with dressed stone detailing and under slate roofs. The front south facing elevation is particularly impressive and a superb example of classic Georgian architecture. There are five bays, with the central bay, where you enter the property, flanked by broad, full height stone pilasters surmounted by Corinthian moulding below a wide pediment.
Below the pediment is an elegant window with a traceried fanlight and below this, a porch with plain piers and a flat pediment over double entrance doors. Extensive pavilions were added to either side of the Hall in the mid-1800s. The Hall is listed Grade II* in recognition of its architectural and historical importance.
The beautifully presented Hall offers extensive accommodation over three floors extending to about 12,000 sq. Ft including the cellars. Great care has been taken to preserve and enhance the captivating architectural features of the property, honouring both its original Georgian style and the later Victorian improvements. The Hall features beautiful plaster mouldings in a number of rooms and there are some superb chimney pieces. The doors and sash windows together with their shutters were meticulously refurbished. The accommodation is beautifully proportioned with high ceilings and generous rooms making the layout ideal for both family occupation and grand entertaining.
The Hall is supported by three ancillary dwellings, an office, useful garaging and outbuildings, and a swimming pool. It stands in wonderful grounds and gardens which include formal and naturalised areas, extensive lawns, pasture, woodland and a lake. The property extends in all to about 24.25 acres.
<b>Historical notes</b>
The original Ravenstone Hall was built in the late 1600s by John Wilkins, a wealthy mine owner. After his death the estate was sold in 1726 to Roger Cave of Stanford Hall. When Cave died in 1741, the Manor was purchased by the Fosbrooke family of Shardlow, who demolished the original Hall and in the mid-1700s constructed the central section of the Hall that we see today. A century later the family constructed the Victorian pavilions. The staircase that leads from the first to the second floor was perhaps retained from the original Jacobean Hall. The Fosbrooke family owned and occupied the Hall until the early 1960s.
<b>Accommodation</b>
The entrance to this impressive Georgian property is approached up wide stone steps leading to a set of half glazed doors. The flagstone floor of the entrance leads to the main hall and beautiful staircase. To the east of the staircase is a dining room with fine plaster mouldings and an impressive marble chimney piece. Opposite the dining room is a study and sitting room both of which overlook the delightful inner courtyard and koi pond. The large kitchen, fitted with bespoke oak units with granite work surfaces, features an island, a gas fired Aga with integral electric oven and other built-in appliances.
A utility and morning room are situated off the kitchen and the extensive cellar and boiler room are also accessed from this area. To the west of the reception hall is a delightful drawing room with a beautiful marble chimney piece. Beyond is a grandly proportioned ball room with a very high ceiling and full width semi-circular bay. Three tall windows provide wonderful views over the grounds, lake and woodland. The ballroom has a hugely impressive chimney piece constructed with heavily veined marble.
A delightful Georgian staircase with simple spindles and a polished handrail leads to the first floor where there are four bedrooms and four bathrooms. The master bedroom is complete with two dressing rooms and an en suite bathroom. A further staircase leads to the second floor with four bedrooms, three bath / shower rooms (one of them en suite), and laundry room.
The Hall is supported by three ancillary dwellings that lie to the north of the Hall. These additional properties are ideal for guests, staff or perhaps to generate additional income. The Mews Flat has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a sitting room and kitchen. It sits above the Estate office which accommodates six workstations. Cherry Tree Cottage has recently undergone extensive refurbishment and offers three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a sitting room and kitchen. The Coach House was refurbished in 2014 and has a bedroom, bathroom, sitting room and kitchen.
<b>Swimming Pool</b>
The swimming pool complex is complete with a large garden room, kitchenette, changing room and shower room.
<b>Outbuildings/b>
To the north of the property is a three-car garage with space for garden implements and a workshop. This is accessed from the rear drive. A former game larder provides additional space. To the east of the Hall, adjacent to the side parking area is a double garage.
<b>Gardens and grounds/b>
The superb gardens and grounds make a spectacular setting for Ravenstone Hall. Entrance to the Estate is through full height oak gates which open onto a gravel driveway. The drive is bordered on the right by a bank of wonderful rhododendrons and azaleas and to the left are extensive lawns and an avenue of mature oaks. The drive terminates at the Hall where there is a large parking and turning area. Around the Hall there are formal gardens with carefully considered shrubbery borders, well maintained hedges and a delightful walk past a long herbaceous border and a sunken garden to the orchard.
Nearer the house there are a number terraces. Connecting the house to the swimming pool there is a delightful inner courtyard established around a Koi pool. The gardens are enclosed by walls and hedges, separated from the parkland and woodland by traditional estate fencing.
To the west of the hall, the parkland leads towards a lake and on the north east shore there is a log cabin. West of the parkland, there is an established wood. A nature corridor connects this woodland to a mature spinney to the north-east, dividing the parkland from the pasture.
<b>Situation</b>
Ravenstone is a small village in North West Leicestershire, within the National Forest. Archaeological excavations have revealed that its history dates back to the Roman occupation of Britain, but the first documented record of the village was in the Domesday book.
The village presents an attractive mix of architectural styles centred around the conservation area in the heart of the village. Ravenstone Hall sits just to the west of the picturesque 14th century church. The village provides everyday amenities including a post office/village shop and a primary school. There is a more comprehensive range of amenities in nearby Ashby de la Zouch.
Ravenstone is conveniently situated between Nottingham, Derby and Leicester and provides easy access to the M1 and M42. East Midlands Airport is 25 minutes away and Birmingham 40 minutes. The railway station at Loughborough provides access to London in 75 minutes.
<b>Description</b>
Ravenstone Hall is an elegant country house dating from the mid-1700s and is of mellow redbrick construction, with dressed stone detailing and under slate roofs. The front south facing elevation is particularly impressive and a superb example of classic Georgian architecture. There are five bays, with the central bay, where you enter the property, flanked by broad, full height stone pilasters surmounted by Corinthian moulding below a wide pediment.
Below the pediment is an elegant window with a traceried fanlight and below this, a porch with plain piers and a flat pediment over double entrance doors. Extensive pavilions were added to either side of the Hall in the mid-1800s. The Hall is listed Grade II* in recognition of its architectural and historical importance.
The beautifully presented Hall offers extensive accommodation over three floors extending to about 12,000 sq. Ft including the cellars. Great care has been taken to preserve and enhance the captivating architectural features of the property, honouring both its original Georgian style and the later Victorian improvements. The Hall features beautiful plaster mouldings in a number of rooms and there are some superb chimney pieces. The doors and sash windows together with their shutters were meticulously refurbished. The accommodation is beautifully proportioned with high ceilings and generous rooms making the layout ideal for both family occupation and grand entertaining.
The Hall is supported by three ancillary dwellings, an office, useful garaging and outbuildings, and a swimming pool. It stands in wonderful grounds and gardens which include formal and naturalised areas, extensive lawns, pasture, woodland and a lake. The property extends in all to about 24.25 acres.
<b>Historical notes</b>
The original Ravenstone Hall was built in the late 1600s by John Wilkins, a wealthy mine owner. After his death the estate was sold in 1726 to Roger Cave of Stanford Hall. When Cave died in 1741, the Manor was purchased by the Fosbrooke family of Shardlow, who demolished the original Hall and in the mid-1700s constructed the central section of the Hall that we see today. A century later the family constructed the Victorian pavilions. The staircase that leads from the first to the second floor was perhaps retained from the original Jacobean Hall. The Fosbrooke family owned and occupied the Hall until the early 1960s.
<b>Accommodation</b>
The entrance to this impressive Georgian property is approached up wide stone steps leading to a set of half glazed doors. The flagstone floor of the entrance leads to the main hall and beautiful staircase. To the east of the staircase is a dining room with fine plaster mouldings and an impressive marble chimney piece. Opposite the dining room is a study and sitting room both of which overlook the delightful inner courtyard and koi pond. The large kitchen, fitted with bespoke oak units with granite work surfaces, features an island, a gas fired Aga with integral electric oven and other built-in appliances.
A utility and morning room are situated off the kitchen and the extensive cellar and boiler room are also accessed from this area. To the west of the reception hall is a delightful drawing room with a beautiful marble chimney piece. Beyond is a grandly proportioned ball room with a very high ceiling and full width semi-circular bay. Three tall windows provide wonderful views over the grounds, lake and woodland. The ballroom has a hugely impressive chimney piece constructed with heavily veined marble.
A delightful Georgian staircase with simple spindles and a polished handrail leads to the first floor where there are four bedrooms and four bathrooms. The master bedroom is complete with two dressing rooms and an en suite bathroom. A further staircase leads to the second floor with four bedrooms, three bath / shower rooms (one of them en suite), and laundry room.
The Hall is supported by three ancillary dwellings that lie to the north of the Hall. These additional properties are ideal for guests, staff or perhaps to generate additional income. The Mews Flat has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a sitting room and kitchen. It sits above the Estate office which accommodates six workstations. Cherry Tree Cottage has recently undergone extensive refurbishment and offers three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a sitting room and kitchen. The Coach House was refurbished in 2014 and has a bedroom, bathroom, sitting room and kitchen.
<b>Swimming Pool</b>
The swimming pool complex is complete with a large garden room, kitchenette, changing room and shower room.
<b>Outbuildings/b>
To the north of the property is a three-car garage with space for garden implements and a workshop. This is accessed from the rear drive. A former game larder provides additional space. To the east of the Hall, adjacent to the side parking area is a double garage.
<b>Gardens and grounds/b>
The superb gardens and grounds make a spectacular setting for Ravenstone Hall. Entrance to the Estate is through full height oak gates which open onto a gravel driveway. The drive is bordered on the right by a bank of wonderful rhododendrons and azaleas and to the left are extensive lawns and an avenue of mature oaks. The drive terminates at the Hall where there is a large parking and turning area. Around the Hall there are formal gardens with carefully considered shrubbery borders, well maintained hedges and a delightful walk past a long herbaceous border and a sunken garden to the orchard.
Nearer the house there are a number terraces. Connecting the house to the swimming pool there is a delightful inner courtyard established around a Koi pool. The gardens are enclosed by walls and hedges, separated from the parkland and woodland by traditional estate fencing.
To the west of the hall, the parkland leads towards a lake and on the north east shore there is a log cabin. West of the parkland, there is an established wood. A nature corridor connects this woodland to a mature spinney to the north-east, dividing the parkland from the pasture.
