House For Sale £2,000,000
A rare and characterful 5-bedroom house with spectacular views across the Cley marshes, sitting within over half an acre of south facing landscaped walled gardens. Located in the desirable coastal village of Cley-next-the-Sea, within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, a short stroll from the beach and all that this popular village offers.
__________
GROUND FLOOR
- Panelled reception hall
- Hand built kitchen with Aga and wooden floor
- Panelled dining room with door to terrace
- Snug with some panelling
- Utility room with sink
__________
FIRST FLOOR
- Sunny hall with marvellous coastal views and hand turned wooden staircase
- Drawing room with many original features
- WC
- Main bedroom with original features, en suite bathroom and working fireplace
__________
SECOND FLOOR
- Single south facing bedroom with garden views
- Double bedroom with south facing garden views
- Family shower room
__________
THIRD FLOOR
- Double bedroom with Nicholas Hills “tented ceiling” original features and en suite bathroom
- Double bedroom with views to garden and sea.
__________
OTHER
- Built circa early 1800’s with later additions in 1990s overseen by Nicholas Hills Architects
- The property is not listed
- All fireplaces and chimneys are in use
- Oil fired boiler 2 years old
__________
OUTSIDE
- Large brick and flint walled garden creatively planted for enhanced privacy and year-round scent, interest and colour.
- The garden is fully enclosed and secure for dogs
- Timber studio ideal for writers, artists, yoga or even a romantic spare bedroom
- Barn including utility room and wood/oil tank store
- Single garage with crow’s nest study above.
__________
DRIVING DISTANCES (approx.)
- Blakeney 1.4 miles
- Holt 4 miles
- Sheringham 8 miles
- Norwich 29 miles (International airport and mainline trains to London Liverpool Street and Cambridge)
__________
SITUATION
The highly sought after village of Cley was formerly an old 18th Century port and retains many attractive brick and flint cottages alongside grander merchant’s houses.
Today it offers an eclectic range of shops on the doorstop including the Crab Pot Bookshop, Pinkfoot gallery, Cley Smokehouse, Made in Cley, and the renowned Picnic Fayre delicatessen.
The village benefits from St Margaret’s Church an architectural delight, two pubs and the well-known Wiveton Hall Cafe all within walking distance.
This is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and a Conservation Area, Cley has a fabulous shingle beach which is within easy walking distance, perfect for swimming and family picnics, and offers easy access to the saltmarshes and Blakeney Point with many ways of whiling away leisure hours including sailing, seal trips, cycling, golf, amazing coastal walking and fine beaches. The Cley marshes wildlife reserve dates from 1926 and makes this one of the very best places for birdwatching.
If you want to keep a boat in Cley harbour, (a three-minute walk) it is free, and whether a canoe, paddleboard or a small traditional boat, setting out from here through the reeds is a wonderful experience.
Just 4 miles to the south is the Georgian market town of Holt, renowned for its attractive street frontages and for its wide and eclectic range of independent shops. As well as Bakers & Larners department store, there are boutiques, cafes and bars, doctors’ surgery, dentist, and post office. Holt is also home to the highly regarded Gresham’s School, pre-prep, prep, and senior, founded in 1555.
There is a buzz in the air in North Norfolk and the coast has the best of everything on offer, from locally sourced butchers, fishmongers and farmers markets to artisan bakers, cool coffee shops, restaurants, delicatessens, up-market farm shops and art galleries.
__________
DESCRIPTION
Umgeni is magical, a house full of surprises with the atmosphere of a timeless country house combined with a dream coastal home. The house, with its classic Dutch Gables that are integral to Cley sits high on an unmade track above the coast road in Cley, veiled by olive trees and roses, pretty much opposite the Beach Road, with uninterrupted views over the reedbeds and marshland to the sea. The informal brick and flint front elevation is discreet and belies the sense of lush garden scents and planting when you step through the wooden gates and enter over half an acre of wonderfully private south facing walled garden.
Internally the house continues to surprise. The staircase is a feat of high quality craftsmanship, and the interior is true to the first impression with an eclectic mix of colour, design, architectural and decorative features that brings to mind the creatives of the Bloomsbury Group and Arts & Crafts movement, while the large windows capture the very best views of the marsh, and the sea also fill the house with light from the south, connecting you to the lovely garden and the seaside from within the house.
The front door opens to a half landing in an elegant stairwell, from which you step down to the ground floor entrance hall with panelled walls and stone flooring.
Beyond, the kitchen is informally fitted, with a lovely mix of wooden bespoke units, a unique central island and an oversized Belfast sink backed with vintage mirrored tiles. Integrated appliances include an electric Aga and a Miele dishwasher. There is a good-sized pantry cupboard, and a pretty glass fronted crockery cabinet. Painted wooden floorboards run throughout and a large sunny window overlooks the coast.
Step up from the kitchen into a sunny south facing dining room with wooden flooring, gracefully panelled walls and a generous window overlooking the garden. A glazed door opens from here to a small south facing terrace with steps into the garden, perfect for alfresco dining.
Also, on this floor is a cosy, half panelled snug with pamment flooring, exposed beams (saved from a long-ago shipwreck) and views to the garden. There is also a utility and boot room with a Belfast sink.
Taking the stairs to the second floor where the sunny hall has a large bay window with a window seat to make the most of the sea views. On this floor the drawing room is a large, bright, south and west facing room with a marble mantlepiece and wood burning stove, French windows open to stone steps that lead down to the more formal part of the garden.
The main bedroom is up a few steps on its own small landing, a beautifully proportioned room, with a high ceiling, an original cast-iron fireplace and views to the coast at the front. From the semi open plan en suite bathroom, French windows open onto a charming semi- circular iron balcony with a stunning Magnolia Grandiflora growing through it, arguably the best spot in the house to overlook the garden with your morning cuppa!
The bathroom has a traditional Victorian style suite, an original oversized caste iron bathtub, which we understand had to be brought in through the window! There is a further WC on this floor- certainly a loo with a view.
Following on up to the next half landing, the full height arched window gives incredible evening light as it faces the western end of the house. From here you can see the tide change on Blakeney Point and enjoy the sunsets.
The third floor has a single bedroom with fitted wardrobes, and a nice double room with fireplace, both overlook the gardens. There is a family shower room on this floor.
At either end of the house, further staircases lead to two bedrooms with tent effect ceilings, both have spectacular window views in the Dutch gables to the coast side, and then both have verdant beautiful views over the garden and one has a slit window with a special view to Cley windmill.
The larger room is a spacious double with north and south aspect and a working fireplace, this room incorporates a bathroom with another original Victorian cast iron bath.
The other top bedroom is another spacious double with triple aspect windows, and the vendors had considered putting a bathroom on this floor too.
__________
OUTSIDE
The south elevation of the house is pretty and elegant with artistically pleasing proportions and decorative painted shutters. The mellow brick and flint elevation is covered with wisteria and roses that complement the painted windows, lovely old York stone steps and the delicate iron balcony.
Near to the house is a formal area of garden with a Mediterranean/Coastal feel with palm trees, a tamarisk, mown lawn, and herbaceous borders filled with an abundance of flowers.
From here the garden steps up and up, meandering via mown paths through a larger entertaining terrace to a much less formal area where daisy strewn pathways lead you through a wildflower nature haven that is low maintenance and so pretty, interspersed with an abundance of tree peonies, bluebells, shrub roses, hollyhocks, cow parsley, magnolia grandiflora and so much more, it is truly heavenly.
There are also many fruit trees, including apple, plum, medlar, and pear and even a mulberry tree and a vegetable garden with raised beds and fruit canes.
But for those who love to look out from their own world, the overriding wonder of this garden is its amazing privacy combined with the extraordinary views. Planting and terraces have been structured to artfully reveal evermore incredible vistas of the coast, the sunset, the creeks and the red sailed boats that glide in on a high tide to Cley Harbour. From this point, you really do feel you are on top of the world, or at least the North Norfolk Coastline, and you can see all the way to Wells-next-the- Sea.
Up here is the wooden writer’s studio that offers so many potential uses. With mains power, it sits at the very top of the garden with a wooden decked area, there probably couldn’t be a better place for a sundowner!
Nearer to the house, further outbuildings provide a utility room which houses an oil-fired boiler, and a radiator and Belfast sink, and washing machines, so you can get all of the clutter out of the house to a warm functional outhouse. Adjacent to this, another barn houses the oil tank and wood store and then the single garage, with a loft area above which could be extended if required and makes a great office space.
This is a very special house that must be seen to really appreciate all it has to offer. It is surprisingly rare to find a lovely character house, in such a special location with a generous, private garden and Umgeni offers all that and some of Norfolk’s finest views.
__________
LOCAL AUTHORITY
North Norfolk District Council Band G
__________
TENURE
Freehold
__________
SERVICES
Mains electricity, water and drainage and oil fired central heating
__________
DIRECTIONS
As you leave Cley on the coast road heading towards Salthouse take the first right hand gravel track and the property can be found a short distance along on your right.
__________
DATE DETAILS PRODUCED
May 2023
__________
IMPORTANT NOTICE
1. These particulars have been prepared in good faith as a general guide, they are not exhaustive and include information provided to us by other parties including the seller, not all of which will have been verified by us.
2. We have not carried out a detailed or structural survey; we have not tested any services, appliances or fittings. Measurements, floor plans, orientation and distances are given as approximate only and should not be relied on.
3. The photographs are not necessarily comprehensive or current, aspects may have changed since the photographs were taken. No assumption should be made that any contents are included in the sale.
4. We have not checked that the property has all necessary planning, building regulation approval, statutory or regulatory permissions or consents. Any reference to any alterations or use of any part of the property does not mean that necessary planning, building regulations, or other consent has been obtained.
5. Prospective purchasers should satisfy themselves by inspection, searches, enquiries, surveys, and professional advice about all relevant aspects of the property.
6. These particulars do not form part of any offer or contract and must not be relied upon as statements or representations of fact; we have no authority to make or give any representation or warranties in relation to the property. If these are required, you should include their terms in any contract between you and the seller.
7. Note to potential purchasers who intend to view the property; we would politely ask you discuss with our staff if there is any point of particular importance to you, before you make arrangements to visit or plan a viewing appointment.
8. Viewings are strictly by prior appointment.
__________
GROUND FLOOR
- Panelled reception hall
- Hand built kitchen with Aga and wooden floor
- Panelled dining room with door to terrace
- Snug with some panelling
- Utility room with sink
__________
FIRST FLOOR
- Sunny hall with marvellous coastal views and hand turned wooden staircase
- Drawing room with many original features
- WC
- Main bedroom with original features, en suite bathroom and working fireplace
__________
SECOND FLOOR
- Single south facing bedroom with garden views
- Double bedroom with south facing garden views
- Family shower room
__________
THIRD FLOOR
- Double bedroom with Nicholas Hills “tented ceiling” original features and en suite bathroom
- Double bedroom with views to garden and sea.
__________
OTHER
- Built circa early 1800’s with later additions in 1990s overseen by Nicholas Hills Architects
- The property is not listed
- All fireplaces and chimneys are in use
- Oil fired boiler 2 years old
__________
OUTSIDE
- Large brick and flint walled garden creatively planted for enhanced privacy and year-round scent, interest and colour.
- The garden is fully enclosed and secure for dogs
- Timber studio ideal for writers, artists, yoga or even a romantic spare bedroom
- Barn including utility room and wood/oil tank store
- Single garage with crow’s nest study above.
__________
DRIVING DISTANCES (approx.)
- Blakeney 1.4 miles
- Holt 4 miles
- Sheringham 8 miles
- Norwich 29 miles (International airport and mainline trains to London Liverpool Street and Cambridge)
__________
SITUATION
The highly sought after village of Cley was formerly an old 18th Century port and retains many attractive brick and flint cottages alongside grander merchant’s houses.
Today it offers an eclectic range of shops on the doorstop including the Crab Pot Bookshop, Pinkfoot gallery, Cley Smokehouse, Made in Cley, and the renowned Picnic Fayre delicatessen.
The village benefits from St Margaret’s Church an architectural delight, two pubs and the well-known Wiveton Hall Cafe all within walking distance.
This is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and a Conservation Area, Cley has a fabulous shingle beach which is within easy walking distance, perfect for swimming and family picnics, and offers easy access to the saltmarshes and Blakeney Point with many ways of whiling away leisure hours including sailing, seal trips, cycling, golf, amazing coastal walking and fine beaches. The Cley marshes wildlife reserve dates from 1926 and makes this one of the very best places for birdwatching.
If you want to keep a boat in Cley harbour, (a three-minute walk) it is free, and whether a canoe, paddleboard or a small traditional boat, setting out from here through the reeds is a wonderful experience.
Just 4 miles to the south is the Georgian market town of Holt, renowned for its attractive street frontages and for its wide and eclectic range of independent shops. As well as Bakers & Larners department store, there are boutiques, cafes and bars, doctors’ surgery, dentist, and post office. Holt is also home to the highly regarded Gresham’s School, pre-prep, prep, and senior, founded in 1555.
There is a buzz in the air in North Norfolk and the coast has the best of everything on offer, from locally sourced butchers, fishmongers and farmers markets to artisan bakers, cool coffee shops, restaurants, delicatessens, up-market farm shops and art galleries.
__________
DESCRIPTION
Umgeni is magical, a house full of surprises with the atmosphere of a timeless country house combined with a dream coastal home. The house, with its classic Dutch Gables that are integral to Cley sits high on an unmade track above the coast road in Cley, veiled by olive trees and roses, pretty much opposite the Beach Road, with uninterrupted views over the reedbeds and marshland to the sea. The informal brick and flint front elevation is discreet and belies the sense of lush garden scents and planting when you step through the wooden gates and enter over half an acre of wonderfully private south facing walled garden.
Internally the house continues to surprise. The staircase is a feat of high quality craftsmanship, and the interior is true to the first impression with an eclectic mix of colour, design, architectural and decorative features that brings to mind the creatives of the Bloomsbury Group and Arts & Crafts movement, while the large windows capture the very best views of the marsh, and the sea also fill the house with light from the south, connecting you to the lovely garden and the seaside from within the house.
The front door opens to a half landing in an elegant stairwell, from which you step down to the ground floor entrance hall with panelled walls and stone flooring.
Beyond, the kitchen is informally fitted, with a lovely mix of wooden bespoke units, a unique central island and an oversized Belfast sink backed with vintage mirrored tiles. Integrated appliances include an electric Aga and a Miele dishwasher. There is a good-sized pantry cupboard, and a pretty glass fronted crockery cabinet. Painted wooden floorboards run throughout and a large sunny window overlooks the coast.
Step up from the kitchen into a sunny south facing dining room with wooden flooring, gracefully panelled walls and a generous window overlooking the garden. A glazed door opens from here to a small south facing terrace with steps into the garden, perfect for alfresco dining.
Also, on this floor is a cosy, half panelled snug with pamment flooring, exposed beams (saved from a long-ago shipwreck) and views to the garden. There is also a utility and boot room with a Belfast sink.
Taking the stairs to the second floor where the sunny hall has a large bay window with a window seat to make the most of the sea views. On this floor the drawing room is a large, bright, south and west facing room with a marble mantlepiece and wood burning stove, French windows open to stone steps that lead down to the more formal part of the garden.
The main bedroom is up a few steps on its own small landing, a beautifully proportioned room, with a high ceiling, an original cast-iron fireplace and views to the coast at the front. From the semi open plan en suite bathroom, French windows open onto a charming semi- circular iron balcony with a stunning Magnolia Grandiflora growing through it, arguably the best spot in the house to overlook the garden with your morning cuppa!
The bathroom has a traditional Victorian style suite, an original oversized caste iron bathtub, which we understand had to be brought in through the window! There is a further WC on this floor- certainly a loo with a view.
Following on up to the next half landing, the full height arched window gives incredible evening light as it faces the western end of the house. From here you can see the tide change on Blakeney Point and enjoy the sunsets.
The third floor has a single bedroom with fitted wardrobes, and a nice double room with fireplace, both overlook the gardens. There is a family shower room on this floor.
At either end of the house, further staircases lead to two bedrooms with tent effect ceilings, both have spectacular window views in the Dutch gables to the coast side, and then both have verdant beautiful views over the garden and one has a slit window with a special view to Cley windmill.
The larger room is a spacious double with north and south aspect and a working fireplace, this room incorporates a bathroom with another original Victorian cast iron bath.
The other top bedroom is another spacious double with triple aspect windows, and the vendors had considered putting a bathroom on this floor too.
__________
OUTSIDE
The south elevation of the house is pretty and elegant with artistically pleasing proportions and decorative painted shutters. The mellow brick and flint elevation is covered with wisteria and roses that complement the painted windows, lovely old York stone steps and the delicate iron balcony.
Near to the house is a formal area of garden with a Mediterranean/Coastal feel with palm trees, a tamarisk, mown lawn, and herbaceous borders filled with an abundance of flowers.
From here the garden steps up and up, meandering via mown paths through a larger entertaining terrace to a much less formal area where daisy strewn pathways lead you through a wildflower nature haven that is low maintenance and so pretty, interspersed with an abundance of tree peonies, bluebells, shrub roses, hollyhocks, cow parsley, magnolia grandiflora and so much more, it is truly heavenly.
There are also many fruit trees, including apple, plum, medlar, and pear and even a mulberry tree and a vegetable garden with raised beds and fruit canes.
But for those who love to look out from their own world, the overriding wonder of this garden is its amazing privacy combined with the extraordinary views. Planting and terraces have been structured to artfully reveal evermore incredible vistas of the coast, the sunset, the creeks and the red sailed boats that glide in on a high tide to Cley Harbour. From this point, you really do feel you are on top of the world, or at least the North Norfolk Coastline, and you can see all the way to Wells-next-the- Sea.
Up here is the wooden writer’s studio that offers so many potential uses. With mains power, it sits at the very top of the garden with a wooden decked area, there probably couldn’t be a better place for a sundowner!
Nearer to the house, further outbuildings provide a utility room which houses an oil-fired boiler, and a radiator and Belfast sink, and washing machines, so you can get all of the clutter out of the house to a warm functional outhouse. Adjacent to this, another barn houses the oil tank and wood store and then the single garage, with a loft area above which could be extended if required and makes a great office space.
This is a very special house that must be seen to really appreciate all it has to offer. It is surprisingly rare to find a lovely character house, in such a special location with a generous, private garden and Umgeni offers all that and some of Norfolk’s finest views.
__________
LOCAL AUTHORITY
North Norfolk District Council Band G
__________
TENURE
Freehold
__________
SERVICES
Mains electricity, water and drainage and oil fired central heating
__________
DIRECTIONS
As you leave Cley on the coast road heading towards Salthouse take the first right hand gravel track and the property can be found a short distance along on your right.
__________
DATE DETAILS PRODUCED
May 2023
__________
IMPORTANT NOTICE
1. These particulars have been prepared in good faith as a general guide, they are not exhaustive and include information provided to us by other parties including the seller, not all of which will have been verified by us.
2. We have not carried out a detailed or structural survey; we have not tested any services, appliances or fittings. Measurements, floor plans, orientation and distances are given as approximate only and should not be relied on.
3. The photographs are not necessarily comprehensive or current, aspects may have changed since the photographs were taken. No assumption should be made that any contents are included in the sale.
4. We have not checked that the property has all necessary planning, building regulation approval, statutory or regulatory permissions or consents. Any reference to any alterations or use of any part of the property does not mean that necessary planning, building regulations, or other consent has been obtained.
5. Prospective purchasers should satisfy themselves by inspection, searches, enquiries, surveys, and professional advice about all relevant aspects of the property.
6. These particulars do not form part of any offer or contract and must not be relied upon as statements or representations of fact; we have no authority to make or give any representation or warranties in relation to the property. If these are required, you should include their terms in any contract between you and the seller.
7. Note to potential purchasers who intend to view the property; we would politely ask you discuss with our staff if there is any point of particular importance to you, before you make arrangements to visit or plan a viewing appointment.
8. Viewings are strictly by prior appointment.
