Main Road North, Dagnall, Berkhamsted, Buckinghamshire, HP4

An outstanding restored period family home with fabulous views across the Chilterns.

Description

SITUATION
Dagnall, derived from the Old English for “Daegga’s Knoll, is a popular village with a pub, a farm shop and village school. It is surrounded by countryside in the well wooded, low lying hills of the Chilterns. As a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, this has enabled the village to retain some of the charm of a bygone era. It is adjacent to Ashridge Estate, which is owned and managed by The National Trust, and provides the opportunity for extensive walking and riding along the many footpaths and bridleways.

For shopping, the closest town is the historic town of Berkhamsted, which has a fine selection of stores including Waitrose, Marks and Spencer Food and a number of delicatessens. There is an excellent choice of places to dine out, with many bistros and pubs dotted along the High Street. Berkhamsted also offers both a Wednesday and Saturday weekly market, adding to the charm of this vibrant town.

With good schools, including the renowned public Berkhamsted School for Boys and Girls, and the prep school of Beechwood Park in Markyate, Collyers is well located. Buses for schools in the surrounding area pick up from both the village High Street and the A5.

Berkhamsted also offers canal walks, an Art Deco Rex Cinema, local gyms and sports centre and tennis, golf, football clubs to name but a few! Berkhamsted boasts a main line station, which provides fast and frequent rail services to London Euston with minimum journey times of 31 minutes.

THE PROPERTY
Collyers is a substantial home with over 6000 sq ft of living space sitting in a valley with the backdrop of the Chilterns, providing superb panoramic countryside views dominated by the distinctive landmark of a chalk lion of Whipsnade Wildlife Park gazing down. With mature gardens and grounds approaching 6.25 acres, Collyers represents a true country residence. Collyers, named after the historic hamlet of Colliers, is a most handsome family home reputed to be a former rectory.

Parts of the house date back to the 17th Century with later additions, including large sash bay windows and a substantial kitchen extension, adding to the charm of the building. The majority of the principal rooms have windows on two sides, which make for beautifully bright rooms. There is underfloor heating throughout the ground floor and in the bathrooms.

Approached down a long gravel driveway, set behind tall electric gates, the house overlooks beautiful tree and hedge lined gardens to the front, with far reaching views over its own grounds across countryside all the way to the tree-lined horizon. There are 2 separate entrance hallways to Collyers, each charming and welcoming in their own distinctly different ways. The elegantly formal entrance, with its columned porch, is perhaps the best place to welcome new guests to the house.

The hallway then leads past the beautiful dining room to the
inviting drawing room. Visitors are most welcome through the less formal part of the house where the entrance hall, with its practical contemporary styled light tiled flooring, has easy access to a large cloakroom, lots of storage space for coats and further leads into the large kitchen/breakfast room. The kitchen is a triumph in its design, with a wonderful apposition of contemporary and historic elegance. Designed by Waterford Kitchens and featuring distinct clean lines, sleek surfaces and muted tones, cleverly contrast with a robust black Aga and companion gas/electric oven. With quartz worktops by Silestone providing both a practical and attractive place for food preparation, one is suitably spoiled by a range of built-in appliances including coffee maker, microwave, drawer style dishwashers, drinks fridge and large fridge freezer. A well disguised large walk-in pantry provides ample storage space for food and all the culinary gadgets which would otherwise clutter the worktops.

There is a large dining area overlooking the garden, where a breakfast table could easily seat 8 or 10 people; a perfect place to start the day enjoying the early morning countryside views.

A step takes you up into the family room, which is perfectly positioned to keep a keen eye on the younger members of the family. Leading into the 17th Century part of the house, there is a large inner hallway with stairs leading down to the lower floor where you will find a useful playroom, cinema room and gym, which has access up stairs to the front garden.

The flooring throughout the majority of this wing is beautifully aged light oak, which warms the cool décor of the house with its golden hue.

The drawing room is dominated by a substantial stone fireplace, which provides a fitting focal point to the space. With French doors leading out to the side terrace and close proximity to the kitchen, this is a perfect place to spend time entertaining.

There is a comfortable snug with access out to the grounds, which could make for an alternative playroom during the summer months. The dining room is a very large room extending to over 28 foot in length with a wide bay window and is warmed by a traditional styled wood burner.

Upstairs, the house has been cleverly designed to provide a suite of rooms for the principal bedroom, including a superb bathroom with spa style shower and an interlinked dressing room, which could be used as a nursery, if required.

Along a corridor, in their own wing, are two further bedrooms which share a well appointed bathroom.

Above the kitchen breakfast room, and with access to a separate staircase, are two guest rooms which have use of a well-conceived wet room and superb spa shower room with a stunning glass screen dividing the generous space. On the second floor are two bedrooms and a dressing room, which share a bathroom with bath, providing the bather with distant countryside views of the surrounding hills.

OUTSIDE
The land is far-reaching and extends to nearly 6.25 acres of level gardens and grounds. There is a formal lawned area set to the front of the house, flanked by a variety of mature shrubs, hedges and trees.

Leading up to the house is a large gravel drive which wraps around the west and northwest elevations and provides ample parking.

The drive then leads around to a large covered brick built carport, which could lend itself to other uses.

Location

Berkhamsted 7.2 miles (Trains into central London from 31 minutes), A41 7.3 miles, Hemel Hempstead approx. 8.9 miles, M1 (Junction 9) 9.4 miles, Luton Airport 12.3 miles, Harpenden 13 miles

(All distances and times are approximate)

Postcode: HP4 1RE




Acreage: 6.25 Acres