If you’ve ever fancied a house in the country, with outbuildings for permitted development, a small farm attached, and a local fast train line to London or the sea, look no further.
There are numerous advantages over not living where everyone else lives, and the first is that it is cheaper, and nicer. When you get here the first thing you will notice is that there is lots of space. If you work from home, this is perfect. You can sit in your study in the house looking out at the ducks on the pond or build yourself a modern office in one of the outbuildings. There is always room for everyone to park their cars – acres of room in fact! If you need peace and quiet in which to concentrate, this is the ideal place.
The farm is tucked away, but accessible. Farms like these are always located on the best sites because years ago there was plenty of choice. Today, you could select a horse from the stable (easily converted from the former cowshed) and ride around undisturbed (there’s a green lane which starts from the farm), tend your livestock or do endless gardening. Although the railway line passes along the far side of the boundary it is not intrusive and is at least 100 metres away and screened by mature trees. Occasionally one has the opportunity to wave at diners on the Orient Express as it steams past. In total there are four diesel trains an hour between London and Ashford, which somehow seem to add to, rather than detract from, the rural setting.
If you have children, then the next benefit must be that the property lies within the catchment areas of Cranbrook School, Maidstone Grammar School, and Maidstone Girls Grammar School. The cost-saving of sending children to these excellent schools which compare so well with private schools, can be quite immense.
Still on the topic of money, there are of course plenty of opportunities to set up all sorts of ventures including camping, yurts and shepherds’ huts. Not to mention pop concerts and paint-balling or any other rural enterprise which takes your interest.
If your business is perhaps not yet fully up and running, it might be comforting to know that the farm produces a small but useful income of its own which might help to keep the wolf from the door. The registered agricultural land is just over 20 acres and receives a DEFRA grant of £1200-£1500pa. Other grants may be worth researching for agricultural conservation. In addition to this, the fields usually produce hay equal to approximately 100 large 4’ bales. At a selling price of roughly £30 each this amounts to a return of £3,000. Or, if you are making smaller bales (admittedly hard work) which sell at around £5 each, then a return on hay is possible of perhaps £5,000pa. You might need to learn to drive a tractor (one can be provided) if you want to make the hay yourself. Over and above this there is always a healthy demand for equine grazing or livery by local riders.
Thinking in terms of development, the former cowshed has local council permission for conversion to a residential dwelling. Plans are included to turn this into a beautiful three bedroom house with all bedrooms en-suite. As well as this, another building has outline permission for conversion to a dwelling ancillary to the main farmhouse. The hay barn, whilst not currently permitted for conversion to a dwelling is very large and offers opportunities for conversion to offices, a gym or something along those lines. The former dairy also has agreement in principle for conversion to ancillary accommodation, and attractive plans exist for this. There are many possibilities for creating off-grid electricity.
What is it like living in a Wealden farmhouse all year round? Very pleasant, and the farm is only for sale due to retirement. The house is well-aspected and the sun is on the kitchen in the morning and then moves round to the reception rooms in the afternoon. Only the cloakroom and utility room face North. Insulation has been added to external walls as well as to the roof and to the attic space. The kitchen and utility room have their own under-floor insulation. As a whole, the house has been carefully maintained with double or triple glazing almost everywhere. An Aga ensures the kitchen is always warm, and wood-burners in the two reception rooms allow one to take advantage of one’s own timber from the farm. Upstairs there are night storage heaters which will never equal the fug of central heating but encourage healthy sleep! The house has had a recent EICR and the wiring exists to fit wi-fi-controlled modern heaters in the rooms if required.
Overbridge Farm is an unusual property with a lot of potential. It is reached over a railway bridge and then by what appears to be a private road, but which is in fact a single-track D Road. An avenue of trees with fields on either side then leads to the fine period farmhouse. With glimpses of fields over hedges and through trees, the farm and grounds are tucked away and secluded and give the feeling of being considerably larger than they are. The lane peters out past the house and continues for about a mile as a green lane, with access only for riders and pedestrians. Apart from the barn next door, few other buildings or dwellings are visible in any direction.
Until recently a working livestock farm, the whole, apart from the main house, comprises a former cowshed now with Permitted Development rights for a South-facing 3-ensuite-bedroom dwelling (see drawings); a former dairy now a large workshop but with pre-application approval for it to become a dwelling ancillary to the main house (see drawings); and a large steel hay barn which could be employed for a number of uses.
The house has two principal reception rooms, a utility room and a traditional farmhouse kitchen with Aga and terracotta tile floor. Upstairs there are 4 bedrooms and a family bathroom, with two useful attic rooms on the second floor.
The land is disposed mostly around the buildings and farmyard, with a paddock close to the house, a field along the front boundary bordering the railway line, two picturesque hay fields to the rear, and the largest single field of approximately 6 acres just across the lane in front of the house. There are several ponds of varying sizes, a number of woodland shaws and also groupings of mixed woodland dotted around. These are not all visible until one comes on them and they provide privacy and the opportunity for a variety of activities. Country hedges with ancient oaks form the boundaries of the farm and the fields. The railway line along the farm’s South Eastern border contributes to the seclusion and prevents encroachment of any kind.
The farm is in the catchment area of Cranbrook School, Maidstone Grammar School and Maidstone Girls’ Grammar School. Staplehurst station is roughly a mile away (walkable across country) and provides regular trains to Charing Cross (58 min) or to the seaside at St Leonard’s Warrior Square (63 min).
There is a Sainsbury’s’ about a mile away in Staplehurst, a Co-Op in Cranbrook (5 miles), and a Waitrose in Paddock Wood (7 miles). The County Town of Maidstone is approximately 8 miles away.
Offers in the region of £1,399,999
dairmot@farmwithdevelopment.co.uk
Kent Farm for sale with permitted development 