Hound House Road, Shere

Cotterell House is that rare and sought after country home; an impeccably renovated Grade II listed Georgian house situated on the edge of the pretty village of Shere, within the Surrey Hills.

Why We Love Cotterell House - Cotterell House is that rare and sought after country home; an impeccably renovated Grade II listed Georgian house situated on the edge of the pretty village of Shere, within the Surrey Hills. If ever there was everyone’s idea of the perfect Georgian house it would be this. With its fine, east-facing Georgian façade, its southern and western facades betray its earlier 17th-century origins, Cotterell House exemplifies the development of an English Georgian home, over the centuries.

It is now the ideal home for country loving families with all the modern conveniences, proximity to great schools and transport links into London.

As expected, there is an elegant symmetry to the house in that the main reception rooms all flow easily and logically off the wide entrance hall. Immediately left and right of the fan lit front door is a double aspect dining room, family snug and study. Continuing the Georgian era rooms is a family room that is open and adjacent to the substantial family kitchen. The kitchen, fully fitted by Bulthaup, remarkably features sliding full height glazed doors that form two sides of the kitchen extension, bringing the outside space in, and vice versa, with the generous terrace that extends beyond the glazed doors. The views from the kitchen are breathtaking and more or less are entirely ‘owned’.
In the oldest part of the house, dating back to 1610, are two further reception spaces, which are presented as a music room with space enough for a baby grand piano, and an elegant drawing room that has a large feature inglenook fireplace, there is also access to both terraces, South and west-facing, making it truly ideal for all year round entertaining and easy comings and goings from the garden.

The elegant Georgian features continue upstairs, with a tall arched window showcasing the pretty staircase. A wide and generous landing leads to the principal bedroom suite, with dressing room and large en-suite bathroom, and a guest suite. The principal bedroom is indulged with 6 sash windows, bringing in light, and allowing for a 180-degree view across the gardens, paddocks and lake, to the Surrey Hills beyond.

With a family arrangement in mind, the four further bedrooms make up the ‘children’s wing’, accessed from the landing. These bedrooms sit within the older part of Cotterell House, creating an independent wing from the Georgian element, which include two suites and two double bedrooms sharing a generous family bathroom.

The Outside

The former farm buildings that made up this one-time homestead have been thoughtfully renovated to create an amenity that is a super addition to this family home. The swimming pool sits within a walled courtyard, landscaped to add the feeling of a Mediterranean sun deck, flanked on two sides by the two barns, converted in 2010 to provide two exceptional entertainment spaces. One has been designated an indoor/outdoor entertaining space with under floor heated limestone flooring and a fully equipped kitchen, shower room/changing room and cloakroom.

Adjacent is another barn with soaring ceilings which makes for a great party room as well as a mezzanine floor which doubles as a gym or home office. To the other end is a separate two storey apartment with two bedrooms, kitchen/living room and bathroom, both accessible from the party barn, and independent access from the driveway, allowing for self-contained accommodation.

Further buildings include a two-bay car port, adjacent garage, further single garage, cart barn, gardeners store, pool house with plant room, stables and storage. The stables have planning held in perpetuity, to allow for a conversion into office use, please speak to the agent for more information.
The gardens and grounds are a delight, laid to lawn with gently sloping grass areas, flower beds, mature trees that lead the eye towards the open paddocks and lake, making for an idyllic and peaceful life in the country.

Out And About - Nestled in the Tillingbourne Valley, Shere needs little introduction, in part made famous by the worldwide hit movie The Holiday staring Jude Law and Cameron Diaz, set in The Surrey Hills. Shere features as the choice village, to show an idyllic and characterful Surrey village, within easy stomping distance of London. Shere is so much more than a film set, the village is very much real, and is dotted with remarkable Georgian and Arts & Craft buildings. Some might also recognise the 12th century church of St. James, featured in Bridget Jones, Edge of Reasons. The Church is also mentioned in the Domesday Book. It contains a small and enclosed cell in which Christine Carpenter, an anchoress (religious recluse) lived. Her only contact with the outside world was through a grid and an aperture through which food and water was passed.

Not only is Shere the charming English village in looks, but it offers local residents, in and outside of the village, all the amenities for day-to-day life, including a post office, village shop, pubs, restaurants and coffee shops, one of the most notable being ‘The Dabbling Duck’. Cotterell House is that rare gem of a large country home, that is a few short minutes in the car to a pint of milk.

Quietly romantic and quintessentially English, the Parish of Shere includes Gomshall, Peaslake and Holmbury St. Mary, all firmly set within the Surrey Hills AONB. All surrounded by stunning scenery, there are iconic sites all within proximity, including Newlands Corner, the silent pool and a myriad of walks to choose from. The National Trust cares for over 4,000 hectares of countryside in the Surrey Hills, close and easily accessible from Shere are the popular walking and cycling zones of Box Hill and Leith Hill.

For education there are several schools, all easily accessed from Shere, for both prep and secondary. Cranleigh, Charterhouse in Godalming, St Catherines in Bramley, and Duke of Kent in Ewhurst, and for prepatory there is Belmont Prepatory School in Holmbury St. Mary, and Cranmore in West Horsley, as well as Royal Grammar School in Guildford, Guildford High School, and Tormead in Guildford, as well as Aldro and Hurtwood House.

For the commuter, Cotterell House is very well placed for planes, trains and automobiles. Heathrow is 28 miles and Gatwick 20 miles away, and for those taking the train, Guildford into London Waterloo on the express line is approximately 35 minutes, alternatively you can take a train from Woking into London Victoria, which is 27 minutes. West Clandon, the closest of all the stations, giving access in 50 minutes into London Waterloo, additionally West Clandon stops at Wimbledon giving access to the District line.

Access into London in the car is made easy by the A3/M25 Wisley Junction at 6.5 miles, central London is 35 miles in total.

Chapters Past - The village of Shere grew up around the River Tillingbourne prior to the Norman Conquest, with water mills forming a large part of the local economy alongside agriculture. Local land ownership was traditionally shared among several manorial families, the most prominent of whom were the Bray family. The Bray’s connection with Shere began with Sir Reginald Bray, who was an early and loyal supporter of Henry VII’s bid for the throne during the Wars of The Roses. Bray played a key role in the Battle of Bosworth Field and, following Henry’s accession, he was granted land at Shere. He went on to become a leading royal administrator, serving on the King’s Council and as a patron of major building projects, including the early phases of St George’s Chapel at Windsor.

Later generations of the family have retained ties with the village, and the village pub is named after another prominent family member, William Bray (1736–1832), an antiquarian and historian known for his detailed work on Surrey’s history, including editing the county’s section of the Domesday Book.

The village’s historic architecture remains remarkably unspoilt, no doubt in part due to its proximity to large landholdings, including that of the neighbouring Albury Estate. It has retained a high proportion of listed buildings, mainly dating from the 15th to 17th centuries, built in the pretty local vernacular of timber framing, red brick, and clay-tiles. Georgian houses are relatively uncommon in the Surrey Hills, with Cotterell House being a rare example. Built in the mid-18th the house was likely a handsome aggrandisement of an earlier building linked to Cotterell Farm. The pool house at Cotterell dates back to the early 17th and 18th centuries and was originally a large hay barn with stackyard next to an early 18th century cart lodge.