The Green, Matfield, TN12

Little Court is an exceptional six-bedroom family home overlooking Matfield's picturesque village green, beautifully renovated in 2021 and extending to 3,711 sq ft. Thoughtfully designed for modern family living, it offers elegant reception rooms, a stunning open-plan kitchen, six generous bedrooms and a south-west facing garden. Combining timeless character with contemporary finishes, this is a rare opportunity to own one of the village's finest homes.

You arrive on a gravel drive that already tells you something about what lies inside. The entrance hall sets the character early: wide pale stone tiles underfoot, warm timber beams crossing the ceiling, a painted staircase rising opposite with a natural oak handrail. Brass pendant lanterns. A church pew tucked beneath the stairs. It's the kind of hall that feels genuinely settled rather than composed for arrival, and it makes exactly the right impression without trying too hard.

The heart of the house is the kitchen, living and dining room, a space of extraordinary scale that opens across the rear of the property and does the work that good family rooms are supposed to do. The kitchen is fitted in soft sage cabinetry with a stone work surface and a generous central island with bar seating, pendant lights overhead. Morning light comes in across the dining table. The room is wide enough that the seating area at one end doesn't feel like an afterthought, and the outlook through multiple windows to the garden holds the connection between inside and out across the whole space.

The lounge is a different space entirely, and the contrast is one of Little Court's great qualities. A fireplace with a painted surround sits at one end. Meanwhile, the adjacent wall gives way to a full width run of glazed sliding doors opening directly onto the terrace and garden beyond. In summer, the room and the garden become one. In winter, the fireplace earns its place.

A generous snug or playroom offers a quieter retreat from the main living spaces. The property offers a formal lounge currently used as a games room and a dedicated study is sized properly for working from home rather than squeezed into a box room. The utility and boot room handles the practical realities of country living. Underfloor heating runs throughout the open plan living space.

Upstairs, six bedrooms are arranged across a well-considered first floor. The principal bedroom is calm and generously proportioned with its own en suite. The remaining five bedrooms range in scale and outlook, several of them substantial enough to serve as proper guest rooms or the bedrooms of older children who need their own space. Two separate family bathrooms on either end of the first floor really make the layout feel planned rather than incidental.

The garden faces south and is as good as the house deserves. A broad terrace runs directly off the formal lounge, the natural starting point for summer evenings, and beyond it an extensive level lawn stretches back through mature trees and lavender borders that catch the sun from early afternoon through to dusk. To one side, a sheltered seating area set against a period wall offers a more intimate corner when the main lawn is in full sun. The whole garden has a privacy and generosity of scale that is increasingly rare at this level.

To the front, a private gravel drive provides parking for several cars. Planning permission exists for a large double bay oak frame garage, and there is room to act on it.

This is a house that has been genuinely improved rather than simply updated, and the distinction matters. The renovation is careful, the finish is consistent, and the character of the original building has been respected throughout. For a family seeking village life at real scale, in a setting that rarely becomes available even in this part of Kent, Little Court is worth taking seriously.

*Location Guide*

Matfield is a small village sitting within the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, nestled between Royal Tunbridge Wells and Paddock Wood in the heart of the Kentish Weald. The village grew up around its green, said to be the largest in Kent, with a duck pond at its northern end and the Grade I listed Matfield House overlooking it. The village was named Kent Village of the Year in 2010, a recognition that speaks to both its appearance and its community. It is the kind of place people tend to stay once they have arrived.

*Transport Links*

Paddock Wood station provides mainline services to London Charing Cross via London Bridge and Waterloo East, with journey times of around 53 minutes. The station is approximately three miles from the village, an easy drive or cycle on a fine morning. The A21 is nearby, linking directly to the M25 and placing Gatwick Airport within comfortable reach. Royal Tunbridge Wells is around ten minutes by car, and Maidstone is accessible in a similar time via the A228, giving drivers a good range of options for day-to-day travel.

*Education*

Brenchley and Matfield Church of England Primary School sits in the neighbouring village of Brenchley and is well regarded locally. For secondary education, the area falls within reach of the grammar schools in Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge and Maidstone. Independent options are also well represented, with schools including Tonbridge School, Bethany School in Goudhurst, Holmewood House and Sevenoaks School all accessible within a reasonable drive. Families moving to Matfield consistently find the breadth of choice one of the area's more compelling attractions.

*Local Attractions*

The village green hosts the annual village fete and is home to Matfield Cricket Club, and the surrounding countryside provides some of the best walking in Kent. Bewl Water, the largest reservoir in the southeast, is within easy reach and offers walking, cycling, sailing and fishing. Scotney Castle, a National Trust property with romantic ruins and extensive woodland walks, is around ten to fifteen minutes away. Bedgebury Forest, known for its cycling trails and the national pinetum, is similarly close. For a village of its size, the access to genuinely varied outdoor recreation is exceptional.

*Entertainment and Leisure*

The village has a butcher and The Poet at Matfield, a gastropub that has become a fixture of local life. The neighbouring village of Brenchley, just over a mile away, adds a post office, doctors' surgery, The Little Bull Café and Bar and Grey's Café to the picture, and the two villages share a tennis club alongside cricket and football teams. Royal Tunbridge Wells, ten minutes by car, provides a full range of restaurants, independent shops, the Pantiles and the Stag Theatre and cinema. For larger retail, Bluewater Shopping Centre is around 30 to 40 minutes away.