Manchester Road, Sway, Lymington, Hampshire, SO41

A spacious two bedroom penthouse apartment on the top floor of a handsome Victorian mansion house in Sway, set in beautifully kept communal grounds. It needs full modernisation and is offered with no forward chain. Cash buyers only.

The Property
Quarr House is an elegant Victorian residence that has been divided into a small number of apartments. You arrive through a gravelled courtyard to a pillared stone porch, where a panelled front door flanked by original stained glass leads into the communal entrance shared by Flats 2, 4 and 6.

Flat 6 occupies the remainder of the top floor and is a rare opportunity. Rooms are surprisingly generous, and the original character of the building shows in the sloping ceilings, exposed beams and fireplaces. From the upper windows you look out over treetops and the formal gardens below.

The apartment has not been updated for many years and needs complete renovation. That also means a buyer can design a home entirely to their own taste within the shell of a fine period building. The excellent proportions are the starting point.

You enter through a lobby with a row of coat hooks, a useful spot for coats and boots. An arched opening leads into a long hallway that gives access to every room and has several walk-in storage cupboards.

The sitting room is the heart of the apartment. It is a large room with windows on two sides, a fireplace as its focal point and built-in shelving, with plenty of space for comfortable furnishing.

The separate dining room is another generous room with a fireplace and a built-in cupboard. It is large enough for a substantial dining table, which makes it ideal for entertaining.

The kitchen has a window overlooking the grounds and a range of base units and a sink. A wall of built-in shelving and cupboards runs along one side, and there is a tall larder cupboard and a further walk-in larder.

There are two bedrooms. The first is a long, light room. The second has a built-in airing cupboard and would also make an ideal study.

The bathroom sits beneath a vaulted ceiling and has a bath with a shower attachment, a pedestal wash basin and a WC. There is also a separate WC with a wash basin, which houses the wall-mounted boiler.

Outside
The grounds are one of the great pleasures of Quarr House. Wide sweeping lawns, beautifully striped and maintained, stretch away from the rear of the building. At their centre is a formal circular rose garden around a stone sundial. Mature trees enclose the gardens, including towering poplars, conifers and specimen trees that bring wonderful colour in autumn, giving a lovely sense of seclusion. To the front, a gravelled courtyard provides parking, and there is a range of period outbuildings and garages within the grounds.

Tenure and Important Information

Tenure: Leasehold, with approximately 32 years remaining on the lease.

Cash buyers only: Mortgage lenders generally will not lend on a lease this short, so this apartment is only suitable for buyers who can proceed without a mortgage.

Lease extension and share of freehold: The other apartments at Quarr House each hold a share of the freehold and benefit from 999-year leases. We have been advised that the owner of Flat 6 can extend the lease and buy into the share of freehold on the same basis, at a cost of approx. £109,000 (guideline figure). This would bring the apartment in line with the rest of the building and should make it mortgageable and more valuable in future. Buyers should have their solicitor verify these figures and the process before committing.

Service charge: Currently £1,250 payable every six months (£2,500 per annum).

Council Tax Band: E

EPC: Current ~ D64 Potential ~ C73

SERVICES: Mains water, electricity, gas and drainage.

HEATING: Gas fired central heating.

BROADBAND: Ultrafast up to 1000 mbps download (Ofcom).