An exquisite estate with a superb mansion at its heart is available on the market through Fenn Wright Country & Equestrian.

Hill House Country Estate is set in an area regarded as one of Essex’s best-kept secrets and is just 35 minutes by train from the City of London.

For the resident who wants everything, the estate at Rettendon Common, nestled between the Hanningfield Nature Reserve and the Royal Horticultural Society Gardens at Hyde Hall, will come up trumps; a main residence of style and luxury, a separate period farmhouse, staff bungalow, guest lodge, outstanding equestrian facilities, indoor pool, sauna, gym, skeet shoot, par 3 driving range and 72 acres … the list seems endless.

Zoe Napier, at Fenn Wright Country and Equestrian, said: “Offers in excess of £5million are invited for the whole of the Estate. Alternatively, there are up to six lots, whereupon Lot 1 (the main house) has a guide of £4.5million. Other properties on the estate include a three-bedroom period farmhouse, a three-bedroom bungalow and a two-bedroom guest lodge. The overall starting price seems quite modest, especially as the current owners have recently invested more than £3million refurbishing the main house alone!

“The superb main residence has classic Edwardian origins and has been extended and cleverly combines rooms of enormous elegance and traditional style, with others of a more contemporary feel.”

Approaching the front of the house via the long main driveway (one of four entrances, each with electronic gates), a superb panoramic view across the park-like grounds and lake opens up before the visitor.

Accommodation in Hill House begins in a magnificent galleried entrance hall with three-storey atrium and marble floor. From either end, staircases rise to the upper floors, together with a lift, which offers access to all floors and also with dedicated access to the fine master bedroom suite with twin en suites and a superb breakfast balcony.

Off the hall, the stunning library-cum-formal dining room has walls of fine, hand-carved oak, fitted bookcases, a Cotswold stone fireplace and moulded ceiling. The drawing room is a magnificent reception area with mood lighting. Other reception rooms include a music room and a morning room with opening through to a conservatory. Needless to say, the kitchen, which is more than 29ft long, is superbly equipped with everything the most demanding cook could require.

Also off the main hall, doors open to the temperature and humidity-controlled swimming pool complex, where the 31ft pool has jet counter-currents to swim against and an automatic cover. Enjoying magnificent views across the park is a six-person whirlpool spa bath set close to doors out to a terrace. The surroundings have been greatly enhanced by the work of Italian craftsmen. A marble corridor leads to the changing rooms, solarium and 30ft gymnasium. Service rooms include a gun room, laundry, humidity-controlled drying room, boot room and plant room.

On the first floor, as well as the magnificent master suite with its twin dressing and bathrooms, another highlight of the house is the panelled billiard room. Designed to accommodate not one but two billiard tables, it has a bar area and steps up to a television lounge with doors opening to an east-facing balcony terrace. There are two more bedroom suites and various other rooms, including a sauna and bespoke temperature-controlled linen cupboards. On the top floor, currently largely used as offices, there is a fourth bedroom suite with doors opening to a private sun deck.
Outside, 12 acres of manicured lawns flank the main tree-lined driveway. The wonderful lake, teaming with fish and other wildlife, was the centrepiece for the Millennium concert ‘Music by the Lake’. Other local clubs and societies are often invited to take tea in the glorious landscaped gardens amongst the rose garden and croquet lawn.

Beyond the main house, roadways wind upwards to the upper meadows, where there are unparalleled rural views with access to the shooting lodge and two skeet houses with voice-activated traps. To the south, with their own gated entrance, are the estate houses, work shops, outbuildings and outstanding equine facilities.

In addition to 12 stables and associated tack and feed rooms and stores, there is a floodlit sand school, covered horse walker, garaging for horseboxes and a cross-country course over two miles long, complete with optional water jumps. The outbuildings include a 2,900sq ft workshop and staff canteen, excellent barns (ideal for further ancillary accommodation) and storage for HGV Horseboxes.

“It is hard to do justice on paper to what is on offer here,” said Zoe, “although I am confident potential purchasers will find Hill House Country Estate is among the finest and most lavishly equipped properties they will have ever visited. What makes it still more remarkable is its location. There is attractive countryside all around and some excellent rural amenities on the doorstep, including schools, golf clubs, country pubs, gardens and a nature reserve, and yet the heart of London is only 25 miles away.”

For full information, contact Zoe on 01376 530135. Joint agents are Knight Frank LLP.