Groundbreaking Country House
Hampshire

A new country house built on virgin Hampshire farmland was the first planning permission won under a government policy that only permits the construction of new country houses proven to be of ‘the highest quality’ and ‘truly outstanding’ in design, PPG7 (Planning Policy Guidance) also known as Gummer’s Law. 15,000 square feet of accommodation includes 10 bedrooms, a series of state rooms, a family wing and a farm office.

The house was planned with different elevational treatments to reflect the different internal uses of parts of the building. The main section of the house containing the principal formal rooms is constructed in Bath stone, utilising large windows and fine classical detailing. Elevations are based on interlocked and stylised giant Doric and paired Corinthian pilasters, with a balustraded parapet and secondary Doric order on the ground floor. The adjoining family wing is on a separate square plan, with an open courtyard adjacent to the staterooms. Its elevations are based on a giant order with paired shallow pilasters.

A new, 50-acre landscape was created to accompany the house.