Fancy escaping it all to go and live in the Hundred Acre Wood? It turns out you can, if you have £5.5 million to spare.
A country mansion with its own 100 acres – not to mention a pool and equestrian facilities – has gone on sale in the land of Winnie the Pooh.
The rear of Top Hill Farm opens up onto sweeping views over East Sussex’s Ashdown Forest, famously the inspiration for A. A. Milne’s Hundred Acre Wood and a place he would walk often with his son, Christopher Robin.
It is these walks that sparked his ideas for the adventures of Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Eeyore, Rabbit and Owl, which have brought delight to generations of children from around the world.
The 104 acres on offer here are made up of paddocks, mature gardens, a walled winter garden, and, of course, woodlands, which in the spring become carpeted by bluebells.
The centenary year of Winnie the Pooh’s first publication (as a story in the London Evening News) seems like the perfect time for this spectacular property to come onto the market for the first time in 35 years.
Not far from A.A Milne’s own former home of Cotchford Farm in Hartfield, the property is surrounded by mementos of the beloved children’s characters – from Pooh Sticks Bridge, to the Pooh Corner tearoom.
Aside from seekers of whimsical adventures in the Hundred Acre Wood, horse lovers should also take note of this one. There are stables, a 3,866sqft barn and even a recently rebuilt indoor riding arena.
Despite its characterful exterior, Top Hill Farm is not listed, so the new owners could have more freedom with working on it than is common for this kind of property.
As it stands, the main house includes eight bedrooms and four bathrooms, as well as a sitting room, drawing room, snug, formal dining room, kitchen breakfast room and a study.
There is also a separate office or playroom accessed from outside, perfect for a separate work-from-home space.
But that’s not all the living space on offer; there are also three further accommodations on the property.
These include a two-bed detached lodge cottage, a granary flat above the six-care garage and a separate one-bed annexe.
