If you’re always looking for ways to earn money from your home —renting out your car parking space, taking a lodger, or hiring it out to film crews, for example— a country house with its own luxury holiday cabin business might be the answer. Mulberry House, near Copthorne, has just hit the market with Batcheller Monkhouse for £4 million.
Set in 14 acres of West Sussex countryside, Mulberry House comes with three upmarket holiday cabins. Each has its own bathroom, kitchen, private parking, hot tub and cinema screen.
The business, called KOA Cabins, advertises itself as a “secret romantic getaway” for couples to “relax and unwind from the hustle and bustle of life in ultimate, luxurious comfort.”
-Batcheller-Monkhouse.jpeg)
The owners, who bought the property in 2020, embarked on a wholesale, 11-month renovation of the house, before building the three cabins.
“They’re like studio apartments…They’ve got lovely decks with hot tubs, outdoor showers and pull-down cinema screens. It’s a lovely, private, enclosed space. All the cabins have floor-to-ceiling glass overlooking the woodland. It’s a very tranquil setting,” says Emma Mason at Batcheller Monkhouse.
“They have a lot of people from London that come to stay. They’re continuously rented.”
The three cabins and the business —which has some 30,000 followers on Instagram— are for sale with the property, which is being advertised as a “rare and remarkable opportunity to acquire a fully operational high-yield lifestyle business”.
With prices for the cabins starting at £445 per night online, Mason says that the potential yield is “substantial”. “It’s a significant profitable business.”
The owners currently run it as a side hustle alongside their jobs, but say that the cabins generate sufficient income to live off alone.
The holiday business need not encroach on a buyer’s country house life, either. The cabins are approached via a separate driveway, with their own entrance.
As for Mulberry House itself, the expansive Georgian-style property spans 4,791 square feet over three floors. There are five bedrooms, five bathrooms, four reception rooms and a gym, sauna, boot room and playroom.
Downstairs, the rooms are arranged around a central reception hall, with a curved stairway and chequered wooden flooring. The kitchen, straight ahead, is open plan, with a breakfast bar and dining area – although there’s also a separate formal dining room.
The house’s bedrooms are all on the floor above, accessed from a galleried landing. The loft room, above, is used by the current owners as a cinema room.
.jpg)
Outside, the property’s 13.8 acres of gardens and grounds are home to 22 deer, according to the KOA Cabins website, with a natural pond and woodland.
“The entrance is down a long, wooded track. It’s very private. It’s got high, black security gates and a big sign saying that you’ve arrived at Mulberry House. That opens up to a big, sweeping driveway approach to the house, which is right in front of you, big and impressive,” says Mason.
“Absolutely everything has ben done to a very high standard. They substantially extended the property at the back when they bought it and completely modernised the whole house. They’ve even insulated the foundations of the floor. It’s been taken back to its bare bones, and beautifully done.”
As well as Mulberry House and the three cabins, the property comes with parking, a garage, stables and an additional outbuilding. There is current planning consent for the construction of a three-bay garage and games room with a home office above.
Now, after five years at the property, the owners are relocating to Dubai, and Mulberry House is for sale. Mason believes it is likely to appeal to London buyers seeking the tranquillity of the surrounding countryside, as well as an additional source of income.
“It would be someone that wants that country estate, but wants to draw an income from it at the same time,” says Mason.
“What the owners really love about it is the nature. They have deer come and sit while they’re having their breakfast on the patio. It’s accessible to London, Gatwick and Brighton, but you feel like you’re in your own oasis of beautiful countryside, which is quite special.”
