An idyllic moated estate on the Suffolk/Essex border is up for sale with a guide price of £10.5m.
Clees Hall Estate in Bures, near Sudbury, includes a moated seven-bedroom Georgian country home, its own airstrip and a small vineyard.
It also has two-bedroom granary, and six more residential properties which bring in a combined rent of nearly £100k a year.
The 496 acre estate – which is being marketed through Savills estate agents – dates back to the medieval period. It can trace its roots back to the family of London draper John Clee who moved to the area in the late 1300s to be near to the wool towns and villages from which he plied his trade. It is thought to have been the site of the medieval manor of Alphamstone.
It is described by Savills as a “beautiful residential country estate with significant amenity appeal and a substantial income stream”.
The current owners bought the property in 2006 and carried out substantial improvements including rewiring, replumbing and installing new hardwood doors and windows.
The accompanying farmland extending to 309 acres is predominantly arable with areas of permanent pasture and meadows.
The estate includes a 650 metre grass airstrip and a small vineyard which has previously produced up to 300 bottles of wine a year. A mixed woodland area called Clees Hall Great Wood is home to a Second World War Nissen hut that has been converted into a shoot room.
A variety of outbuildings include a Grade II listed granary, Grade II listed estate office, a substantial Essex barn, stabling and garages.
Selling agent William Hargreaves – who is based with the rural agency team at Savills in Ipswich – said: “Clees Hall represents an extremely rare opportunity. As well as an exceptional residential estate of the highest quality it also provides plenty of scope for a variety of different income streams.
“The main house is modern and spacious, ideally suited to entertaining and family living, while the extra accommodation has been finished to the highest of standards and is currently let for residential use.
“The arable land is farmed under a share farming agreement by a well-known local farmer and there is every opportunity for that to continue should the new owners wish, while the woodland has significant amenity and sporting appeal.
“The diverse environmental credentials also make it a haven for wildlife and perfect for the environmentally-conscientious buyer or investor.”
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