Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, HP16

An outstanding Arts and Crafts home nestled within a masterfully designed Gertrude Jekyll garden, offering fine and far-reaching views of the surrounding Chiltern countryside.

Description

SITUATION
Rignalls is situated in an elevated position with a mature wooded ackdrop overlooking the popular Hampden Valley. The property is surrounded by well-maintained agricultural land and the traditional Beech woodland of the Chiltern Hills. Local facilities are available in nearby Great Missenden, just over one mile away, whilst more comprehensive amenities are available in Amersham about 8 miles away. Nearby High Wycombe has a more extensive shopping and services including shopping centres, sports clubs and a large John Lewis store and Waitrose.

Fast and frequent trains leave Great Missenden station reaching London Marylebone in approximately 36 minutes. Access by road is excellent via the A413 Amersham Road linking with the M40/A40 and the M25. Heathrow Airport is 25 miles away.

Buckinghamshire is renowned for its choice and standard of schooling, and is one of the last counties to maintain the traditional grammar school system including Dr Challoner’s Grammar School for boys and High School for girls in Amersham. Independent schools in the area include Wycombe Abbey (8.8 miles), Caldicott (15 miles), The Beacon (6 miles), Godstowe (7.2 miles), High March (11 miles) and Davenies (10 miles) to name a few.

HISTORICAL NOTE
Rignalls was designed by the well-known Arts and Crafts architect, Charles Holden, in 1909 for Sir Felix Semon. Sir Felix was a prominent doctor and attended to Edward VII and Winston Churchill. Gertrude Jekyll was employed to design the gardens and grounds, much of which are still in existence today.

During the Second World War the house was owned by a member of the free French government. Amongst many, Charles de Gaulle is reputed to have visited on numerous occasions.

RIGNALLS
Rignalls is a beautiful Grade II Listed property, constructed of brick, part clay tile hung and rendered under a clay tile roof. The property has been refurbished to a high standard and restored to its original state by architect K Lankarani, specialist in bespoke conservation works and Patrick Baty, a specialist in historical decorating. The house is typical of the Arts and Crafts movement with steep pitched roofs and striking chimneys.

Internally the house combines light and spacious reception rooms on the ground floor, with comfortable bedroom accommodation over the first and second floors. Of particular note is the double height reception hall with double doors opening onto the beautifully proportioned drawing room. The principal reception rooms all face south, overlooking the terraced gardens.

On the first floor is a magnificent master bedroom suite with outstanding views over the valley together with three further principal bedrooms. The second floor offers great flexibility and is has further bedrooms or could be used as a self-contained flat. In recent years, the house has been fully restored to a high standard, Rignalls is now a wonderful comfortable family home with excellent modern infrastructure.

The formal gardens were designed by the renowned landscape gardener, Gertrude Jekyll, the original garden designs for which are archived at UC Berkeley in California. Unfortunately most of Gertrude Jekyll’s gardens haven’t been maintained over the years however a small number have been restored, including her own garden at Munstead Wood. The gardens at Rignalls have since been restored with garden architect and historian Todd Longstaff-Gowan.

The gardens and grounds lying predominantly to the south of the house. A York stone terrace flanks the south elevation with brick steps leading down to the terraced lawn and steps to the side lead down to a further lawned area below, both terraces are surrounded by well stocked shrubberies and laurel hedges. To the north is a wide belt of mature woodland and a lawned area with a carpet of daffodils in the spring months and blue bells. The productive orchard and Victorian greenhouse adjoins the well-fenced paddock. There is a separate timber garage building which has recently been built.

Location

Rignalls stands in an elevated position with a mature wooded backdrop overlooking the popular Hampden Valley. The property is surrounded by well-maintained agricultural land and the traditional Beech woodland of the Chiltern Hills.

Square Footage: 8,611 sq ft


Acreage: 10.3 Acres

Directions

POSTCODE: HP16 9PH

Additional Info

Local facilities are available in nearby Great Missenden, just over one mile away, whilst more comprehensive amenities are available in Amersham about 8 miles distant, including a Tesco superstore. Nearby High Wycombe has a John Lewis store.

Fast and frequent trains leave Great Missenden station reaching London Marylebone in approximately 36 minutes. Access by road is excellent via the A413 Amersham Road linking with the M40/A40 and the M25. Heathrow Airport is 25 miles away.

The district includes a strong selection of state and private schools, including some of Buckinghamshire’s renowned grammar schools.