Fairfax House, Ampleforth

Offers in Excess of £1,750,000

Exceptional country property with its own lake, within strolling distance of village amenities

Fairfax House has been rigorously modernised by the current owners, making effective use of the latest technology to create a country house that is energy efficient, high functioning and luxuriously appointed. Its Victorian heritage sits comfortably alongside its two-storey contemporary extension designed to take full advantage of the glorious west facing outlook over lakeside gardens and grounds.  This remarkable property comes with a range of outbuildings, land and boating lake, and enjoys an idyllic setting towards the southern edge of this enduringly popular village in the Howardian Hills and on the edge of the North York Moors.

Fairfax House is a classic Victorian house dating from 1875, constructed of Flemish bond bricks and rendered on the north eastern elevation. It has been comprehensively renovated and updated by the current owners whose vision at the outset was to create an energy-efficient and luxurious long-term home.  The whole has been finished to the highest possible specification using technology, craftsmen and interior designers.  Its Victorian heritage has been faithfully reproduced with ornate floor tiles, a new staircase in the nineteenth century style, limestone fireplaces, wall panelling, cornicing, and William Morris, Cole & Son and Sanderson wallpapers.

The house is set back from the village road behind a landscaped garden with a traditional covered well and a pretty village beck which wends its way around to the south of the property. Every room is beautifully appointed.  The large kitchen dining room has a westerly outlook across the gardens and grounds and is open plan to the family room, both with underfloor heating beneath a ceramic tiled floor. There is a large island unit with a breakfast bar, granite worktops, Butler sink, induction hob, integrated Neff appliances including a microwave oven and ample space for a family-sized dining table.  Alongside is the utility room/boot room and separate cloakroom wc. There is a study with bespoke, fitted office furniture and two workstations. Two formal reception rooms flank the staircase at the front of the house and have wood-burning stoves housed in handsome fireplaces. A glorious addition is the garden room which has full-height, full-width bifold doors on the south and west elevations giving panoramic, far-reaching views across the lakeside gardens.  Upstairs, the principal bedroom suite with its bespoke fitted dressing room and bathroom, has bifold doors and a ‘breakfast’ balcony across its western face. There are three further double rooms and a single room all served by a superb house bathroom.