The Pantheon of English country houses has hit the market boasting a heated driveway and indoor pool.
The behemoth four-story mansion listed this month in the town of Virginia Water, Surrey, is asking £22 million (US$28.9 million). Like a Roman temple, four gigantic stone columns hold up the front portico that lead into a circular reception hall filled with light from a central skylight several floors high.
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The interiors of the home, known as Ashwam, are similarly over the top. A self-supported spiral staircase rings the lavish reception hall, which also features dramatic Arabescato marble flooring. It leads into large living spaces, including a formal drawing room, home theater, family room and large kitchen, each heavily detailed in crown molding, wainscotting and more interior columns, according to images from the listing with real estate brokerage Winkworth.
The home is 45 minutes from London and part of the Wentworth Estate, seven square kilometers of woodland speckled with large, custom-built family homes, most of which were built over the last century.
At nearly 22,000 feet of interior space, Ashwan is “one of the largest houses on the Wentworth Estate,” said listing agent Anthony Blackstone, director of Winkworth Sunningdale. “It’s a very unique house.”
The buyer should expect a regular rotation of house guests as this mansion was built to host, with 10 bedrooms and underground parking garage for 10 to 12 cars. Two self-contained guest suites have their own private staircases.
There’s also a secondary staff kitchen on the lower level with access to the terraces for indoor or outdoor entertaining. Staff quarters also include two bedrooms on the lower level.
Private owners built the home up over the past six or seven years. But with their children having left the house, the home is too large for two people, Mr. Blackstone said.
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The Classical style of the home is likely to appeal to wealthy overseas buyers in Russia or China, Mr. Blackstone said. Some of the neighborhood’s most lavish homes are owned by foreign dignitaries, including nearby Tittenhurst Park, formerly home to Beatles bandmates John Lennon and Ringo Starr, and now reportedly owned by members of the United Arab Emirates’ ruling families.
Ashwan certainly boasts an amenity list worthy of royalty, including a heated granite driveway, Crestron automated home system, library, steam room and an indoor pool and spa with a separate shower area.