Q UESTION: What do you do with a pair of Victorian farmworkers' cottages that are sadly well past their sell-by date? That was the dilemma facing ex-farmer Jim Furze and his family back in 2009, when they finally regained possession of two semi-detached estate cottages that had been left over from the sale of Newhouse Farm, at Moreton near Ongar.
"Initially, we considered renovating them to bring them fully up to modern standards," Jim recalled, "but one of the pair was in a particularly sorry state, so in the end we decided that the best option would be to demolish them and build something else instead."
The "something else" they eventually decided upon was Clarklands – a magnificent, classically inspired five-bedroom country house, designed by Jim's architect daughter Rachel and constructed to the most exacting standards by master builders GE & AF Silvester of Takeley, near Bishops Stortford.
Standing amid some four acres of grounds in a superb hilltop position commanding far-reaching rural views, and approached via twin electrically-operated five bar gates opening onto a gravel drive, you could be forgiven for thinking from a distance that Clarklands was actually considerably older than it is – thanks to the emphasis on traditional design and materials, including mellowed red brick in a Flemish bond relieved by wide sash windows with stone surrounds, together with an impressive stone entrance portico flanked by Doric columns – all beneath a shallow-pitched slate roof.
In contrast, the interior is all sophisticated, up-to-the-minute luxury and comfort. The internal layout is light and airy, offering 4,500 square feet of well-proportioned family living space incorporating an advanced AV system by Aldous, with five zones and two iPod docking stations with remote controls.
The accommodation comprises, on the ground floor, three reception rooms – two of them featuring working fireplaces with limestone surrounds; a simply stunning 30-foot luxury fitted kitchen/breakfast room featuring luxury handmade units, granite worktops and travertine flooring; an orangery; a utility room and a cloakroom.
An open-cut staircase with oak handrails leads to the first floor and the five bedrooms, including the three-room master suite and two further en-suite shower rooms, together with a family bathroom.
Outside, the gravel sweep also provides access to a separate garage block – similarly built using mellow red bricks in a Flemish bond, topped by a slate roof constructed using materials salvaged from the original Victorian cottages. In addition to space for two cars, the block houses a plant room, gardener's WC and a first-floor office/sixth bedroom.
The fully landscaped grounds include, to the rear of the house, a sheltered Indian sandstone terrace which opens to level lawns, interspersed with flower borders, specimen trees and a small pond. A level paddock lies beyond.
So far then, Clarklands possesses all the qualities one would expect to find in a brand new country house of the very highest calibre.
But there's more – because this home has been specifically designed to be exceptionally energy efficient.
"Like many of the current generation of young architects, my daughter is passionate about green issues, so she was determined to ensure that any house we built here should have as low a carbon footprint as possible," Jim Furze explained. "Early on in the planning stage, therefore, we all sat round as a family and discussed the various options."
Amongst other things, they considered renewable energy sources such as solar and wind, but this was before the Government's generous feed-in tariffs were introduced, and they rejected both these options. In the end, with the help of a locally-based consultant in energy conservation, they chose ground source heat pump technology. Although relatively expensive to install, this is extremely efficient and effective – when allied to the highest levels of insulation, as it is at Clarklands.
The system as installed is based around no fewer than 1,200 metres of heat collecting pipework buried in the paddock, linked to a heat pump (for the technically minded, a Nibe Fighter 1330) housed in the garage block plant room. It supplies hot water and underfloor heating to both ground and first floors.
And how effective is it? "Having only completed the house last autumn, and not wanting to put it on the market before the spring, we knew we would have to keep it reasonably warm while it was unoccupied," said Jim. The system passed this test with flying colours, he adds, maintaining a steady temperature of 16-17 degrees throughout the bitterly cold weather we experienced during the first few months of this year – and doing so at a fraction of the cost of conventional oil-fired or electric underfloor heating. At the same time, the system is also capable of heating copious amounts of hot water, to a maximum temperature of approximately 50 degrees – more than hot enough for baths and showers.
A further eco-friendly feature of this remarkable house is a 4,300-litre rainwater-harvesting system for the gardens.
Situation-wise, Clarklands could hardly be more conveniently located. The village of Moreton is just a mile away, while Ongar, with its busy High Street and range of traditional stores, is within four miles. The area also boasts many highly-regarded schools. The house is ideally placed for the commuter, being only eight miles from the terminus of the London Underground Central Line at Epping, and six miles from Junction 7 of the M11 – giving access to Cambridge, London Stansted Airport, the M25 and the rest of the national motorway network, together with the North and the Midlands via the A1 and A14 respectively.
Clarklands has just come on to the market through agents Jackson-Stops & Staff's Chelmsford office, with a guide price of £1.95 million.
