Detached House for sale with 3 bedrooms, Dover Road, Westcliffe

Designed by the multi-award winning architect Guy Hollaway of Hollaway Studio, The Meadow is an awe-inspiring and environmentally efficient modern, single storey property and has just won the prestigious RIBA Regional Award. The house is an architectural gem and also won the Bronze Award in What House? ‘Best Luxury Home’ awards last year. This is considered to be the ‘Oscars’ of the house building industry and an award is a highly respected symbol of prestige and excellence. Although it is the epitome of contemporary design and energy efficiency this impressive home with its black zinc covered roof blends amazingly well into its rural setting within the curtilage of the Grade II* Listed Wallets Court surrounded by the Kent countryside in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

This fantastic property is approached along a discreetly hidden entrance and gravel driveway that leads to a contemporary carport with photovoltaic solar panels on the roof and nestles in the midst of 0.952 of an acre of grounds filled with wild flowers and fruit trees. The first thing you notice is the impressive flint façade and the black office ‘pod’ designed as a modern version of the historic staddlestone huts. As you walk through the front door the wow factors start appearing when you see the vast picture window that dominates the hall framing the rear garden and the polished concrete flooring with underfloor heating that flows throughout the building. As you wander into the stunning open plan living space with its double height vaulted ceiling you can begin to appreciate the lightness and brightness that is characteristic of the entire property with vast corner windows and wide glazed doors providing stunning views across the garden and the Kent Downs beyond.

The contemporary kitchen includes a central island with Siemens appliances including an induction hob with a downdraft extractor and bespoke white flat fronted units with Silestone worktops housing two built in ovens, a dishwasher, larder fridge and separate freezer. Backing onto the central island is a hand built four-seater oak dining bench with under seat storage facilities and a dining area where you can easily sit 10 people round a table. The sitting room area provides plenty of opportunity for enjoying the views and has a fascinating textured cork wall feature with an inset television and a delightful raised contemporary Stovax log burner. There is a wide glazed door to the external covered terrace and outdoor kitchen with its Broil King grills and access to the glass lined corridor leading to the dual aspect office pod with views over the newly planted orchard.

Another important aspect of this property is the amount of storage available. Along the entire ‘spine’ of the building are floor to ceiling bespoke oak cupboards with a variety of different internal facilities including a concealed bar, shelving, drawers and full and half height hanging spaces.

On the other side of the hall there is a cloakroom and three double bedrooms. Two of them have full height windows and doors to the covered walkway that wraps around the building and en suite showers with large, mirrored cupboards over the basins. While the impressive main bedroom has huge floor to ceiling corner windows to the garden providing panoramic views while you sit in bed and sip your morning coffee, a delightful stand-alone contemporary modern bath in the bedroom, a bespoke oak headboard and bedroom furniture, a spacious dressing room and plenty of fitted wardrobes as well as a vast wet room with additional storage. There is also a door to an outside black stand-alone bath and separate shower discreetly hidden by bamboo screening that is ideal for a wash down after a walk with the dog or a morning run. Access is available to the utility/pump room with laundry facilities and the energy storing battery as well as a back door where you will find the air source heat pump that heats the underfloor heating and hot water and the carport.

The rear sunken garden is a mass of wild flowers and includes a gravel path leading to a charming patio with a firepit if you want to sit and enjoy the surrounding shrubs and meadow while the fabulous terrace with its vast roof overhang is ideal for al fresco dining.

One of the aspects that appealed to the judges when making the awards for the design of this property is its energy saving efficiency and this is apparent everywhere, from the high insulation, air tightness to reduce energy waste and the polished concrete flooring that acts as a heat store. This is of course in addition to the solar panels and battery that stores excess energy created during the day to be used at night and the air source heat pump.