We take a look inside a 1920s house with plenty of unusual aspects to offer

When he designed a seven-bedroom house in the 1920s, architect Ernest Walker thought of everything. With a sauna room, tennis court, log store, walk-in pantry and orchard, it’s safe to say that this particular property has everything a resident might need.

Sandreith, built in 1924, is an imposing town house within walking distance of the market square in Malton, North Yorkshire. Its style is typical of such Gentlemen’s residences built on the edge of the town centre at that time, and it has well established and extensive gardens and grounds – a factor somewhat rare in town centre properties of this kind.

Ernest Walker was a contemporary of renowned architect Edwin Lutyens. He built Sandreith to take the fullest advantage of its south facing position: in an unusual curved shape meaning that the majority of rooms have some south facing aspect.

The house opens into a lobby leading onto an entrance hall, featuring good sized under-stairs storage space and an adjoining cloak area, as well as a cloakroom with a separate WC. Off the entrance hall is the drawing room, a light and spacious room ideal for entertaining. It features exposed ceiling timbers, a fireplace with marble mantelshelf and surrounds and a granite tiled hearth with a Jetmaster fire. An interconnecting door leads to a study/snug, which has a brick fireplace with a stone hearth and an oak mantelshelf, housing a cast iron wood-burning stove, and an inner lobby/storage area.

Also off the drawing room is the conservatory, a welcoming space with a pine boarded floor and electric ceiling fan. French doors open onto the patio and gardens.

Also on the ground floor is the dining room, as well as a large dining kitchen. The latter features a recently installed, custom-made kitchen with a chimney breast housing a four-oven, gas-fired Aga with decorative tiling behind. There is an Italian tiled floor, a double-bowl butler’s style sink and polished granite worksurfaces, as well as an extensive range of wall cupboards including a deep larder cupboard with built-in spice shelving. The ‘preparation area’ of the dining kitchen also features an Admiral side by side fridge-freezer with cold water and ice dispenser, a central island unit with polished granite work surface and an unusual thermostatically controlled six-bottle wine fridge. A wide arch opens to the dining area of the room, which has a matching Italian tiled floor, and French doors onto the garden. At the end of the room is a walk-in pantry.

Also on the ground floor is a rear lobby with WC, a boiler room and a laundry room.
On the first floor, a galleried landing extends the full length of the house. On this floor are seven bedrooms, many with unusual features. One, for instance, has a 22-inch deep range of built in wardrobe units and twin built-in dressing table units; another has a vanity unit complete with recessed washbasin, and another has a convenient dressing area.

The house bathroom features a corner shower cubicle, a wall mounted Mira ‘Power Shower’ and a panelled bath with a tiled surround. Also upstairs is a housemaid’s pantry, with a butler’s style ceramic sink, wall shelving and store cupboard, an airing cupboard and a good sized box room with ladder access to attic storage space. There is also a back staircase with access to the kitchen.

To the rear of the house is a detached office/garage space which would be well suited for a variety of uses, such as housing a dependant relative or for letting purposes, subject to obtaining planning and other necessary consents. This comprises a garden store, bicycle store and log store, and a large games room/office featuring built-in bookcases and a built in desk unit. The space also has a sauna room, shower room, cloakroom, separate WC, double garage and workshop.  

The gardens lie entirely to the south of the house and are enclosed by high hedging on three sides. The formal garden is mainly laid down to lawn and interspersed with a variety of mature trees including beech, copper beech, cedar, lime and ancient acacia. A rose garden is centred upon a stone sundial and enclosed by rustic trelliswork.

The property also has an extensive kitchen garden and a greenhouse with
heated Orchid house to one end. There’s also a hen house, hard tennis court and a revolving summer house, as well as an old timber framed Dutch-style greenhouse and a small ornamental pond with water feature. Adjoining the western boundary of the property is an orchard with fruit trees including apple, plum and pear.

The guide price for Sandreith is £995,000. For further information please contact Chesterton Humberts on 01904 611828 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . www.chestertonhumberts.com