Chipping Norton, UK
“Other than the fact that all country houses have certain key features–significant entrance, garden facade with outlook, carefully composed approach, main house and ancillary buildings, there is no specific country house from which this design is derived,” Adam states.
British architect Robert Adam has designed an 11-bedroom neoclassical house for an estate in the Cotswolds near the village of Chipping Norton, United Kingdom that is currently being sold by Sotheby’s International Realty.
With room for 50 classic cars and views across the Cotswolds, the 68,000 sq ft St Johns House is an oligarch’s dream home even though it has not been built yet.
For £20 million the buyer gets 60 acres of land near Witney in Oxfordshire and planning permission to build one of Britain’s biggest private homes, with the floor space of 60 average family homes.
If realized, the house designed by Adam, who was recently a director of British studio Adam Architecture, would become one of the largest new country homes in the UK.
Sotheby’s believes it will command an asking price of £70 million once built.
At present, there is not much more than a stone barn on the site.
“This would make it not only the largest new home to be built in the UK for over a hundred years, but also the only one built from the ground up,” explained Guy Bradshaw, managing director of Sotheby’s International Realty.
The home in the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty was designed by Adam as a modern take on a traditional English country house.
“It is a classical country house, but one that moves the classical tradition forward,” states Adam.
“The house adds to the country house tradition. Traditions are not static, they move on to adapt to present needs while keeping a clear connection with the predecessors.”
Adams designed the villa to have a central block with a classical portico in its center, flanked by two wings extending forward.
Its three-story main block rises above three semi-subterranean levels that would contain a gym, swimming pool, and bowling alley, alongside a garage for 50 cars that is described as a car museum.
A ballroom, which opens onto a terrace, would be placed on the lowest level.
The main block is designed to contain a living room and dining room on the ground floor, nine ensuite bedrooms on the level above, and two principal suites on the top story.
“It is both classical and modern, this is really the point, these are not incompatible,” Adam continues.
“It is part of the tradition but, sometimes in quite subtle ways, moves it on a notch. You don’t need to be odd to be modern.”
According to Sotheby’s, the planning permission for the home is the result of a “24-year journey.” A previous modernist scheme designed for the site by architect Adrian James was granted planning permission in 2004 but not built.
Project: Neoclassical Country House
Architects: Adam Architecture
Client: Sotheby’s International Realty
