Tradition with a Twist: A Superb Home in Surrey 

“Millhanger Farmhouse came to us in 2020, just months after it received planning permission – but the planning had taken the best part of 10 years,” says Alex Jaggs, director of architecture and country developments at designer-developer Finchatton. That time frame is not surprising when you see the scale of ambition at this property in the Surrey Hills, 12 miles south of Guildford: a contemporary home with 11,398 sq ft of living space, heavily influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement. 

Designed and realised in collaboration with Yiangou Architects, the six-bedroom house is set in 35 acres of gardens and woodland. Built to a quintessential Arts and Crafts “butterfly” plan, it has wings that protrude at angles from the property’s centre. “It works beautifully, with the huge vistas it makes possible,” says Jaggs. Some windows offer triple aspects – and there’s even a viewing tower.

The years of planning applications included “many rounds with an independent review panel”, explains Jaggs. “Councils rely on these as a way to bring in experts and define whether the property is of architectural merit and enhances its surroundings. So there is a great deal of back and forth. Typically, the new houses that do get [planning] permission in the countryside are modern and minimalist.” Millhanger, by contrast, is an Arts and Crafts masterpiece.

The farmhouse was ultimately granted planning permission as an “outstanding” new structure in this tranquil rural setting.“I believe Millhanger was one of the first ‘paragraph 84e’ houses to be designed in the spirit of Edwardian Arts and Crafts,” says Ross Sharpe, director at Yiangou, who originated the project. It was built with the idea of achieving new heights in English rural architecture, rather than to the tastes of an existing owner – which is why it is now on the market.

In keeping with the values of Arts and Crafts style, adds Sharpe, “high-quality natural materials, appropriate for the setting and context of the house, are used throughout”. The design was informed by visits to architectural projects by Arts and Crafts giants including CFA Voysey, Edwin Lutyens and Hugh Thackeray Turner, as well as by Gavin Stamp’s seminal book The English House: 1860-1914. The Home Counties have outstanding examples of Arts and Crafts buildings, and with Millhanger, Sharpe saw an opportunity to create a new iteration of its “Surrey style” – albeit with a modern twist. 

To achieve the perfect stonework, Jaggs recalls, the team went to great lengths to source material that could “evoke the colour of the Horsham stone you see on properties built around 1910-1915. Horsham stone that’s quarried today is no longer that same hue.” Among other memorable challenges was the search to find a lathe large enough to cut the oak necessary for the pillars of the west façade. “The combination of the brickwork, stone and lead required close collaboration between the contractors,” he says. 

For Jaggs, part of the pleasure of the work was allowing “contractors to be able to push themselves beyond what most other clients would ask for, and to see how far they would go. I’m thinking of details such as how intricate some of the brickwork is, achieved with a sawtooth technique that would rarely be required on other jobs.” He is proud of these “unique, jewel-like elements”.

Crispin Holborow, joint head of The Private Office at Savills, sees Millhanger Farmhouse as a leading example of how the Arts and Crafts style can be thoughtfully redesigned for modern life. Energy efficiency was at the forefront of the project, with environmental credentials including discreet solar panels and a ground source heat pump. “The striking façade of the brick, stone and tile-hung house sets the scene for the carefully considered interiors,” says Holborow, “with balanced proportions and inviting spaces bringing the outside in.” Sharpe agrees. “The beauty of the butterfly plan is all about the orientation and light,” he says. “It creates a lovely, flowing feel.”

It may be a work of art, breathing new life into a storied architectural movement, but Millhanger Farmhouse is a design for living in rather than just a place to be admired. “It has a family dining space, as well as a more formal dining room, a family snug, an office and plenty of entertaining space,” says Jaggs. There’s also a staff flat, a boot room and a double garage – as well as planning permission to add a swimming pool and a tennis court. Beyond its rare credentials as a new expression of the Arts and Crafts style, “we see it as a family home”, says Jaggs. And an extraordinary one at that.