Franks Hall, an Elizabethan manor house in Kent, was a family home for centuries before it was converted into offices in 1980. When the last resident left, the enormous house and nearby stables were turned into a spectacularly grand office space for a publishing company.
More than 25 years on, it is in the unlikely hands of an office supply company, which bought the building five years ago as its company headquarters. The former library and the old gentleman’s room now house laptops and office chairs, while the Queen’s bedroom — reputedly once the guestroom for Elizabeth I — is a showroom for fax and printing equipment.
But such grand company headquarters are out of keeping with the current economic mood. Transcribe Thames Group (TTG), the current owner, is looking to make better use of some of its London properties.
“It’s a bit of a luxury to have it as a business headquarters these days,” says Tim Rampling, the managing director of TTG. “Most of the house dates back to 1591, and it’s such a unique property, with so much history.”
The principal house consists of 15,000sq ft (1,394sq m) of Elizabethan heritage: there are Tudor ceiling roses, stone fireplaces, and woodpanelled rooms. The old banqueting hall alone is 553.16sq ft. Although the main house has been used as offices, mercifully, the original layout and decoration remain. The structure of the building, which is Grade I listed, has been kept intact and the plasterwork meticulously maintained.
TTG estimates that it will cost about £500,000 to install a large new kitchen, update the plumbing and convert the bedrooms and bathrooms.
The house is three-quarters of a mile from Farningham Road station, from which you can reach London Victoria in 35 minutes. It comes with about 80 acres, most of which are rented out to a local farmer. The grounds also contain a large stable block, which have been converted to offices, a two-bedroom flat, a lodge house, a three-bedroom gardener’s cottage and a private stretch of the Darent River.
Landscaped lawns lead to two tennis courts and the remains of a Victorian picture gallery, destroyed after it was bombed in the Second World War.
The Guide Price: Offers of more than £5.5 million
Source: Country Life
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