Welcome to the Downhouse website, a digital record of the history of the house and our lengthy renovation of this beautiful Georgian house and gardens. The house was built in 1810 and was used by the owner of Scotney Castle whilst it was having extensive development. We have several additional buildings near the main house which comprise an old bake house and granary dated back to around 1600, a long barn which housed livestock and a coach house dating from 1810 which served the main house. The current house stands on the site of an old medieval Hall House which we understand was called Geldenhalle and some of the oak timbers from this building still exist in the property now.

The house is set among 18 acres of fields and new woodland and we have, within that land, six acres of gardens which include woods, a nature pond, a couple of C16 outhouses, lawns and an orchard which houses our flock of hens and ducks.

Across the 18 acres of land, the majority of which is fields and we have recently planted 2,000 native trees to extend the current woodland and create habitat for the wildlife. We are already seeing an increase in birds of prey with the return of owls, sparrow hawks and buzzards who visit us from nearby Bewl Water. This year we have four new hives being erected to provide much needed nesting places for wild honey bees and we are in the process of creating a large meadow to further support them and other insects.
The substantial pond was created when the house was built and is home to greater crested newts, wild mallards and the occasional coot. It is also a popular spot for our flock of Indian runner ducks and rescue ducks.

Our orchard is currently home to five cockerels and around 60 laying hens, half of which are rescue hens who have been re-homed from commercial egg farms. There are several different varieties of apple which we send to the local press to produce our own delicious juice.  We also produce wildflower cordials like elderflower and rose.

We have around six acres of garden which includes one large games lawn and one smaller lawn by the outdoor pool and stream and close to the BBQ area and the long barn. There is also an oak pergola, a generous patio and a hot tub in this area.

We are in the process of building a bespoke tree house wrapped around an old tree. This looks over an oak lined valley of farmland and woods, popular with the local deer.

If you would like to know more about Down House,

Please get in touch.