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Grade-II listed Canterbury home once ridden with damp on market for £2 million after major renovation

05:00, 15 November 2022

updated: 14:21, 15 November 2022

Hundreds of people will walk past Errol House every day without giving it so much as a second glance, unaware of the wonders within.

Just nine years ago the 17th century home in Canterbury was extremely rundown and ridden with damp, but now it has a new lease of life - and a £2 million price tag to boot.

Errol House in Canterbury. Picture: Strutt & Parker.
Errol House in Canterbury. Picture: Strutt & Parker.

Thought to be one of just a handful of Georgian properties left in the city, and containing paintings by a world-famous artist, it has been put on the market by its owners for the seven-figure sum.

This comes nine years after the house in Stour Street was snapped up by London buyers for £675,000.

Bosses from Strutt & Parker, which is advertising the building, describe the site as "important", having been the subject of "major restoration" works.

"Errol House is an exceptional Grade II-listed property," the company said.

The drawing room is believed to contain some of the work of Sidney Cooper. Picture: Strutt & Parker
The drawing room is believed to contain some of the work of Sidney Cooper. Picture: Strutt & Parker

"This important house has been the subject of a major restoration by the current owners who have brought it back to life.

"While some of the paintings are Victorian, believed to be by Sidney Cooper, the vendors have commissioned further matching paintings by a local artist to replace those lost in the last century."

Advertising material produced by Strutt & Parker says the six-bedroom home has its own library, and the kitchen is equipped with "secondary servant stairs".

This bathroom is one of two in the house. Picture: Strutt & Parker
This bathroom is one of two in the house. Picture: Strutt & Parker
Errol House is tucked away in the heart of Canterbury. Picture: Strutt & Parker
Errol House is tucked away in the heart of Canterbury. Picture: Strutt & Parker

Papers show it also has four reception rooms, a cellar and coach house.

After it was purchased in 2013, developers were given the green light by Canterbury City Council to refurbish the property - which was said to have "serious damp problems" - and demolish outbuildings.

Papers lodged with the local authority noted: "The house is extremely rundown, not having been effectively maintained for more than 30 years.

Stained glass windows are a feature inside the breakfast room. Picture: Strutt & Parker
Stained glass windows are a feature inside the breakfast room. Picture: Strutt & Parker
The drawing room is believed to contain some of the work of Sidney Cooper. Picture: Strutt & Parker
The drawing room is believed to contain some of the work of Sidney Cooper. Picture: Strutt & Parker

"The oldest parts of it date back to 1680.

"It is thought this house was at one time associated with Flints Brewery, which was one of several breweries operating within the city in the 19th and 20th centuries.

"It appears to have ceased operating on this site at the end of the 1800s."

This attic bedroom is on Errol House's fifth floor. Picture: Strutt & Parker
This attic bedroom is on Errol House's fifth floor. Picture: Strutt & Parker
The property has six bedrooms. Picture: Strutt & Parker
The property has six bedrooms. Picture: Strutt & Parker

Having been occupied by a wholesale grocery merchants in 1940, the house was empty by 1975.

In that year it was squatted in by activists who subsequently formed Canterbury Women's Aid. The group was evicted before the end of 1976.

The coach house was later used as an antique shop by former owner Dr Nan Leith until her death in 2012.

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