Castle Cottage 14 Castle Lane Newport Isle of Wight PO30 1PH

Not your common modern house

Location Location Location .

Castle Cottage is a circa 1750 grade two listed building situated at the bottom of a flight of steps on an ancient pathway leading to Carisbrooke Castle . It is by foot the nearest house to that Norman castle ( C 1090) where donkeys operate a Tudor wheel and raise water from a well deeper than Nelsons Column is high . 
The walk around the outside of the castle is a favorite of dog walkers . Membership of English Heritage or the Friends of Carisbrooke castle gives you a pass inside where many world class events are held including historic reenactments , plays and even a worlds strongest man event .

Turning to the right instead of to the steps leads to an enchanting short walk down Millers Lane past the ford and up the winding street to the center of Carisbrooke Village with its co op / post office , two pubs ( The Eight Bells and The Waverley ) an excellent Italian restaurant ( Valentino's ) and a more recent Indian ( Cardamon Lounge)  .  
The location has a quiet country feel with very little through traffic but is only about a mile from the center of Newport which is the all year round commercial center of the Isle of Wight with the main shops ,supermarkets , bus station , multi-screen cinema  , restaurants and night life 

The Grounds and Outbuildings

Standing in the driveway entrance the hedge to the left is on an architectural feature known as a Ha-ha - a change in ground level to prevent animals accessing the grounds but to preserve the view . I believe what are now allotments were the extended grounds of the house and the gateway to the allotments directly to the front of the Georgian door was the original way to the house . The legal boundary is not the fence but around the bottom of the slope ( so the hedge is part of the grounds and can be altered at will ) An easement on the deeds to Southern Electricity makes it their responsibility to keep the power line clear .

Walking up the steps to the patio in front of the summer house you can appreciate the quintessential English view with allotments , a thatched cottage , a ford and a church .

Interestingly there is no 12 Castle lane ( I believe as the authorities thought a separate home might be built here ) so I call the summer house No 12 . It had planning permission and was built to reflect the octagonal rooms and symmetry of the main house . It is fully insulated and features a flush toilet and shower as well as a office main room and workshop / machinery store . It had a telephone wire but I never repaired it since the gardener hit it with a strimmer though I believe it could easily be reinstated for broadband if required . I always planned to install a wood stove though it has as far as I remember a 30 amp electricity supply of the main board .

Taking the steps down you come to the lower patio which is perfectly positioned to get the last rays of the setting sun to the West . 

Walking back towards the gate you pass over two slabs which cover a bottle well - one of two that were used to supply water to the home for over a century . 

The Main House

Standing at the front door you can see the original 18^th century coach lamps and stained glass . They have been there since long before the battle of Waterloo and will come with the house once sold .

Georgian houses were all about symmetry and pioneered sliding sash windows . The sashes here are original and well over 200 years old . Hence the narrow profiles made of old growth close grain timber . The unusual fact that the frames are not recessed is interesting as to prevent the spread of fire a 1774 Act required the sash windows box frame to be set behind the brickwork, so that only about an inch of the sash box was visible from the outside . This roughly dates the house to before the founding of the USA in 1776 .

The only other house I know with octagonal rooms is Monticello, the home designed by Thomas Jefferson – founding father of the USA in 1769 

I believe originally the octagonal right hand room was the same as the left hand one but that in Victorian times ( possibly after the new entrance to the side was in use ) it was altered and the tiled roof conservatory was added . I thing the adjacent conservatory dates to the 1930s and as such it should be possible to get listed buildings approval ( free ) to make improvements here . Entering the door the hallway has , I believe,  original Victorian tiles and the embossed wallpaper is circa 1910 – not sure about the moldings .

 When you stand between the two opposite doors you are in the center of what is known architecturally as an enfilade . with rooms lined up to give through visibility like the grand stately homes of the period .

The Newel post is apparently Jacobean ( 1603 – 25 )  and probably older than the house  Possibly historic architectural salvage or a local provincial carpenter had them in stock .

To the left is a modern kitchen and diner with what I believe are 1960s windows which could be replaced after running the proposed new ones past the listed building people ( free )       A double wide opening here leads to a modern large family room extension which I personally obtained planning for and built a few years ago ( under the control of the building control dept )

This has an additional porch / entrance to the North . Outside the four way folding exterior doors to the South ( which easily fold completely away ) is yet another conservatory , with a view onto the lower evening patio .

Combined this ( kitchen / diner / lounge / conservatory ) area gives plenty of room for gatherings and entertaining - rare in a non stately home of this vintage

Castle cottage has more exterior doors than any house I have ever seen – 8 if you count doubles as two ! .

The upstairs has a shared bathroom for the two similar octagonal bedrooms ( both with a view to die for ) . The master suite is to the rear with an en suite bathroom and huge closet 

I replaced half the main roof earlier this year as it had some issues . This was done with slates to keep it in keeping as required by the listed building dept . I am an experienced roofer .

The Family had many happy years at Castle cottage and I was intending to see my days out there until changes in the UK caused the family to up sticks and move to the USA

I am going to miss the home and I truly hope whoever buys it enjoys living there as much as we did . It is a truly unique home . It has been so for 250  years and I believe it will still be so in another 250 .  Any questions - e mail me to jonhinch@msn.com 
N. B. This piece is my own opinion and is not to be taken as   legal fact  though I believe it to be so . 

Here are links to the present estate agents Watson Bull and Porter  listing ( Hose Rhodes and Dixon ) and a previous ones ( on Right move ) listing