Norman House is an imposing country house with handsome elevations and provides well-balanced accommodation over four floors, with generous ceiling heights in all rooms and large sash or bay windows with views over the grounds. The oldest part of the house is believed to be Georgian, but two notable extensions were added, one during the Victorian era thought to be in the 1880s and a further wing was added in the 1920s.
The current owners have lived in the house for about twenty years and during that time have significantly modernised the property, adding an excellent heating system with an industrial sized oil fired boiler which provides heating and hot water. Great care has been taken to retain the original features, particularly in the main reception rooms, where the original fireplaces remain. The accommodation lies over four floors; the lower ground floor is used for general storage and houses the boiler room. On the ground floor there are five reception rooms, kitchen/breakfast room, utility areas and general storage. On the first floor, there are eight bedrooms, six with en suites. Two staircases lead to the second floor where there is flat and three further bedrooms.
To the front of the house there is an extensive gravel driveway and a Coach House which currently has two ground floor recreation rooms and a flat and storage on the first floor. At the back of the house there is a terrace and formal garden, partially walled with a kitchen garden, herbaceous borders, an elevated timber framed house on a wooden platform (similar to a tree house) which overlooks a large pond. There is an area of park and woodland behind the house and a good range of outbuildings, some brick and some timber framed, an indoor swimming pool with changing rooms and an outdoor swimming pool and a good quality hard tennis court. The grounds in total extend to almost 12 acres. The Aubrey Buxton Nature Reserve of woodland and ponds lies behind Norman House. This land was gifted by Aubrey Buxton either at the time he lived at the house, or shortly afterwards.
Historical Note:
Norman House is a fine Georgian Mansion House built in 1760 on a site that is reputed to have been occupied since Norman times. It was extended in Victorian times and then refurbished in the 1920's (when it was a feature in Country Life magazine). The property has been extensively and sensitively restored and modernized by the current owners over the last 20 years. It is not listed but noted in the Uttlesford Local Heritage List for its "rarity and beauty" (categories A&B). Indeed, a century on, Norman House was chosen to represent the local area as being its most attractive small estate in a recent Country Country Life competition
Today twelve acres of the house's estate remain. In 1976 its most famous tenant, Lord Buxton of Alsa, donated the adjoining 24 acres that originally formed the estate's pleasure park to the Essex Wildlife Trust. This now forms the Aubrey Buxton Nature Reserve and with its six man made lakes and rare flora and fauna it is noted by the Woodland Trust for its beauty. The Reserve wraps round the border of the property on its longest side. The wood to the west was acquired by the current owners and included in the sale. Alsa Street itself forms the remaining boundary.
Lord Buxton of Alsa was a noted soldier, politician, television executive, and nature writer. He co-founded the World Wildlife Fund and was Director of Anglia TV. His helipad is long gone however!