Convenient seclusion: commuter-friendly mansion with own golf course and landing strip set in 76 acres of parkland on sale for £4.25m

Ashington Lodge was built in 1989 and is approached though private parkland, along a gated, sweeping driveway lined with mature trees.

The rural property is set within 76 acres of neatly manicured grounds, with a large patio terrace, tiered lawns and plenty of space for a host of features not found in the garden of a typical family home.

When the current owners first bought the property 15 years ago, they struggled to know what to do with such a significant packet of land.

"The grounds are well stocked with a huge variety of wonderfully mature trees so it's like living in our very own park,” they say.

“We also had two fields that both extend to around 15 acres and when we came here I was struggling to know what to do with them, then my father had the brilliant idea of turning one into a golf course."

One of the fairways on the golf course was once a light aircraft landing strip, meaning that keen aviators can take off from their own back garden.

If golf and flying aren't your thing, there’s also a tennis court, a lake and a koi pond on the grounds.

The current owners say they had been searching for a family home for around four years before they found this one and fell in love with the building and its semi-rural location.

"I own a construction company so I'm incredibly fussy when it comes to build quality and for me nothing that we looked at quite made the grade," they say.

But they were seduced by this house, with its five reception rooms, conservatory and games room.

Designed to take advantage of its setting, with "breathtaking" views from every room and a warm, welcoming feel throughout, all the current owners did was to install air conditioning before moving in to the house.

"The house sits right in the middle of the grounds and the views in every single direction are just amazing, so it's often hard to believe that in actual fact we are so close to everything."

The property is five miles from Colchester town centre and two miles from Marks Tey station offering direct links to London in under an hour.

There is also a cart lodge with a greenhouse attached and several outbuildings and workshops alongside the main property.

Entrepreneurs who don’t want to commute too far can wander across the courtyard to work each morning to the four-person office above the five-car car port. The current owner says this could be easily converted depending on the buyer's requirements.

Ashington Lodge is on the market from £4.25 million through Fine & Country.