Ready, steady, buy? TV chef James Martin's Hampshire home with state-of-the-art kitchen is for sale
Budding chefs will be excited by the chance to cook up a storm in the stylish kitchen owned by former Saturday Kitchen host James Martin.
The celebrity foodie is selling his sprawling Hampshire home for an undisclosed sum, thought to be in the region of £3.75 million.
Martin bought the old dairy house, nestled in the hamlet of Stoke Charity, seven miles from the cathedral town of Winchester, in 2009.
He enlisted the help of a local architect to extensively redesign and develop it into a seven-bedroom family home with a flexible floor plan that could be adapted to suit the needs of future buyers.
Predictably, the beautiful bespoke kitchen is the jewel in this property’s crown. Designed by furniture maker Jane Cheel, who "likes to mix traditional and contemporary styling...painted doors with the latest tech", it has everything from fitted electric ovens, fridge-freezers and wine coolers to an inbuilt deep fat fryer, La Vesse Griaudon rotisserie and a Wessex Ducting kitchen ventilation system with an external fan to minimise noise.
Painted in neutral grey, there is plenty of smart cupboard storage with pretty rose gold detailing and the rustic, under-hearted oak flooring cosies things up.
The kitchen layout is open plan, leading into the family room with its remote control gas fire and bi-folding doors onto the gardens, which are laid with a turf similar to that used at Wembley Stadium.
Through a door off the kitchen is a huge reception room with stairs up to a mezzanine gallery that would make an impressive entertaining space. Martin has decorated with Farrow & Ball paint and striking Ralph Lauren wallpaper throughout.
Part of the original property is accessed through 17th-century doors reclaimed from a French Chateau that lead off the stunning tiled reception hall.
The living room is found here, with its open fire set into a limestone fireplace and glass orangery overlooking the 1.25-acre grounds, as is an oak staircase leading up to an en-suite bedroom that Martin currently uses as an office. This sits above a triple garage, in which Martin houses his sports cars and motorcycles, that could easily be turned into further accommodation or office space.
Further highlights include a cinema room with its own bar, built-in Playstations and three-metre by three-metre screen that triggers window blinds and mood lighting when turned on, and a huge master suite with a leather-upholstered bed, dressing room, contemporary bathroom with freestanding bath, double shower cubicle and inset TV, and glass balustrade balcony.
The second floor is currently split into a large gym leading through to a double bedroom on one side and a kitchen and living room, double bedroom and bathroom on the other. It could easily be a self-contained flat ideal for teenagers, elderly parents, staff or even renting out.
Outside, a garden path lined with mulberry trees takes you down to vegetable gardens, a heated, ventilated and irrigated greenhouse and an orchard where you can grow apples for homemade juice, pies and cider.
There is a terrace with a wood-fired pizza oven, BBQ and fridge, as well as a garden shed, hot tub and a heated Breeze Hut with a TV and drinks fridge, which Martin is leaving fully-furnished, bar the soft furnishings.
Stoke Charity is an hour and a half's drive from central London, with trains from Winchester only taking an hour, making commuting a tempting option for city-dwellers looking for a country retreat.