Houses: Elizabethan Manor May Yet Become a Home Once Again

The Times Online recently highlighted Franks Hall, an imposing Elizabethan manor house in Kent, which was a family home for centuries before it was converted into business offices in 1980. After the last resident left, the house and outbuildings were turned into a grand office space for a publishing company. The house, in Horton Kirby, currently serves as the headquarters for an office supply firm. Today, grand rooms like the Queen’s Bedroom — reputedly once the guestroom for Elizabeth I — is a showroom for high tech fax and printing equipment.

PHOTO CREDIT: The Times Online.

In today's economy, however, it isn't easy to justify the extra expense of having such grand company headquarters. The agent, Knight Frank, believes it is likely that the next buyer of the £5.5 million estate will restore Franks Hall as a great family home. The principal house consists of 15,000sq ft of pure Elizabethan heritage, with Tudor ceiling roses, carved stone fireplaces, and elaborately wood panelled rooms.

“Decoratively, the house is in great shape,” says agent Edward Rook, of Knight-Frank. “It just needs to be updated.”