Open House - The Marble Suite at Ottershaw Park

Words and photos by Andrew Lopez-Calvete

Regular readers of this series may remember a recent article covering a spectacular property, The Marble House, located in a wing of Ottershaw Park. Built in the mid 1800’s by a German diamond millionaire, this palatial building was designed after the Palladian style of architecture, complete with an interior relying heavily on imported materials and grounds boasting a magnificent Italianate garden. The original owner, despite having numerous properties elsewhere, spent a great deal of his life at Ottershaw Park, even remaining when it was commandeered by the army and used as an officers’ hospital. After his death, it became a public school up until the early 80’s when the property boom made developing such houses and converting them into apartments a lucrative pastime.

Apart from the obvious benefit of being able to shamelessly cut and paste almost the entire last paragraph directly from my preceding article on this truly magical building, a return visit to view one of The Marble House’s neighbouring properties, namely The Marble Suite, does give the opportunity to piece together more of the original floor plan. It was also a unique opportunity to see exactly what one-and-a-quarter million pounds buys you when you are in the market for what is effectively a three-bedroomed flat just off junction 11 of the M25!

The owner, Fay Nudds, welcomes me at the impressively huge front door and directs me into the reception hall of The Marble Suite, capably guarded by Fred, a stuffed bear, complete with policeman’s helmet and raised truncheon. “I saw him standing outside a shop in London and knew I just had to have him,” says Fay. “Every time I went past, I would just have walked in with an ever increasing offer until the owner finally relented. Not that he has always been a member of the local constabulary. Before moving here, I was living in a large apartment in a converted Victorian property in south Ascot, so Fred had to remain suitably attired – I thought a top hat was thoroughly appropriate.

“In my last place, I had managed to keep everything in line with the style and age of the building, but did include a few really mad colours in the scheme. My bedroom was a very deep red and ended up looking like a tart’s boudoir, and the liberal application of glass beads and silver paint kind of turned my kitchen into the bat cave!”

Ironically, her treatment of The Marble Suite has been very much more sensitive, but no less sensational. “I was aware of Ottershaw Park, as I run a fabric shop, and had been asked to visit some of the apartments to quote for various jobs in the past,” she says. “So when this property came up eight years ago, I just had to have it. I pretty much sold everything and was all but living on beans on toast in order to afford it, but I couldn’t pass it up. When I moved in, everything was a dismal shade of magnolia, though pretty much all of the important features were in place.”

In fact, one of the only areas of actual damage is the noses of the cherubs that flank the impressive fireplace – no doubt chipped away at by school boys, who are probably also responsible for the slight alteration to the stained glass window in the building’s main lobby, which no longer shows a representation of ‘Puck’; instead a rather more Anglo Saxon title has been applied. When the windows were restored, the residents agreed that it should be left in its defaced form as it was part of the building’s history. I still have a few names and initials carved into the woodwork in my apartment, but I think it just adds to the charm.”

Fortunately, The Marble Suite was otherwise in good order, complete with an up-to-date kitchen, but the living room had to be rid of its horrible colour scheme and became the focus of a year long labour of love for Fay. “I thought I had high ceilings in my previous property, but they were nothing like this – I had to have a scaffold tower to apply the gold leaf to the plaster work, though the sheer cost meant that I ended up having to finish with gold paint,” says Fay. “It took me ages to find the right material for the wall panels, but I ended up selecting this gold Nina Campbell silk. In total, I used 230m of trim, and 167m of fabric, which at £86 a meter, is no small undertaking!"
 
The project continued to what was then a snooker room and is now the master bedroom, which received a coat of green paint and some restoration to the woodwork. At this point, I have to stress that the term ‘master bedroom’ is clearly woefully misused in this column and it took a visit to The Marble Suite to make it clear. Not only does it occupy enough floor space to accommodate a reasonably sized family home, but also enough ceiling height to clear the chimney of a single story dwelling. Add to this an en suite that resembles a roman temple and a substantial dressing room and suddenly the price tag starts to make sense.

Fay’s playful sense of style means that the décor features an eclectic mix of details including art from most of the World’s major religions, from an Egyptian sarcophagus to the font from Sharrow Church in Sheffield. “I purchased that from Pew Corner in Guildford and mentioned it to one of my neighbours whose uncle suddenly realised that it was the font in which he was christened,” she explains, despite confessing to not being particularly religious herself.

After eight happy years at The Marble Suite, Fay is looking for something new. “I doubt I will be able to find exactly what I’m looking for immediately, so I fully intend to sell up and rent somewhere until I find some mad modern house to live in,” she explains. So, if you have deep pockets and a desire for one of the most amazing homes I have ever had the privilege to visit, this might just be the one. 

• The Marble Suite is currently being marketed by Curchods. For more information, call 01932 860 999.

What do you want to do next?

Have your say on the Surrey Life Forums
Find out what is going on behind the scenes on the Editor's blog
Read the latest Surrey Life articles
Find your dream property with homes24
Look for your next career with jobs24
Read the FREE Surrey Life digital archives
Find and list Surrey businesses in our Life Directory
Subscribe to the magazine
Check out the latest reader offers and competitions

---