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Property Features
St Georges Hill v Wentworth
Reflections on two private Estates
When it comes to house hunting there are three little words that are almost as important as I love you.
They are of course - location, location, location.
To some degree, we all play the postcode
game or are perhaps a little bit
economical with the truth if we feel that
the area we live in will be frowned upon.
The words private and Estate when linked with
St George’s Hill, in Weybridge and Wentworth, conjure
up images of expensive, although not necessarily in a
brash way. Exclusivity is a more appropriate tone.
Whilst there are many mirror images between the two,
equally their individuality draws people either towards
one or the other. In order to compare them, we need
to set the scene.
It is very apparent at St George’s Hill (SGH) that,
historically for the first time ever, a golf course was
constructed with the intention of building luxury houses
next to the fairways. Walter George Tarrant, a local
builder, had this vision to build the first residential, tennis
and golf club development. When the 964 acres of land
became available in 1911 he acquired it from the
Egerton family. To build the course, he enlisted the
services of Harry Colt - regarded as the most prolific golf
architect and designer of his generation.
Two years later, Colt had created what is often
referred to as ‘his masterpiece’ and St George’s Hill
Golf Course was ready for play in October 1913. The
Clubhouse was erected on the highest point of the
course and today still benefits from wonderful
panoramic views of the opening and closing holes.
Undoubtedly it creates a lasting impression as you
start and finish your round.
The Hill also benefits from the highly regarded
St George’s Hill Lawn Tennis Club. Set within a 16-
acre lakeside setting, it offers more than just tennis.
There is full club membership, gym membership and
social membership. They also have a dedicated
beauty and treatment suite soothingly called The
Water’s Edge. I am guilty of frequenting it on far too
many occasions. You don’t have to be a member of
the Club, pay no more to enjoy such a beautiful
setting and you can park your car!
Until I started my research for this feature I had always
imagined that there was a massive void between the
two Estates, yet in reality they are only about 20 minutes
apart. More embarrassingly I had never been to
Wentworth. Watching top golf tournaments on the
television doesn’t count! I was very impressed, although
could this be thanks to one of the mirror images?
Both Estates have one fundamental key ‘player’ and it
is why houses on both Estates are referred to as
Tarrant. In 1923, the aforementioned Tarrant
acquired development rights on the already acclaimed
Wentworth Estate.
Originally a relatively small 19th century Estate based
on "Wentworths", which is now the Club House, it
was the family home of the brother-in-law of the
Duke of Wellington. In the 1850's Ramon Cabrera, an
exiled Spanish count, acquired the property. After his
death, his English wife, the Countess de Morella,
bought most of the adjacent lands to form the present
Wentworth Estate and indeed some of the current
road names are reminders of these former owners.
Tarrant, who as we know was responsible for the
development of St George’s Hill but also
developments in Hockering and Woking, began to
develop the site until the Second World War. The
design was based on large houses, set in at least an
acre of grounds, with easy access to the golf course.
It was proposed that the areas nearer to Virginia
Water station and shops would have a higher
concentration of property, resulting in them having a
smaller plot of land. Building resumed soon after the
Second World War, so by the early 1960’s the majority
of the land had been used.
During the war the Estate acquired new owners as
Tarrant passed it to Sir Lindsay Parkinson & Co
Limited. In 1962 the company, together with a
resident committee, promoted a private act of
Parliament that, after lengthy negotiations, resulted in
the Wentworth Estate Act 1964. The Act was given
Royal assent on 31st July that same year.
The Act constituted the Wentworth Estate Roads Committee
that would be upheld by members of the Wentworth
Residents’ Association.
The Wentworth Estate covers an area of about 1,750
acres, with the ‘main island’ being the most
prestigious location and the site for about 300 houses
(there are nearly 1,000 within the whole Estate).
Unlike St George’s Hill, there is no denying that
Wentworth has and is a huge commercial venture,
most notably due to major golf tournaments on the
 infamous West Course. This international event, not
only causes major disruption, it brings in the top
names in golf including the player that most golfer’s
want to be, Tiger Woods. However, when you buy in
Wentworth there is no hidden agenda and all the
residents accept this a par for the course.
Both Estates have hosted some famous names. On
the Hill, clues abound from ‘its not unusual to be
loved by anyone’ (Tom Jones), ‘we’re all going on a
summer holiday’ (Cliff Richard) and top Chelsea
football striker, Didier Drogba. Wentworth offers a
man with one of the most apt phrases of ‘good
game, good game’ (Bruce Forsyth, CBE) and from the
world of golf Thomas Bjorn and three-time major
champion and Wentworth Club touring professional
Ernie Els. When Els sustained a serious injury to his
left knee in 2005, which actually involved ACL
replacement surgery, he offered to modernise some
of the West Course as he was unable to play for the
rest of the season.
The Hill is made up of three individual 9 hole loops,
referred to as Red, Blue and Green, all starting and
finishing by the clubhouse. Over in Wentworth you
have the choice of the East and West courses and more
recently the Edinburgh. John Jacobs designed this
latest addition to Wentworth’s portfolio, in
consultation with Gary Player and Bernard Gallagher. It
now hosts the Wentworth Senior Masters every year.
So, what about the houses? Love them or loathe them
this is where you need an estate agent. They will come
in and give you an opinion of the value and saleability
of your home, usually based on previous sales and
what else is on the market at the present time.
I posed some specific questions for market comment
on area, market activity, marketing mediums and
what they deem to be their best property. All relevant
information as an agent could, should or would use
these to stand out from their competitors when trying
to win your instructions.
James Cleland, who looks after North Surrey from Knight
Frank’s Country Department and covers both Estates
commented, “they offer prestige of living in either one of
the two top Estates outside London, the international
stature of both golf courses, particularly Wentworth, and
St George’s Hill has some very good views”.
Locally Andrew Grant in Curchods Weybridge office
conveys his views on the Hill “Today, there are over 400
homes on St George’s Hill with entry price level for the
likes of some of the former workers cottages on the
Estate hitting almost £1 million, but typically, substantial
detached houses in acre plots are certainly no less than
£3 million plus. Redevelopment has always been
popular on St George’s Hill and no more so than today.
The prices for some prime plots alone are exceeding the
£4 million mark and some of the best new build
mansions coming online are going to be asking prices
well into double figures”. Grant goes on to say, “The
Estate is becoming more cosmopolitan. Whilst there is
still a mainstay of British residents, there are an
increasing number of Americans, Scandinavians, middle
Eastern and Russians alike”.
Over in Savills Country Department in London, Lucy
Blythe believes “that both areas are now dominated by
commuter families and in more recent years those
moving out of London with money. As a result the area
now caters for disposable incomes. Whilst St George’s
Hill has the dedicated Lawn Tennis Club, Wentworth
offers more rural surroundings and summer events in
Ascot and Henley are on your doorstep”.
Not everyone who lives there are owners and rental
demand is very high. APW in Weybridge said “for
tenants the Hill offers beautiful surroundings, good
shops and restaurants, easy commuting into London,
good road links and an excellent selection of schools”.
With both Estates commanding high prices, it seems a
sensible way to find out if you like the area before
making one of the biggest commitments of your life.
Over in Wentworth, Peter Rawlinson at Hamptons
Sunningdale concurs, “that demand for property has
been high, however supply is very limited meaning
that there is not a great deal of activity at Wentworth
in the lettings market”. Their best marketing tool is
direct mail outs and Peter goes on to say “whilst no
‘to let’ boards are allowed on the Estate, demand for
property is at such a premium that it doesn’t have an
impact”.
With agents suffering from a shortage of stock this
year, surely this must have affected the market? Not
so, according to Cleland “So far, this year has been
very busy. We find most buyers will look at both
Estates initially and fairly quickly opt for one or the
other according to their circumstances and
requirements. Modern and new houses are
enduringly popular and there has been a strong surge
in the plot market that is seeing the Tarrant houses
being seen more and more as development sites
rather than family houses. In excess of 30 houses are
being built across both Estates with prices ranging
from £5 million to well in excess of £15 million”.
Amusingly Cleland compares his role as part of the
London-based North Surrey team “like a windscreen
wiper, moving buyers between the two Estates and
managing their search from London”. A practice that
both Knight Frank and Savills have found hugely
successful.
In Virginia Water, Victoria Holford of independent
agent Barton Wyatt has found that, “the first half of
the year has been pretty much full on with property
achieving premium prices and more buyers than
sellers. We see no indication of the market cooling,
just demand outstripping supply”.
All the agents generally support these views, although
a couple had a slighter slower start to the year. In
Esher, Deborah Ben-Said at letting agents C Howard-
King said “that whilst the market was slower in
January and February, it soon picked up in March.
Undoubtedly the ‘season’ for letting is May, June and
the beginning of July when corporate tenants are
seeking homes before the commencement of the
school year in August”.
Harry Turnball, who has recently returned to his old
stomping ground in Esher to head up the Country
Homes department for Stephenson James Fancy, said
“My appointment is to focus in the sale of prestige
town and country property in excess of £1.5 million
in the Surrey area; the sector of the market I have
specialised in during the last 8 years. We already have
a number of instructions that are waiting to be
launched to the market and there is no denying that
St George’s Hill will play a key part in our success.
The Hill has gone from strength to strength in recent
years underlining its claim as one of the premier
private Estates in the country. The stock of housing is
without equal and boasts some of the most important
houses to built in the south of England in recent
years”
In respect to marketing a couple of agents praised
Real Estates, which I am particularly impressed with.
Accepting we are not your only advertising medium,
much importance is placed on a good reputation,
recommendations and the most powerful tool is now
the World Wide Web.
All this agent knowledge and effort must have
resulted in some key success? For Curchods it was
Heatherlea House in the Hill where the Weybridge
office not only found a buyer but the Esher office got
a seller as the buyer needed to sell their current
property in the Crown Estate in Oxshott. Savills also
found success on the Hill with Gregory that was sold
‘off market’ after one viewing. They triumphed where
others had tried and failed. Barton Wyatt relish the
memory of Robin Hill, a 7 acre site that sold for
£5,000,000. Wentworth’s greenbelt restrictions mean
that it can only be home to one property at just over
6,000 sq ft!
Lettings agents C Howard-King and APW were proud
to rent two properties in the Hill. Bramblewood on
the market at £10,500 pcm and Boodabus on the
market at £20,000 pcm respectively.
It would appear that Tarrant and Colt’s footprint of
the Estates golf courses will remain forever. Today’s
modern lifestyles mean that old is rapidly being
replaced with new and this is particularly apparent on
the Hill where there is no restriction on what you can
build. Wentworth has the issue of greenbelt, which
means only being able to increase the footprint by
 30% of what was there in 1986. As you drive around
both Estates you are meet by a number of developer
lorries and all the big players are there – Allos,
Heritage Period Homes, Octagon Developments and
Royalton to name a few.
Personally, I prefer Wentworth although I am not that
blinked as to turn down a property in St George’s Hill
if it was offered on a silver plate, or in fact any plate.
I simply enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere, that the
houses are sited in more land and that the golf course
is for everyone’s benefit. Whilst there are no manned
security gates, like on St George’s Hill, nearly all the
properties have electric gates and state-of-the-art
alarm systems with CCTV cameras. In fact, one of the
best security measures is the rows of rhoedendrums.
They became the bain of my life as I tried to have a
sneaky peek at some of the larger houses and I should
imagine that the estate agent line of ‘do a drive by’ is
pointless as you really can’t see a thing.
Apart from a good bank balance, the only other must
have to enjoy living on either Estate is a good A-Z, sat
nav or a chauffeur. Unless you are like me, happy to get
lost and proudly claim it to be research you will need
one, two or all of them to make it home in time for tee!
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