More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
A 14th century Kentish hall house is up for sale.
Otham Manor, a Grade 1 listed property, was once home to the British diplomat Sir Louis Du Pan Mallet, who was the UK's ambassador to Turkey at the outbreak of the First World War.
Sir Louis made substantial extensions to the original property in 1912 and it has recently undergone further restoration by its current owners.
It retains its original front door which opens onto the impressive great hall with a flagstone floor and large original doors off.
There are nine bedrooms, a study, drawing room, sitting room and library, with a large kitchen/breakfast room.
The manor comes with an attached one bedroom annexe and outside there is a swimming pool and tennis court in four acres of grounds.
The property is on the market with Knight Frank with a guide price of £2.15m
Sir Louis' role as ambassador was at an important time in history.
Turkey, initially neutral, sided with Germany and Sir Louis was criticised for being on leave at a crucial time - but his task of keeping the Turks on side was undermined by the British confiscation of two Turkish warships being built in British shipyards.
Born in 1864, Oxford-educated Sir Louis entered the Foreign Office in 1888 and had postings in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, Rome and Cairo, before being posted to Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul) in 1913. He died in 1936, aged 72.
