Rafe Hall
A substantial former rectory within sixteenth century moat
Built in 1842, this Italianate property, with prominent central tower, is a remarkable example of Victorian architecture
The former rectory to the Essex village of Pebmarsh, built in 1842, Rafe Hall is a 9,500 square foot property set in over five acres of formal garden and natural meadow. McCabe & Abel purchased the Victorian property, restoring the derelict 'eyesore with potential' back to a prominent village landmark and imposing family home.
Rafe Hall includes ten bedrooms, a Victorian cantilevered staircase, substantial reception rooms, bespoke Aga kitchen, four-storey tower and coach house. The restoration process sought to enhance Rafe Hall's remarkable period features whilst bringing the property into the 21st century. The former music room was transformed into a large bespoke kitchen (designed by McCabe & Abel and constructed by Churchill Brothers), which made the best of a light space with views over the rear formal lawns.
Rafe Hall is listed as a building of note in Bentley & Pevsner's The Buildings of England.
'In the style of a smart Italianate villa with deep portico and four-storey tower'
- Bentley & Pevsner, The Buildings of England
Built in 1842, Rafe Hall served as one of the two former rectories of Pebmarsh, in Essex, a community recorded in the Domesday Book. Whilst similarly named to Fitz Rafe Manor House, a former sixteenth century property on the site of a medieval manor in Pebmarsh, it is not believed to be situated on the same site. Rafe Hall is set within a sixteenth century moat.
In the late 1920s, when the Pebmarsh church fell victim to deathwatch beetle, a pest infesting the wooden structure of historic buildings, Rafe Hall hosted a number of garden fetes within the grounds to help raise money, complete with a syncopated orchestra, garden games and dog show. The fete was opened by Lady Jane Van Koughnet (daughter of Queen Victoria's Lady of the Bedchamber), and an 1888 watercolour of Lady Jane now hangs in the National Portrait Gallery.
In 1954, when Rafe Hall was offered up for auction, its antique furniture, including Louis XV and Louis XVI commodes, and collection of artwork were sold. This included several original paintings by Jan Davidsz de Heem (1606-1684), an acclaimed artist from the Dutch Golden Age. De Heem's 1642 still life study of crayfish and crab was sold by the Rafe Hall collection at auction in 1955 to the Galerie Charpentier in Paris, which now houses Sotheby's Paris offices.
History of Rafe Hall
Top: Rafe Hall during the late nineteenth century
Left: Rafe Hall during the mid twentieth century
Mid-right: Jan Davidsz de Heem's still life of crayfish and crab (1642), formerly part of the Rafe Hall collection
Lower-right: Rafe Hall during the mid twentieth century
The Restoration
Prior to the restoration, the building and gardens had fallen into considerable disrepair, with the property being ill-maintained for decades. Both the internal and external period features were restored to maintain the original fabric of the building. Rafe Hall was sold off-market.
