The History of The French House

Apart from the fact that it was a Hall (or Wealden) house as they are known, and probably built in the late 14th or early 15th century, we know very little about the early history of the house. We should perhaps, have researched it in detail but we do know that it is not now in the position where it was originally constructed. Hasted, who was writing about it in the 1780's and no doubt got his facts from those who knew them, refers to a remarkable occurrence in 1726 when the house slid down the hill some fifty feet and deposited itself on the spot where it now stands. He said that the occupants - a farmer and his family - knew nothing of the journey they had taken during the night until the next morning, when the doors would not open, although otherwise the house stood intact, its foundations (if there were any) would have slipped down with the upper structure. The fact that it was of timber construction (and thatched) explains why it held together, for a stone barn that stood nearby was split in two. This incident is often doubted, but it is corroborated by a letter in the "Gentleman's Magazine" for April 1756, written by Wm. Gosling and containing an account of the subsidence.

By 1910 - 1915 the house had fallen into disrepair and was derelict. It had been in use as storage for the farm but by then the roof was open to the sky and there was a tree growing up between the rafters above the central hall (now the drawing room). Fortunately it was bought by Sir Philip Sassoon (M.P. for Folkestone & Hythe and, at that time, Minister for Air in the Baldwin Government) who was enormously rich - his mother, Aline, was the daughter of Baron Gustave de Rothschild - and had built the mansion at Port Lympne (now owned by John Aspinall) at a cost of £400,000 which was, in the early part of the last century, a considerable sum.

His architect for the construction of Port Lympne, Sir Herbert Baker, was subsequently instructed to draw plans for the renovation and extension of The French House to provide a house suitable for the accommodation of some of the well-known personalities of the period whom he was in the habit of inviting to the glittering parties he often gave at Port Lympne throughout the period up to the outbreak of the Second World War.

Baker was a friend of Sir Edwin Lutyens, they having met when Lutyens was apprenticed in the office of Ernest George and Peto; Baker was the chief assistant and was seven years Lutyens's senior. Despite this, they became good friends and spent a lot of time on forays into the Surrey countryside looking at vernacular architecture. They were eventually to collaborate in designing the Viceroy's Palace and the complex of Government buildings in New Delhi - a project that was to bring about their estrangement and resulted in Lutyens referring to the undertaking as his "Bakerloo".

However, they obviously shared many ideas about domestic architecture and how new houses could incorporate some of the interesting features of the dwelling houses of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries: there are many details at The French House which echo styles and techniques often seen in the houses for which Lutyens was responsible. Having been renovated, The French House was tenanted by Sir Philip Sassoon's friend, Sir (later Lord) Robert Boothby ("The minister for television" as Churchill once referred to him, due to his ubiquitous presence on the new medium). Presumably Bob Boothby had the house on a peppercorn rent so that he could act as host to Sassoon's overflow of guests who could not be accommodated at Port Lympne. Boothby writes affectionately about his time at The French House in his book "Recollections of a Rebel". He was a particular friend of Nöel Coward who had a house, Goldenhurst, just down the road at Aldington and was a frequent visitor, often with other well-known theatrical friends. There are photographs of Nöel Coward and Boothby at The French House in Robert Rhodes-James rather rose-tinted biography of Boothby. There is also a photograph of Boothby's first wife, Lady Diana Cavendish, to whom he was married in 1935 although he realised quite quickly that it had been a dreadful mistake, divorcing after some two years. Diana's cousin, Dorothy Cavendish, was to marry Harold Macmillan who became Prime Minister although this did not prevent Boothby from conducting a long running affair with her!

Post-war the house came into possession of Sir Philip Haldin who also owned the adjoining properties of Lympne Place and Coombe Farm. He eventually gave The French House to his daughter, Anne (Daubeny) who subsequently sold it to Mrs. Murray Payne (nee Vaughan - previously Peel) who lived here after selling Lympne Castle to Harry Margary in 1959. She later gave the property to her son, Richard Peel on his (brief) marriage to Gaye Fleury. It was later sold, at auction in 1973 to our predecessor, Mrs. Pat Bent who lived here until 1981 when we were lucky enough to become the owners.
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