An “outstanding and rare” country home once owned by a Kent MP and wartime army intelligence officer has been put up for sale for the first time in more than 170 years.
John Baker White, who lived at Street End Court near Canterbury, spent time in Germany “spying” immediately before the outbreak of conflict, where he was accepted as an ardent anti-communist and invited to attend the Nuremberg Rally in 1937.
But he fled the country in 1939 after exposing Nazi propaganda and Fifth Column activity.
He later became an intelligence officer for the British Army and a leading figure in the country’s own propaganda campaign – tasked with cooking up stories to feed to the enemy to give a false impression of the state of the country’s defences.
Following the 1945 General Election, John Baker White was elected MP for Canterbury, serving in Parliament until 1953, and continued to live at Street End Court where he penned four autobiographical books of his wartime experiences, including The Big Lie.
His son, former High Sheriff of Kent Robin Baker-White, inherited the property after his father died in 1988 and now his death in 2020 has led to an executor’s sale.
Street End Court has been in the same family ownership since the 1860s and the mansion house, cottage and 10 acres of parkland is on the market through agents Finn’s with a price tag of £2,450,000.
The original house was demolished in the 1960s and replaced with a bungalow.
But that was subsequently knocked down in the late 1980s by Robin Baker White and replaced with a near replica of the original mansion, benefiting from the old walled gardens and associated period buildings.
The grand house boasts four reception rooms, including a 40ft drawing room, as well as seven bedrooms, four of which are en-suite.
Included in the property sale is Stable Cottage, which is set a little way from the main house and has been “beautifully appointed and styled”, offering three reception rooms, a kitchen, three bedrooms and a shower room.
It also enjoys its own secluded rear garden with far-reaching countryside views and has a double garage.
Finn’s director Nick Rooke says Street End Court has been in the same family ownership for generations and it is the first time the house and parkland has been offered for sale.
“It’s an outstanding and rare country house with a fascinating history and we are talking to a number of interested parties,” he said.
