| Goldenhurst Farm | |
| Alternate Names: | Goldenhurst Manor / The Old House, Goldenhurst |
| Map Type: | Kent |
| Building Type: | Country house |
| Owner: | Noël Coward (1926–56) Julian Clary (2006-18) |
| Location Town: | Aldington |
| Location Country: | Kent |
| Coordinates: | 51.0751°N 0.9517°W |
| Designations: | Grade II listed |
Goldenhurst Farm (now Goldenhurst Manor and The Old House, Goldenhurst) is a country house of 17th-century origins in the village of Aldington, Kent, England. From 1926 to 1956, it was the country home of Noël Coward.[1] It is a Grade II listed building.[1]
Coward found the property after placing an advert in the Kentish Times and receiving only one reply.[2] Initially renting the farm from a Mr Body, Coward bought it in 1927. In extensive rebuilding and renovation in 1927–9,[2] he linked together "the farmhouse, the square edifice, one of the barns and an adjoining cottage" to create a substantial country house.
He wrote Cavalcade at Goldenhurst in 1931. During the Second World War the house was requisitioned by the Army and Coward moved temporarily to White Cliffs, a house he rented at St Margaret's Bay. He finally returned to Goldenhurst in December 1951, recording in his diary; "We arrived at 1.55 - the house and land seemed to envelop me in a warm and lovely welcome. We spent the day hanging more pictures etc. Utterly exhausted but deeply and profoundly happy. I am home again." But the post-war tax regime made the expense of running the large house increasingly burdensome and in 1956 Coward sold the farm and his London home on Gerald Road. In a letter to Laurence Olivier the following year, he explained; "Goldenhurst (five gardeners all year round, lighting, heat etc.) was costing a fortune." He moved abroad as a tax-avoidance measure, dividing his time between Chalet Covar, at Les Avants in Switzerland and, firstly Bermuda, and then Firefly, his home in Jamaica.[3] Coward died at Firefly in 1973, and was buried there.[4]
The house is timber-framed, of brick and Kentish ragstone, with a tiled roof and is now sub-divided into two separate properties.
Between 2006 and 2018, part of the house was home to the comedian and novelist Julian Clary.[5] The gardens of Goldenhurst were featured in the 2017 book The Secret Gardeners by Victoria Summerley and photographer Hugo Rittson Thomas.