5 houses with awesome drives
Photo Goodwood Road & Racing
If you’re lucky enough to live in one of these amazing houses then you really don’t have to travel far for a great drive. When your private driveway is race-ready then a Detour is on your doorstep!
Goodwood House, Sussex, UK
Home to the annual Festival of Speed, Goodwood House, owned by the Duke of Richmond, has perhaps the most famous driveway in the world. The very first event on the 1.16-mile hill climb course which goes through the grounds of the stately home took place in 1936, but since 1993 it has been an annual favourite of speed lovers. In 2019 Romain Dumas set the record in the VW I.D R Pikes Peak electric racer, covering the course in just 42.32 seconds.
LEADFOOT RANCH, Hahei, New Zealand
Photo Leadfoot Festival
Kiwi rally legend Rod Millen was inspired to a private track at his Leadfoot Ranch after visiting Goodwood in 2002. With corners modelled on some of the best race circuits in the world Millen has hosted his annual LeadFoot Festival on the one-mile drive every year since 2013.
Mrs Orcutt’s House, California, USA
Photo Spencer Davis / Unsplash
Sadly now slowly disintegrating into the surrounding desert, the road to Bonnie Orcutt’s house near Barstow, California was once a regular playground for car magazine testers and drag racers. Find out more.
Chatsworth House, DERBYSHIRE,UK
Chatsworth House is another grand British stately home that opened its gates to motorsport. In the 80s and 90s it formed part of the RAC rally and all-wheel drive racers would fly through its grounds, zooming through impossibly narrow fences and through water splashes.
Go kart house, MONEYMORE, NORTHERN Ireland
Photo propertypal.com
If you Google ‘go kart house’ you’ll find a number of mansions in the UK and USA with mini race tracks attached. This 28-acre estate in Moneymore, Northern Ireland features a five bedroom main house with a sauna and triple garage, but, as you can see from the photo it also has a 1,000m MSA-approved kart track. It was sold for £2.25 million in 2018. A bargain if you ask us!