A HOUSE is being put up for sale by the family that has owned it for more than 300 years.

Peebles in Crocker End, near Nettlebed, was built in 1698 by Richard Butler and has been passed down through his family ever since.

The current owners, David and Margaret Butler, want to downsize as they are due to retire.

The couple have lived there for 31 years and believe they are the eighth generation to do so.

Mr Butler, 64, owns builders and carpenters HJ Butler Son with his son Michael and comes from a long line of builders.

The property, which is Grade II listed, was built in the reign of William and Mary as a one-bedroom house with a scullery.

“Over the years there have been three extensions,” said Mr Butler. “The last one, the kitchen area, was built in the Eighties.

“The family have been builders more or less all the way through. Over the years we have been in partnership with a few different people.

“We have also been undertakers but mainly builders since the farm part stopped in about 1920. We used to graze on the common as they did in the old days.

“The house was built by Richard, who was a farmer and also the village undertaker. They also had cows and delivered milk around the village.”

The house, which is brick and flint, has three bedrooms, a kitchen and breakfast room, a dining room, sitting room with an inglenook fireplace and a bathroom.

It comes with a detached timber-framed barn and a granary, which is the same age as the house, as well as about five acres of land.

The house has exposed beams throughout and one in the living room has the builder’s mark, “RB 1698” scratched into it.

Other clues to its age include a metal plaque from the 1700s, which was used as a guide by the insurance company’s fire brigade before regional fire services were formed.

Michael owns a house in neighbouring Catslip, which has been in the family since the 1880s.

The Butlers have moved between the two houses, usually when someone died.

Mrs Butler said: “People who lived here got married and moved to Catslip to have their children before moving back. David’s father was born here so when he came of age to be married and the grandparents had died, or perhaps one was left, he would move over there to live.”

The couple have been married for 36 years and have three children and Mrs Butler has two sons from a previous marriage.

She said: “The house is very homely. We love it for the simple reason we brought children up here.

“We have been happy here and couldn’t have wished for anything better — it is a nice place to live.

“It will be hard to walk out of the door for the last time. There might be a few tears that day.”

lPeebles is being sold by Ballards estate agents, of Hart Street, Henley, with an asking price of 1.8million.

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Published on 20 June 2011