For Downton Abbey fans, news that the home of Maggie Smith’s character – the dowager Lady Violet Crawley – is up for sale would be most pleasing.
With series five – the show’s penultimate season – set to be screened in September, the property brokers Savills are hoping now is the perfect time to market Byfleet Manor in Surrey. The Grade II-listed house has featured as Lady Violet’s house since 2010.
The eight-bedroom property, which mostly dates from 1686, has four reception rooms and is set in 19 acres of grounds.
As well as the main house, the owners are also selling a further four lots including three additional homes and a development plot.
And there is a lording guide price to match of £3.95 million (Dh22.9 million).
The house has also appeared in the hit British period shows Poirot and Cranford. Donal Woods, production designer for Downton Abbey, says the producers “wanted to deliberately pull Violet back into that Georgian world”. The property also featured in the Oscar-nominated film Into the Woods as Cinderella’s home.
With a history extending as far back as the seventh century (it was first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1066), the original Byfleet Manor on that site was owned by the British crown for more than 300 years as a royal hunting lodge.
Over the years the home has either been added to or damaged by fire, but it has had solid connections with dowagers for many centuries. Edward III gifted the property to his mother Isabella, as part of her dower, in the 14th century. And after spending stints at the house during his childhood, Henry VIII is said to have granted it to Catherine of Aragon as part of their divorce settlement in the 16th century.
“This is certainly an iconic home and its appeal will be far- reaching,” says the selling agent Paul Finnegan. “Just over 20 miles from the centre of London and 15 miles from Heathrow Airport, we’re expecting interest in the sale of the Byfleet Manor estate to come from all quarters, including international interest.”
And with its all its aristocratic and royal connections, perhaps it’s not surprising it has such an eye-watering sale price. Only those of a certain status need apply.
QA
What’s happening to prices for country houses?
According to data from Savills Research, published at the end of March 2015, prime country cottages have seen annual price growth of 4.4 per cent but prices of manor houses have on average fallen by 0.8 per cent since March 2014. This is because larger properties have had to contend with an increase in stamp duty as well as a threat that a Labour government would have introduced a so-called ‘mansion tax’ on multimillion pound homes.
Who buys country houses?
Recent years have seen a trend towards foreign buyers. A bidding war in January 2014 saw the sale of Hadspen House in Somerset to an international buyer – rumoured to be Hollywood star, Johnny Depp – for £12m, while Dunstall Hall in Staffordshire was sold to a Middle East businessman for £4m in July.
What are the drawbacks?
Historic country homes often come with high maintenance costs. According to a Historic Houses Association 2013 survey, the backlog of urgent repairs at Britain’s stately homes has almost doubled since 2009 to stand at £764 million (Dh4.25 billion), having mushroomed from £260m in 2003. If the house has been placed on the statutory list of buildings of special architectural or historic interest it may not be demolished, extended or altered without permission from the local planning authority.
How does one offset the costs?
The Historic Houses Association says times are still tough for owners, with about 60 per cent of members opening their homes to the public and offering them as film sets for TV shows such as Downton Abbey.
lbarnard@thenational.ae
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