The estate agent's listing for Barrow Court, on the outskirts of Bristol, makes for some reading: it's an 'architectural and historical landmark' of 'exceptional grandeur', and 'a piece of English history' where 'history, elegance, and luxury converge'.
If you read the blurb without seeing the pictures, you'd wonder if the good people at Fine & Country had overdone it on the Christmas punch. But one look at the images on this page and it's hard to disagree with them: this incredible home, for sale at £2,500,000, really does live up to the billing.
The property — technically No.1 - 3 Barrow Court — is a former Benedictine nunnery, and now a nine-bedroom house with a floorplan larger than the map of some entire villages.
There's nearly 12,000sq ft of space on offer in the main house, with a couple of cellars, an annexe and garage taking the total over 13,000sq ft.
As you might have guessed from the name of the place, the house has actually been divided into three — back in the 1970s — but the three parts of the main house are for sale as one, potentially opening up the possibility of making it one enormous house once more. That said, you'd have to get the right permissions in place: this is a Grade II*-listed building that dates back to the 12th century, and as well as planning and conservation officers you'll also have to bear in mind that it's offered not as freehold, but with a 972-year lease.
There is precedent for it being one home again, naturally. Though it started out as a religious house, it became a wealthy merchant’s house following the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
Once inside the walls, there are extraordinary period features everywhere you look, from intricate ceilings and windows to statues overlooking the stairwell.
The focal point of Barrow Court, though, is its magnificent Great Hall with its Corinthian fireplace, over which is the Gibbs family coat of arms.
In the 19th century, Henry Martin Gibbs was the man responsible for transforming the whole estate into the Jacobean splendour it represents today, with parterre and 4¼ acres of formal gardens designed by Francis Inigo Thomas. Not that you'll have to worry about mowing the lawns: the grounds are communal, and looked after by the estate.
There you have it, then: a house redolent with history which retains many outstanding period features.
And it's also superbly accessible: the Barrow Court estate is in a village called Barrow Gurney just outside Bristol, less than seven miles from the city centre, and within striking distance of the airport, train and motorways.
Barrow Court is for sale via Fine & Country — see more details and pictures.
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