Down in the heart of Dorset, Ashley Rawlings of Savills is handling the sale of the restored, Grade II-listed Old Came Rectory.
Situated 1½ miles from Dorchester in Hardy country, it’s the former home of the Victorian scholar, poet and rector William Barnes, and it’s on the market at a guide price of £3.2m.
In all, the buildings provide 3,992sq ft of accommodation including a drawing room, dining room and kitchen/breakfast room on the ground floor.
There is also a study, music room and wine room.
Yes, that does bear repeating: it has a dedicated wine room.
And for the abstemious, the utterly glorious oak-panelled study/library is we'd the sort of place you'd love to squirrel yourself away in for hours. Maybe even days. Depends on how noisy the kids are being.
There are four bedrooms and three bath/shower rooms on the first floor, plus a further sitting room, double bedroom and bathroom in the coach house.
Old Came Rectory was built in the 1830s for the Revd William England in the romantic cottage orné style from a plan by John Nash. It was later the home of Thomas Hardy’s friend and mentor William Barnes, who was rector of Came from 1862 until his death in 1886.
Meticulously restored in recent years, the thatched former rectory and its adjoining coach house stand in 1¾ acres of grounds, which include an enchanting walled knot garden and a kitchen garden. These really do deserve special mention, with a real Secret Garden vibe that's a dream for the green-fingered.
All this, and wonderful seclusion too: the whole property us surrounded by woods and fields with no near neighbours. And yet you're in no way isolated; in fact, the centre of Dorchester is less than two miles away, and the house is walking distance to the station.
Old Came Rectory is for sale via Savills at £3.2m — see more details and pictures.
Credit: Strutt and Parker
Best country houses for sale this week
An irresistible West Country cottage and a magnificent Cumbrian country house make our pick of the finest country houses for
-
'My family wore wool at a time when everyone else had cast it off in favour of manmade fabrics': The knitwear pioneer who is one of David Beckham's countryside championsJulie Harding speaks to Rachel Carvell-Spedding the founder of British knitwear brand Navygrey, and one of David Beckham's countryside champions.
-
What is everyone talking about this week: Why we love period dramaObservers cite a need for escapism, but Will Hosie thinks there's more to our enduring love of a period drama.
-
Five glorious properties for sale from the 11th to the 21st centuryA tithe barn, a Grade I-listed Norman keep, and a Georgian masterpiece all graced the pages of Country Life this week
-
You can now rent King William IV’s former home in London’s Mayfair — for a princely sumThe London property — with royal lineage — is on the market with the estate agency Wetherell for £25,000 a week.
-
Dream of revolution inside the 18th-century villa once occupied by Napoleon's French troopsAn apartment inside historic Villa Gnecchi Ruscone is on the market and it comes with a grand ballroom rumoured to have been frequented by Napoleon.
-
May the force be with you if you move into this London apartment block that Obi-Wan Kenobi (and Cher) once lived inOliver’s Wharf was once the residence of megastar Cher and the actor Sir Alec Guinness — as well as Mark Knopfler of the Dire Straits.
-
125 glorious acres of Elizabethan elegance for sale in Cheshire that comes with a moatIs this real life? Is it just fantasy? No, it's Holford Hall.
-
Look around this James Bond-themed house for sale in Nottinghamshire and release your inner MI6 agentNow, come, come dear reader, you get as much fulfilment out of Skyfall as I do, so why don't you admit it?
-
The eclectic New York townhouse that Lily Allen sings about in her new, headline-making album is for sale381, Union Street is on the market just days after the singer’s latest album details the alleged infidelity in her marriage.
-
This Suffolk home is a perfect escape from the world and it comes with its own stretch of river and 20 acresThis idyllic home in Suffolk is the perfect village home.
