The entire map of Britain is full of gloriously quirky place names (Auchtermuchty in Fife and Pratt’s Bottom in Kent are particular favourites), but for a constant stream of magnificently bananas places, it’s hard to beat the West Country. And the as if to demonstrate this very point, today’s property is a gorgeous house in a Somerset village called Trudoxhill, a spot wedged in between Nunney Catch and Marston Bigot. You really couldn’t make it up.
The house in question is Millards Hill House, a Grade II-listed Georgian home being sold by Alice Keith of Knight Frank, with an asking price of £3 million.
That money buys you a strikingly pretty home designed in the Classical, symmetrical style with 19th- and 20th-century additions, located in an idyllic rural spot four miles from the market town of Frome and 18 from the World Heritage city of Bath.
It's been owned for almost 40 years by the same family, and is the sort of place where even arriving is an event: you enter the 44 acres of parkland and paddocks via a long, private drive, which splits to provide access to the main entrance of the house before leading to the stable yard, outdoor school, cottage and outbuildings at the rear.
The imposing main building, which now needs updating throughout, offers 7,490sq ft of accommodation laid out in traditional country-house style, with three principal reception rooms, a conservatory, nine bedrooms and five bathrooms.
Particularly impressive is the gracious, south-facing drawing room, which opens onto a terrace with far-reaching views towards King Alfred’s Tower, a landmark 18th-century folly on the neighbouring Stourhead estate.
Millards Hill House is surrounded by established formal gardens, which include a covered swimming pool and pool house and an old tennis court that could easily be reinstated.
A two-bedroom cottage and various outbuildings could be converted to residential use subject to planning, the agents say.
Millards Hill House was originally built in the late 18th century as the dower house to nearby Marston House, which was the English seat of the Earls of Cork and Orrery from the mid 1600s until 1905 (and which was rescued from dereliction in the 1980s and 1990s, as Country Life reported in January 2018).
Millards Hill House is for sale via Knight Frank at £3 million — see more pictures and details.
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
-
The wisteria clad cottage where Noël Coward and Ivor Novello held court at the height of their fameThe 17th-century Follejon Cottage just outside Windsor was a perfect escape from the city for Noël Coward and his circle of friends. As it goes on the market, Penny Churchill takes a look.
-
What were the code names of the three tunnels dug during the Second World War’s Great Escape? It's the Country Life Quiz of the Day, October 23, 2025Test your general knowledge this fine Thursday.
-
The wisteria clad cottage where Noël Coward and Ivor Novello held court at the height of their fame
The 17th-century Follejon Cottage just outside Windsor was a perfect escape from the city for Noël Coward and his circle of friends. As it goes on the market, Penny Churchill takes a look.
-
A Cotswolds property that's the strangest mix of old and new we've ever seen... and yet somehow, it all worksThe Gasworks is a house quite unlike anything you've seen before — or at least anything you've seen all in one place. Toby Keel takes a closer look.
-
A country house near Windsor that could be straight from the pages of a Jilly Cooper novelPenny Churchill looks at the beautiful polo-lover's sanctuary that is Barkham Square Park.
-
The factory that once fuelled the Victorians' insatiable appetite for pianos has become a set of gorgeous, characterful apartmentsChappell & Co were a huge name in 19th century music, even working with Beethoven. Today, one of their old factories in Camden has become a series of beautiful apartments.
-
What £1 million buys you across Britain, from a Cornish cottage to a miniature castle in the HighlandsSprawling country houses, a mini-estate in Scotland and homes where the sea almost laps up at your feet are among the property options open to those with a seven-figure budget. Here's our pick of the best £1 million houses for sale across the land.
-
The Hampshire home of a Victoria Cross-winning British WWI ace fighter pilot is for sale, with lake, chapel and some of the best fishing rights in EnglandPenny Churchill looks at Longparish House, a north Hampshire haven on the River Test.
-
Five superb country homes, from under £1 million to £20 million, as seen in Country LifeOur look at some the best homes to come up for sale via Country Life in the past week includes a Wiltshire dream home and a vast Kent mansion that's an easy commute to the City.
-
Rock stars and the country house: Liam Gallagher's life in the Cotswolds is in the finest tradition of music A-listers, from The Beatles to BeyoncéWhat is it about the British countryside that draws A-listers from every walk of life? With Liam Gallagher's Cotswold former home on the market, Toby Keel takes a look.
