For the scriptwriter and budding novelist Caroline De Geir and her children, every inch of their family home, Wookey House at Wookey Hole, near Wells, Somerset, is sprinkled with fairy dust. ‘It really does have a magical atmosphere,’ says Mrs De Geir, who, with her husband, bought the crumbling Georgian house with 37 acres of gardens, parkland and woodland in 2008, before embarking on a two-year programme of repair and restoration that earned them a commendation from the Somerset Building Preservation Trust for saving ‘this imposing Grade II house from serious disrepair’ and creating ‘a well-planned and tasteful home’. What better endorsement could a potential buyer wish for?
Currently for sale through Knight Frank (020–7629 8171) at a guide price of £3.45m, Wookey House was owned by the late artist Peter Barker-Mill and his wife, Elsa, from just before the Second World War. They were at the forefront of the UK arts scene in the 1960s and 1970s and regularly entertained their friends and other artists at Wookey House. Mrs De Geir has successfully re-created the relaxed atmosphere of that period in a house that is classically Georgian in style, with a façade built in 1779 around an earlier core.
Set back from the village lane behind high stone walls on the edge of Wookey Hole, Wookey House sits well within its gardens, with wonderful views across its own parkland to the south. It has accommodation on three floors, including five reception rooms, a kitchen/breakfast room, master and guest suites, seven bedrooms and three bathrooms.
The guide price is £3.45m. For further information please contact Knight Frank on 020–7629 8171.
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