Novelist H. G. Wells (1866-1946), widely considered the father of science fiction, wrote about war, loss and grief in Mr Brightling Sees It Through and devised the rules of miniature battle gaming from an unlikely spot in the Essex countryside.
The author who penned over 100 novels in his lifetime, including The War of the Worlds and The Invisible Man, spent the third chapter of his career writing about politics, history and social reform.
This coincided with his move from Hampstead, London, to a rented Georgian house called Easton Glebe on the Easton Lodge Estate where he observed English country folk in wartime, partied with the literary and arts glitterati and embarked upon a well-documented affair.
H. G. (Herbert George) Wells pictured in 1937, before giving a speech to the British Association.
In a strange twist, the Grade II-listed entertaining barn on Wells's land and the remaining wing of the original lodge — no longer part of the same estate — have come up for sale at the same time, under different ownership and a century after Wells closed the book on his life in Little Easton.
The village of Little Easton is seven miles east of the market town of Bishop's Stortford and Stansted airport and was once dominated by the Easton Lodge Estate. In the 16th century, Elizabeth I granted politician Henry Maynard 10,000 acres of the estate on which he built an Elizabethan mansion to become Easton Lodge.
The house and grounds developed in line with the times until 1847 when a fire all but destroyed the Elizabethan part of the building. The Jacobean west wing remained and the rest was rebuilt in Victorian Gothic style.
Frances 'Daisy' Maynard inherited the estate as a child and went on to marry the 5th Earl of Warwick. As the Countess of Warwick she was well-known for her nine-year liaison with Edward, Prince of Wales (Edward VII) and her weekend-long parties. In fact, she added a stop on the trainline at Canfield for her guests.
Maynard was very involved in her community and campaigned to improve employment skills for women and social reform and would go on to stand as a parliamentary candidate for the Labour Party in the General Election of 1923. Her weekend set included George Bernard Shaw, Gustav Holst, A. A. Milne, Charlie Chaplin and Wells.
However, her lavish lifestyle meant she racked up a lot of debt, building a water tower and a stable yard which are still in situ today. Her most famous investment was the commissioning of architect and garden designer Harold Peto to landscape the grounds — which were snapped for Country Life in 1907.
The Gardens of Easton Lodge are an idyllic haven with a history dating back to Tudor times. Redesigned by Harold Peto in 1902, Warwick Lodge comes with more than six acres of them.
In 1918, a second fire hit Easton Lodge. The story goes that one of Maynard's pet monkeys was convalescing in a blanket by the hearth when the material caught fire and the little primate ran around in a panic trailing the flames around the house. The monkey survived and so did the west wing, now a detached house called Warwick House which Savills is now selling for £2 million in 6.2 acres of the Peto gardens. The property is recognisable by its ornate Dutch gables and although the estate fell into disrepair after Maynard's death in 1938 the gardens have been recently restored.
On the other side of the village, no longer part of the estate following Maynard's sale of land, is a home linked to Wells. He lived at Easton Glebe (still a family home today) and Wells Court was his entertaining barn with a pool. During his time here Wells started an affair with the journalist, novelist and travel writer Rebecca West who lived on a farm in Hertfordshire where she raised their child in secrecy. Adam West went on to become a writer himself and wrote an autobiography of his father.
A former residence of the writer H.G. Wells, Wells Court offers a rare opportunity to acquire a character home with outstanding equestrian facilities.
The Grade II-listed Wells Court, a three-bedroom home, sits in 4.75 acres with equestrian facilities: six stables, paddocks, tack and feed rooms, outbuildings and a car port and is being sold by owners John and Sally Wilson who no longer need so much space.
The history of the Easton Lodge Estate, the Countess of Warwick and Wells himself were a draw to the property when they too made the move from central London in 1998. 'It was certainly talking point and in the early days literary tourists would turn up to see where Wells lived,' says John. At times it must have been like living in a different age, surrounded by so many historical characters that spent time on the estate.
Or as Wells would have put it: 'We all have our time machines, don't we. Those that take us back are memories... and those that carry us forwards are dreams.'
Wells Court is for sale for £1.5 million through Beresfords — see more details and pictures.
Warwick House is for sale for £2 million through Savills — see more details and pictures.