Lea Hurst, in the traditional Derbyshire village of Holloway, is at first glance a classic and beautiful stone-built, Grade II-listed home overlooking the scenic Derwent Valley at the south-eastern edge of the Peak District.
Look beyond that first impression, however, and you find some fascinating history: Lea Hurst was Florence Nightingale’s much-loved childhood home, and it's now seeking a new owner. Blue Book's Sebastian Hipwood quotes a guide price of £3.75m for what is a splendid country home set in more than 19 acres of beautifully landscaped gardens and parkland on high ground overlooking the Derwent Valley.
The house offers generous living space on several levels, with four principal reception rooms, including a triple-aspect formal drawing room, a large kitchen/breakfast room, 13 bedrooms and eight bathrooms.
Lea Hurst was inherited in 1815 by Florence Nightingale's father, William Shore, as part of the estate of his great-uncle, Peter Nightingale, whose surname he assumed.
At the time, the site was occupied by a relatively modest Jacobean farmhouse, which Nightingale expanded and incorporated into the present house, built in the Elizabethan style between 1820 and 1821, when the woman who would become a trailblazing nurse and campaigner was a mere baby (she was born on 12 May, 1820). Somehow it makes her story all the more inspiring: she made her name during the Crimean War, a conflict so brutal she described it as being in 'the kingdom of hell'; yet she had spent her formative years in a home that is a little slice of heaven.
The Nightingale family moved to Embley Park in Hampshire in 1825, but they retained Lea Hurst as a summer house, where they spent several months of the year. It remained in the Nightingale family until 1846, after which it became a home for retired nurses, before being bought by the Royal Surgical Society as a nursing home, which operated until 2004.
Lea Hurst’s present owner, Peter Kay, was working as a banker in Singapore when he saw an advertisement announcing Florence Nightingale’s childhood home for sale.
In 2011, he completed the purchase of the house and spent the next three years renovating it through-out and a further 12 months re-creating its wonderful Victorian gardens.
Now, as the Kay family moves on to a new chapter in Asia, Mr Kay echoes the words of Florence herself, who wrote ‘it breaks my heart to leave Lea Hurst’, adding ‘but the most satisfying thing for us has been turning the house back into a family home for the first time since Florence and her sister were running around here in the 1820s. Our two youngest children were born in the house and it has been a wonderful place for children to grow up in’.
Lea Hurst is for sale at £3.75m — 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
-
‘It had the air of an ex-rental, and that’s putting it politely’: How an antique dealer transformed a run-down Georgian house in Chatham DockyardsAn antique dealer with an eye for colour has rescued an 18th-century house from years of neglect with the help of the team at Mylands.
-
A home cinema, tasteful interiors and 65 acres of private parkland hidden in an unassuming lodge in KentNorth Lodge near Tonbridge may seem relatively simple, but there is a lot more than what meets the eye.
-
A home cinema, tasteful interiors and 65 acres of private parkland hidden in an unassuming lodge in Kent
North Lodge near Tonbridge may seem relatively simple, but there is a lot more than what meets the eye.
-
A rare opportunity to own a family home on Vanbrugh Terrace, one of London's finest streetsThis six-bedroom Victorian home sits right on the start line of the London Marathon, with easy access to Blackheath and Greenwich Park.
-
A tale of everyday life as lived on Britain's most expensive streetWinnington Road in Hampstead has an average house price of £11.9 million. But what's it really like? Lotte Brundle went to find out.
-
Damon Hill's former home in Marbella is the perfect place to slow downThe glorious Andalusian-style villa is found within the Lomas de Marbella Club and just a short walk from the beach.
-
A 327-acre estate in the heart of 'England’s Côte d’Or', with a 26,000sq ft Georgian style home at its heartStokes Hall in the Crouch Valley is an inspiring property looking for a new owner.
-
Schreiber House, 'the most significant London townhouse of the second half of the 20th century', is up for saleThe five-bedroom Modernist masterpiece sits on the edge of Hampstead Heath.
-
Is the 'race for space' officially over?During the lockdowns, many thought the countryside was the place to be. It seems many are now changing their minds.
-
What's a 'wellness village' and will it tempt you back into the office?The team behind London's first mixed-use ‘wellness village’ says it has the magic formula for tempting workers back into offices.
