Toby Keel
A few weeks ago on this website, we took a look at a string of homes that had escaped listed building inspectors, to see what can be done when an owner and their country house experts can work with a free hand. Then, last weekend, we had an example of the exact opposite: a Grade II*-listed home where it's clear a string of custodians have been at pains to preserve things just as they have been for generations.
Werescote's advertisement in Country Life in September 1921, ahead of its auction.
Today, we swing back again with a 220-year-old Georgian home so shiny and modern in places that you'd believe us if we told you it had been built five years ago. The house in question is in Somerset, where Chris Clifford of Savills in Exeter seeks ‘offers over £3m’ for the imposing, Georgian Werescote at Whiteball, near Wellington.
The house — which is unlisted — stands on land acquired in 1800 by London banker Ellis Were, who began construction of the house known as Were’s Cott in 1804, but died before it was completed; it was finished in 1805 by his son and heir, Thomas Waltham Were.
The house survived the 19th century intact, but by the start of the 20th century it was being rented out, and in 1921 it came up for auction in Country Life. A fascinating account of the house's history recount that after the Second World War — during which time US troops were stationed in the area — it was bought by a local farmer, who lived and worked the land here until retiring in 1995, at which time the house, now in need of a lot of work, was sold again.
Werescote's farming facilities are still in place. We're not sure if that wonderful old tractor is included in the sale, but you can always ask...
Those efforts preceded slowly, and the present owners, bought the house as an unfinished shell in 2011.
Since then they have completely refurbished the interior, which now offers more than 12,200sq ft of luxurious and versa-tile accommodation, including six fine reception rooms, 12 bedrooms and 10 bathrooms located on three main floors.
The look and feel of the place is extremely impressive, with polished floors, fine fabrics and high-end fittings throughout, giving it something of the vibe of a swish hotel.
And the modernisation is more than skin deep: the whole place is up to modern spec, to the point of featuring a biomass boiler that qualifies for the RHI payments scheme.
The lower ground floor is arranged as a separate self-contained annexe, games room/studio and indoor swimming-pool suite. Outside, the gardens and grounds offer privacy and seclusion, with large areas of level lawn, terraces, borders, a kitchen garden, orchard, paddocks and woodland.
One thing hasn't changed: the glorious setting. Werescote stands in more than 21 acres of immaculate gardens and grounds, and enjoys spectacular views to the south, east and north over the Blackdown Hills National Landscape, the Wellington Monument and the Taunton Vale, with the Polden Hills and Glastonbury Tor in the distance.
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