A rock star's sanctuary for sale: the home of Rolling Stones legend Charlie Watts is on the market in a picture-perfect Devon valley
In the early 1980s, Charlie Watts and his wife Shirley were looking to buy a country escape. They found it in the pages of Country Life, and stayed there happily for the rest of their lives. Now their daughter Seraphina is putting this idyllic home on the market, as Arabella Youens reports.
Toby Keel
Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts and his wife, Shirley, moved into Grade II-listed Halsdon House in Dolton, mid Devon, in 1983. He lived there for nearly four decades until he died in 2021 at the age of 80; Shirley died a year later, also at home in Devon, at the end of 2022. Set on the edge of the village, the house enjoys a secluded position above the valley of the River Torridge and is surrounded by green hills and meadows.
It’s fitting that the house is launched on to the market via Country Life, because the Wattses originally found it house in this very publication: ‘Browsing through Country Life magazine five years ago, Charlie found the ideal home. Halsdon, once the residence of a local Devon squire, John Henry Furse, is set above the valley of the river Torridge and surrounded by green hills and meadows,’ wrote American author Kevin Sessums in a 1989 profile of the Rolling Stones in Vanity Fair. ‘There he and his artist wife, Shirley, are content to live their solitary human lives amongst a menagerie that includes fifteen Arabian horses, eighteen dogs, and two cats.’
Charlie and Shirley Watts spent 57 years together, a life blending the jetsetting rock-and-roll stardom with quiet country life in Devon.
This late-17th-century house with an early-Victorian front was, by the early 1980s, in a sorry state. That didn’t seem to put buyers off, though — quite the contrary, since in the space of two weeks it attracted 100 enquiries and 20 viewings. The winning bid was ‘considerably more than the guide price of £90,000’, according to a follow-up report in Country Life, which added that the sale had included a further 20 acres of land on top of the original 14. Over the years more land was acquired, the house has was upgraded and improved, and Halsdon is launched on the market in Country Life this week for £2.75 million via Savills.
This late-17th-century house with an early-Victorian front had already come up for sale several times via Country Life in the 20th century, and by the early 1980s was in a sorry state. That didn’t seem to put buyers off, though — quite the contrary, since in the space of two weeks it attracted 100 enquiries and 20 viewings.
The winning bid was ‘considerably more than the guide price of £90,000’, according to a report in Country Life, which added that the sale had included a further 20 acres of land on top of the original 14. It’s since expanded, upgraded and improved, and is launched on the market in Country Life this week for £2.75 million via Savills.
Charlie Watts's library on the first floor at Halson, where he kept a collection of rare books.
Charlie and Shirley’s daughter, Seraphina, who was about 15 when the family moved to Halsdon, says her parents liked to be far from the madding crowd, placing tremendous value on their privacy and family time. Halsdon was a sanctuary out of the glare of the spotlight when the band wasn’t touring — a totally separate world.
As a rock-and-roll star, Watts famously cut a different dash to his bandmates, eschewing most of the wild excesses of the associated lifestyle and dressing in dapper suits made by Huntsman in Savile Row. The summer before purchasing Halsdon, the band had toured Europe — on a private 747 jumbo jet — with shows in France, Germany and the Netherlands. During that tour, the band’s PR manager, Alan Edwards, only managed to convince the publicity-shy Watts to do one interview, talking about the upcoming Test matches with The Daily Telegraph’s cricket correspondent.
"There were always lots of dogs around the Aga in winter and lots of tea in the gardens in summer"
Seraphina Watts, daughter of Charlie and Shirley Watts
Shirley Watts and her daughter spent a great deal of time riding together and a further attraction with Halsdon was that it offered a historic stable yard and land to raise horses and ride. Shirley pursued an interest in Arabian horses and developed an innate sense and knowledge of bloodlines and breeding, all of which was self-taught. She became a renowned Arabian horse breeder, globally known and earning top honours at shows. The extensive and beautiful equestrian facilities at Halsdon speak volumes about how important this was to the family.
Her interest in the breed was sparked when she attended a horse fair in the South of France during the mid 1980s, according to an obituary in The Arabian magazine, published after she died, aged 84, in 2022. Inspired, she set out to learn as much as she could about the breed from experts in Poland and the US, later acquiring a stallion, Piechur, who would pave the way for Halsdon’s so-called ‘decade of dominance’ in the show ring of the 1990s.
The gardens at Halsdon were another hobby, created and planted by Shirley Watts with the help of her gardener. As a result, there are wild roses and plantings all around the house and stables, as well as a secret garden and lily pond.
When the Watts bought Halsdon, they inherited the original gardener, Horace, who had been at the property since he was 14 and stayed into his nineties. The current gardener, Casey, took over the responsibility several years ago and, according to Ms Watts, maintains it the way her mother would have wanted.
True to its role as a world away from his professional life, Watts never built a recording studio at Halsdon. During the first lockdown in April 2020, he joined his bandmates Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood playing air drums from the library at Halsdon House for a virtual performance of You Can’t Always Get What You Want for Global Citizen’s One World: Together At Home, a campaign partnered with the World Health Organisation to support frontline healthcare workers. As there wasn’t a drum kit in the house, he improvised using some boxes for drums and a chair as imaginary cymbals. The video went viral, with just under 5 million views:
‘Halsdon House has been a sanctuary for our family over the years, for my parents, myself and my daughter,’ says Seraphina.
‘As the house sits at the heart of its own grounds, surrounded by rolling countryside, the opportunities for walks and rides were endless. My parents loved being surrounded by Nature and dogs, which were always abundant during their lifetimes. There were always lots of dogs around the Aga in winter and lots of tea in the gardens in summer.
‘When my father was touring or recording in the studio, my mother, being an artist herself, would often take the opportunity to rearrange furniture, bring in new pieces, paint a room a different colour or even change the floor. She loved creating and designing and making their house a home, but knew that Charlie wasn’t fond of change — particularly if it involved decorators coming into the house.
‘On his return, he would look around and ask with a smile if something was different — knowing full well, as he had an eye for detail and knew if a pen was out of place.’
With Seraphina and her family spending time overseas, executors are looking after the sale of Halsdon House, with its nine bedrooms and huge charm — it's a home with a sort of fairytale quality.
The house extends to more than 8,500sq ft and is arranged across three floors. On the first floor is Watts’s library, where he kept a collection of rare books — and played the air drums for that one-off performance.
Beyond the main house you'll find a self-contained annexe, several outbuildings, stabling, workshops and traditional barns, as well as the aforementioned 55 acres.
‘It’s a lovely mini country estate,’ says selling agent Greg Crosse of Savills in Exeter. ‘Although a new owner will want to come in and refresh the interiors, at its heart is a very good-looking house, attractive formal gardens, the potential for two access points, an area of woodland and excellent equestrian facilities.’
Halston House is for sale via Savills at £2.75 million — see more details and pictures.
A version of this feature originally appeared in the February 11, 2026 issue of Country Life. Click here for more information on how to subscribe.
