What better way to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth than buying the Hampshire estate she used to visit? Well, the £58 million price tag might put you off – but it’s certainly worth a closer look.
Laverstoke Park in Overton, Hampshire is now up for sale with Knight Frank, offering buyers 1,835 acres of land, a Grade II-listed manor house and a further 17 houses and cottages. Spacious.
The Austen connection is not the only draw for the Laverstoke Park Estate, with the original Laverstoke Paper Mill on site now housing the Bombay Sapphire Distillery.
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The main house comes with 11 bedrooms, 11 bathrooms, seven reception rooms, a conservatory, sauna, spa, tennis court, cellar and an indoor leisure complex complete with heated swimming pool, gym, trampoline area and tennis and squash courts.
The grounds contain mature woodlands and a lake, while the River Test offers 1.5 miles of chalk-stream fishing. There are also 1,279 acres of certified organic farmland, which is known for its herd of water buffalo.
Laverstoke Park has a rich history, acquired by Richard Andrews of the neighbouring Freefolk Estate in 1539. He united the estates for the first time following the dissolution of the monasteries, but they were divided again in 1582.
The estate was then bought by the Portals – Henri de Portal purchased Freefolk Manor in 1747 after his success pioneering watermarked banknotes for the Bank of England, while his son went on to unite Laverstoke Park again.
The Palladian mansion now known as Laverstoke House was designed in 1798 by Joseph Bonomi the Elder. Jane Austen, who lived nearby, was a frequent visitor to Laverstoke. In fact, her nephews married two of the Portals’ daughters.
The Portals retained ownership of the estate and the paper mill – now the Bombay Sapphire Distillery – until De La Rue acquired it in the 1990s.
If £58 million might be within your budget (lucky you), it might also be worth noting that Laverstoke Park is also in the highest council tax band, H. So that might swing it for you.
Perhaps 18 houses are too many? The estate is also being flogged in separate lots, so you needn’t go all in. Well, that’s a relief, isn’t it?
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