Lucie’s, an attractive semi-detached house near Shipton-on-Stour, was once owned by the then landowner David Bertram Ogilvy Freeman-Mitford (Lord Redesdale). He was the father of the famous Mitford sisters.
Freeman-Mitford was the son of the first baron of Redesdale and as a young man fought in the Boer War and the First World War. He married Sydney Bowles (known as ‘Muv’ by the family) with whom he had five daughters ? Pamela, Diana, Jessica, Nancy and Unity Mitford.
He was a Nazi sympathiser and deemed to be rather eccentric. The Redesdale wealth was considerably depleted in the early twentieth century by a series of poor investments and it appears he sold Lucie’s as part of his urgent efforts to raise money.
The house was sold in 1920 for £739 to George William Faulkner, the postman at Great Wolford. Faulkner was married to Lucy, hence the moniker given to the house.
The current owners bought Lucie?s from Dorothy Faulkner Duggan in 1987, a descendant of George William Faulkner. It is believed the house and the post office business remained in the family until then.
The three-storey house has an entrance hall, four bedrooms, sitting and dining rooms, kitchen, breakfast room and a study.
Lucie’s is for sale through Hayman-Joyce’s Moreton in Marsh office (01608 651188, www.haymanjoyce.co.uk
