The entire map of Britain is full of gloriously quirky place names (Auchtermuchty in Fife and Pratt’s Bottom in Kent are particular favourites), but for a constant stream of magnificently bananas places, it’s hard to beat the West Country. And the as if to demonstrate this very point, today’s property is a gorgeous house in a Somerset village called Trudoxhill, a spot wedged in between Nunney Catch and Marston Bigot. You really couldn’t make it up.
The house in question is Millards Hill House, a Grade II-listed Georgian home being sold by Alice Keith of Knight Frank, with an asking price of £3 million.
That money buys you a strikingly pretty home designed in the Classical, symmetrical style with 19th- and 20th-century additions, located in an idyllic rural spot four miles from the market town of Frome and 18 from the World Heritage city of Bath.
It's been owned for almost 40 years by the same family, and is the sort of place where even arriving is an event: you enter the 44 acres of parkland and paddocks via a long, private drive, which splits to provide access to the main entrance of the house before leading to the stable yard, outdoor school, cottage and outbuildings at the rear.
The imposing main building, which now needs updating throughout, offers 7,490sq ft of accommodation laid out in traditional country-house style, with three principal reception rooms, a conservatory, nine bedrooms and five bathrooms.
Particularly impressive is the gracious, south-facing drawing room, which opens onto a terrace with far-reaching views towards King Alfred’s Tower, a landmark 18th-century folly on the neighbouring Stourhead estate.
Millards Hill House is surrounded by established formal gardens, which include a covered swimming pool and pool house and an old tennis court that could easily be reinstated.
A two-bedroom cottage and various outbuildings could be converted to residential use subject to planning, the agents say.
Millards Hill House was originally built in the late 18th century as the dower house to nearby Marston House, which was the English seat of the Earls of Cork and Orrery from the mid 1600s until 1905 (and which was rescued from dereliction in the 1980s and 1990s, as Country Life reported in January 2018).
Millards Hill House is for sale via Knight Frank at £3 million — see more pictures and details.
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
-
If heaven is on earth, it might be in this home with a converted chapel that is now a swimming pool5 Wood Barton Town House is part of an exclusive 80-acre development in Devon that also comes with fishing rights on the River Avon and four bedrooms.
-
An Italian-inspired recipe for lemon-butter pasta shells with spring greens, ricotta and pangrattatoSpring greens are just about to come into their own, so our Kitchen Garden columnist reveals exactly what to do with them.
-
If heaven is on earth, it might be in this home with a converted chapel that is now a swimming pool5 Wood Barton Town House is part of an exclusive 80-acre development in Devon that also comes with fishing rights on the River Avon and four bedrooms.
-
The sounds of spring and stained glass in an Arts-and-Crafts masterpiece in DorsetWith 35 acres, more than 10 bedrooms, a swimming pool and tennis court, Winterfield has it all.
-
An eight-bedroom wonder in East Sussex where the outdoors are an adventureThe interiors of Old Middleton are pretty good too.
-
A lakeside farmhouse on the market in the beautiful heart of PembrokeshireA lake, streams, 15 acres and five bedrooms. Rogershook might have it all.
-
An idyllic countryside home that's light, spacious and comes with a Grade II-listed follyHagg House is a gorgeous family home that just happens to have a miniature castle in the gardens. Annabel Dixon explains more.
-
A historic villa for sale on the Via Nomentana worthy of Rome's rich historyThree floors, lots of balconies, and a private garden in one of Rome's loveliest neighbourhoods.
-
Eight bedrooms of unlisted Edwardian elegance with sweeping views of SomersetAshton House sits near the market town of Chard and comes with a wealth of amenities both inside and out.
-
A waterside cottage in Devon with a private quay, idyllic views and the prettiest summerhouse we've seen in yearsRight beside the picturesque Yealm Estuary, No 1 Noss Mayo is an idyllic home that feels like an escape from the world. Annabel Dixon takes a look.
