The ancestral home of Woodrow Wilson – 28th President of the United States – has come on the market in Carlisle at £265,000.
Grade II-listed Cavendish House on Warwick Road was built in 1831 by Wilson’s grandfather, the Rev Thomas Woodrow, for his wife and eight children, who included Wilson’s mother, Jessie.
President Wilson – who was born in Staunton, Virginia – visited the six-bedroom house in pouring rain in 1918 during what he described as a ‘pilgrimage of the heart’ to Carlisle.
Current owner Peter Dance, 79, says he will miss the house but is selling up at the ‘ridiculously low’ asking price because he wants to move to north Devon.
‘It has been wonderful to experience this connection with one of the greats of American history, and one of the five most important presidents of the United States,’ he said.
‘But with my wife – who didn’t want to leave the house – gone, I no longer feel I have a connection here.
‘I’m looking forward to starting a new life by the sea in Devon.’
The house is for sale through Homesearch Direct of Carlisle (01228 515515; www.homesearch-direct.co.uk)
