The charming, Grade II-listed Parsonage Farm near Penn, Buckinghamshire is an immaculate, timber-frame, late-16th or early-17th-century farmhouse set in 7¼ acres of lovely gardens and grounds, 1½ miles from Penn village centre and 2½ miles from the commuter hub of Beaconsfield.
Currently for sale through Savills at a guide price of £4.75m, Parsonage Farm was, for many years, the cherished family home of the legendary rally driver Paddy Hopkirk, who died earlier this year.
Hopkirk is the man who made the original Mini a sensation in rallying, winning the Monte Carlo Rally in a Mini Cooper S in 1964 alongside co-driver Henry Liddon.
Rallying was hugely popular at the time, and Hopkirk became a household name: he received congratulatory telegrams from everybody from the prime minister to The Beatles, was given the Freedom of the City of his native Belfast, and was invited (along with his Mini) onto Sunday Night at the London Palladium.
Approached off a country lane along a tree-lined gravel drive, the farmstead stands next to Woodland Trust-owned woodland on the edge of this quintessential English village, with its duck pond and village green, and roughly half a mile from The Royal Standard of England, said to be the oldest pub in the country.
The main house offers 4,388sq ft of light and cheerful accommodation on two floors, including three elegant, beamed reception rooms, a large, quarry-tiled kitchen/breakfast room, five bedrooms and three bathrooms.
Further accommodation is available at the front of the house by way of a connected converted barn with an office/sitting room, bedroom and bathroom that could be used as an annexe.
Outbuildings include a large barn/workshop, a vaulted barn/games room and a granary.
Amenities include a paddock, an all-weather artificial-grass tennis court and a swimming pool screened from the rose garden by a brick-and-flint wall and clipped yew hedging.
Parsonage Farm is for sale through Savills at a guide price of £4.75m — see more 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
-
Game, set, match: 12 of the world’s most beautiful tennis courtsFrom Italy to Indonesia, when it comes to hotel amenities, a picturesque tennis court will always trump a 24-hour gym. So, before you book your next holiday, take a look at our pick of the 12 best.
-
Five frankly enormous mansions, including one with its own private swimming lake, as seen in Country LifeSometimes bigger really is better.
-
Five frankly enormous mansions, including one with its own private swimming lake, as seen in Country Life
Sometimes bigger really is better.
-
Gaze over Cap Ferrat in this four-bedroom French villaIgnore the wind and the rain. Imagine yourself in this hillside home with some of the best views the Mediterranean can offer.
-
Classical style meets fun and flair in a seven-bedroom manor in CornwallAt Polstrong Manor, the current owners have combined period charm and elegant modern interiors to create a flamboyant country home 10-minutes from the beach.
-
Two halves make a sublime four-bedroom home in Kent's North DownsA contemporary extension to a traditional clapboard house brings light and life to Lavington House.
-
The week in property statistics: Service charges reach record highPlus, how first-time buyers prop up the mortgage market, why you need to move north if you want to live by yourself, and house-price growth slows
-
A seven-bedroom oast house for sale in East Sussex, where your dreams can run riotUnlisted, yet full of character, this property in the High Weald National Landscape is an eccentrically furnished family home that screams fun.
-
Character, history and comfort combine in a four-bedroom farmhouse in NorfolkWillow Farm near Southburgh is that rarest of things — a perfect combination of period charm and modern elegance in some of England's best countryside.
-
A Grade I-listed Georgian townhouse that's part of the fabric of Bath's historyWith 5,500sq ft set over six floors in the centre of Britain's most architecturally rich city, there is much to love here.
