Huma Qureshi July 24, 2009

Writing home: Properties with literary connections

Fancy a house with a literary past? Huma Qureshi opens the book on some inspiring properties

CKD Galbraith — Remember the Tale of Mr Jeremy Fisher, the frog who fished the Dalguise Beat for his dinner? Burnside Cottage in Perthshire where his creator Beatrix Potter lived for several years, is thought to have been the inspiration for this culinary tale. For £760,000, you can buy the three-bed cottage and more than a mile’s worth of Mr Jeremy’s double fishing bank.
CKD Galbraith, 01738 451111 Photograph: <a href="http://www.ckdgalbraith.co.uk">CKD Galbraith</a>

Savills — It is easy to believe the legend that Toad, Ratty, Mole and Badger and the rest of their Wind in the Willows friends were conjured up by Kenneth Grahame here at the magnificent Martens House (Toad Hall?) in Wargrave, Berkshire. This elegant yet unpretentious Elizabethan manor stands on the reaches of the Thames, on (yes, really) Willow Lane. The seven-bedroom house costs a cool £2.49m.
Savills, 01491 843 000 Photograph: <a href="http://www.savills.co.uk/residentialsearch/home.aspx">Savills</a>

Strutt & Parker — The passion of the Forsyte Saga came to fruition here at Wingstone Manor Farm, where John Galsworthy lived from 1906 to 1924. His glorious five-bed house nestles in the pastures of Dartmoor national park. For £1.55m, you’ll get two large drawing rooms, each with wood-burning stoves, a kitchen-diner, a range of outbuildings, riding land and spectacular views from the wisteria-clad verandah.
Strutt & Parker, 01392 215 631 Photograph: <a href="http://www.struttandparker.com/">Strutt & Parker</a>

May, Whetter & Grose — Daphne Du Maurier lived in this perfectly proportioned white-washed seaside coach house in Cornwall in the 1940s. Situated in its own sandy cove in the harbour town of Fowey, the four-bed house and surrounding area is thought to have inspired the setting of her novel Frenchman’s Creek. With original oak flooring throughout, and views across the sea from most rooms, the real selling-point of this £1.875m house is its enchanting garden.
May, Whetter & Grose, 01726 832299 Photograph: <a href="http://www.maywhetter.co.uk">May, Whetter & Grose</a>

The Landmark Trust — Fancy some literary inspiration without the million pound price tag? The Landmark Trust offers holiday lets in homes once occupied by the likes of Keats and the Brownings. You can stay in Clavell Tower, an immaculate roundhouse-tower in Dorset (pictured here), where Thomas Hardy penned his early poetry. It sleeps two, from £237. Big groups can lodge in Auchinleck House in East Ayrshire, home to diarist and author James Boswell, which sleeps 13, from £610.
The Landmark Trust, 01628 825925 Photograph: <a href="http://www.landmarktrust.org.uk/">The Landmark Trust</a>

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