A historic rectory that hosted notable literary figures including Alfred Lord Tennyson, Thomas Hardy and Siegfried Sassoon has gone on sale for £2.85m.
Came Old Rectory was the home of the well-known Dorset scholar and poet William Barnes, friend and mentor of the young Thomas Hardy, for 24 years in the second half of the 19th century.
The Grade II listed, five-bedroom thatched cottage near Dorchester is set in 1.67 acres of gardens and is for sale through Savills.
Barnes met Hardy when the latter was working as an architectural apprentice in a Dorchester studio next door to the school where Barnes taught.
There was a 40-year age difference between the two men, but they formed a deep bond. Barnes left his school to become rector of Came in 1862 and remained there until his death in 1886 and Hardy was a regular visitor.
The historic Old Came Rectory, pictured, has gone on sale for £2.85m
The five-bedroom property hosted notable literary figures such as Alfred Lord Tennyson, Thomas Hardy and Siegfried Sassoon.
The property has 3,519 square feet of accommodation with kitchen/breakfast room, dining room, sitting room, music room, study room and wine tasting room on the ground floor.
The Grade II listed, five-bedroom thatched cottage near Dorchester is set in 1.67-acre gardens
Came Old Rectory was the home of the well-known Dorset scholar and poet William Barnes, a friend and mentor to the young Thomas Hardy (pictured).
Barnes was a fascinating and charismatic gentleman, a natural linguist, and a talented mathematician and inventor, who attracted other notable literary figures such as Tennyson.
Even after his death, his former home was a meeting place for great minds. Siegfried Sassoon rented the property in the 1920s with fellow poet Edmund Blunden and T. E. Lawrence also came to stay with them.
While there they also went to visit Hardy at Max Gate, his nearby home.
The historic home was built in the 1830s to a design by John Nash, but has undergone a meticulous renovation over the past two years to turn it into a modern, functional home.
It has many original features such as flagstone floors, functional shutters and cornices.
The property has 3,519 sq ft of accommodation with kitchen/breakfast room, dining room, lounge, music room, study room and wine tasting room on the ground floor, cellars below and four bedrooms and three bathrooms on the first floor.
The coach house, accessed independently from the rear through the walled garden, has a living room, bedroom and bathroom.
The historic house was built in the 1830s to a design by John Nash, but has undergone a meticulous renovation over the past two years.
Outside there is a mature landscaped garden surrounded by countryside with no nearby neighbours and fields or woodland on three sides.
The property has four bedrooms and three bathrooms on the first floor.
Siegfried Sassoon, pictured, rented the property in the 1920s with fellow poet Edmund Blunden.
The house is believed to have become a favourite retreat of Alfred Lord Tennyson, pictured here
Outside it is set in mature landscaped gardens surrounded by countryside with no nearby neighbours and with fields or woodland on three sides.
There is a productive vegetable garden and a fruit orchard, a pretty pavilion, a wooden garden room and a walled knot garden with a lily pond.
A spokesman for Savills, which is selling the property, said: ‘Old Came Rectory is a beautifully restored rectory and coach house – you can feel that this house is steeped in history.
With the arrival of William Barnes, the house is believed to have become a favourite retreat of many notable British literary figures, including Alfred Lord Tennyson, Thomas Hardy, Siegfried Sassoon and T. E. Lawrence.
‘Over the last two years the house has undergone a meticulous renovation, now becoming a fully functioning modern home within a wonderful old building.’
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