Attractive 17th Century house with tremendous character

Many of London’s most iconic landmark buildings such as St Paul’s Cathedral, the Royal Naval Collage and a host of churches rebuilt after the Great Fire of London were designed by Sir Christopher Wren, one of England’s most highly acclaimed architects. This influential historical figure had a relatively humble upbringing being born in East Knoyle, a pretty village in the southwest corner of Wiltshire where his father was the local rector. Wren House can’t claim to have a direct link to the great man himself despite being named after him but is situated in the heart of the village facing the village green and playground which are on the site of where Knoyle House once stood.

Property for Sale in East Knoyle

The property is a particularly attractive Grade II Listed house thought to have origins going back to the late 1600’s with later additions. It is built with dressed local limestone external elevations with stone mullion windows under a clay tiled roof. Over the years the property has been refurbished and updated with great care taken to retain and indeed, enhance the many period features thus creating a family home of outstanding charm and character whilst still allowing scope for further improvements.

The accommodation is arranged over three floors and offers versatility as to how it can be utilised. An antique ribbed front door leads to an entrance lobby and on to the impressive dining hall with an inglenook fireplace, woodburner, access to a cellar and is open plan to a family area.

The kitchen/breakfast room has been custom designed with shaker style units, wooden worksurfaces and is fitted with an electric four oven Aga with a six ring calor gas hob and built-in equipment. The elegant sitting room is light and airy with a high ceiling, side access and a wood burning stove.

Upstairs on the first floor are three bedrooms, one of which has an en-suite shower room, and a family bathroom whilst on the top level is a bedroom with ample storage and an attic room. Many of the rooms have views over the village green and the lovely undulating countryside beyond.

Offset to the rear is a sizable single storey outbuilding that is thought to have been a shop in the past. It now offers tremendous potential for use as a work facility, guest/family annexe, holiday cottage or simply as ancillary accommodation to the main house. It presently consists of a bed/sitting room, en-suite bathroom, office/potential kitchen, utility room, store/boot room and cloakroom.

There is a small raised garden at the rear with an area of lawn, flower, rose and shrub borders, ornamental trees, wooden shed and a large decked area.

The village of East Knoyle

East Knoyle has an excellent community run shop/post office and is just six miles from Shaftesbury with its good range of shops, supermarkets, eateries, an up and coming secondary school, cottage hospital and is famous for the picturesque, steeply cobbled street of Gold Hill.

Wren House is being marketed by Rural View for a guide price of £630,000

A plethora of cultural events have helped to put Salisbury and the pretty villages of South Wiltshire on the map.

South Wiltshire has always had a strong connection to the arts, over the centuries drawing many well-known creative people to Salisbury and its beautiful valleys. Not only do they buy or rent property in the vicinity but their presence makes this a particularly cultural place to live and in the process, attracting others to move here as well.

Salisbury’s iconic cathedral and surrounding landscape has inspired many respected painters, most notably John Constable & J M W Turner. There are also strong literary connections from Thomas Hardy, Anthony Trollope and in more recent times, Leslie Thomas, Terry Pratchett and Vikram Seth.

From the world of screen entertainment, Michael Crawford, Joseph Fiennes and Christopher Biggins were all brought up in Salisbury. Famous musicians such as Sting and Eric Clapton have country residences in the area whilst previous incumbents include Robert Fripp & Toyah Wilcox whose house in Broad Chalke was once owned by Cecil Beaton. Another former Beaton home in the Chalke Valley belongs to filmmaker Guy Ritchie which he shared with his ex-wife, Madonna.

Cultural Events in South Wiltshire

A plethora of cultural events have also helped to put the region on the map and enhance its reputation. These include the Salisbury Arts Festival, Wylye Valley Art Trail, Deverills Performing Arts Festival, Larmer Tree Festival and the Chalke Valley History Festival.

With many fine productions at the Salisbury Playhouse, shows at City Hall, concerts in the cathedral and diverse exhibitions in Salisbury’s various museums, there is no shortage of high (and low!) brow entertainment and interesting events on offer.

South Wiltshire Housing Market

What is the relevance of this to the local housing market? Actually, quite a lot. Alongside the natural beauty of the Salisbury Valleys, its rich history and excellent schools, the depth of local culture helps to attract buyers and tenants new to the area, maintaining demand for properties even when the market is weak, thereby shoring up and even raising prices.

Somewhere in recent years that has seen something of a property boom directly as a result of a change in its cultural significance is Bruton. Although it has had a thriving art scene for many years, the establishment of the innovative Hauser & Wirth gallery has brought the once sleepy town into the spotlight and made it a fashionable place with the trendy art set.

Identified in The Times as one of the best places to live in England, it will be interesting to see if the Messums Wiltshire gallery just a couple of miles from Rural View’s office will have a similar effect on Tisbury and its neighbouring Nadder Valley villages.

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