Tasteful friends: the lion's share of a ca.1728 Baroque house in Wiltshire, England, £2.25M
An H-shaped Barque house of the 1720s was extended with a later wing and in 1980 divided as two houses, each of which now sits on its own parcel of 4+ acres in fucking lovely Chippenham, Wiltshire. The larger and better of these containing the bulk of the original main house is now for sale, marked down from £3M.
For those who couldn't possibly bear to share a wall with a neighbor, the adjoining West Wing half of house, lesser in its architecture and interiors, is also for sale at £1.25M.
The house has approximately 5500 square feet of space on three floors plus a smaller basement level. There are six bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, and various reception rooms, kitchen, etc. The house was extensively restored in recent years, likely undoing some of the indifferent alterations of the 1980 division and alterations.
I love the heavy Baroque style of the exterior and some interior spaces, most notably the central Reception Hall with its arched windows and stone floor and the adjoining light-filled Drawing Room with a wonderful fireplace and pilastered surround. The gardens are very nice, loads of different sorts of spaces and lots of privacy within garden rooms. There are not too many bedrooms and enough bathrooms. The kitchen is a comparatively small room but beautifully fitted.
The house sits in a little oasis within Chippenham which has the local things you would need. For all the things you want, London is about 75 minutes by train from Chippenham.
The seller is an artist as is obvious enough from the photos. Aside from some paintings in overly girly colors, it's nice, I think, to see the walls fileld with modern paintings and colors. it'ß a mix of old furniture of not much value but fitting to the house somehow, and modern quirky modern pieces.
| by Anonymous | reply 17 | October 10, 2024 12:44 AM
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The house is stunning. The decor is heinous.
| by Anonymous | reply 1 | October 9, 2024 9:42 PM
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Too bad the interior has been ruined and would cost about 1.7 million to restore properly.
| by Anonymous | reply 2 | October 9, 2024 9:47 PM
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Let's see the adjoining apartment.
| by Anonymous | reply 3 | October 9, 2024 9:52 PM
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Beautiful property, godawful art.
| by Anonymous | reply 4 | October 9, 2024 9:53 PM
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I LOVE IT. Except for most of the artwork and “art furniture” which goes away so who cares. It’s seems cheap. Why is it cheap? What’s the upkeep for the gardens?
| by Anonymous | reply 5 | October 9, 2024 10:16 PM
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God. I forgot the "adjoining" premises.
What a fucking mess.
You'd have to spend something near the cost of the place for the inside work. Not worth it. Not with plenty of better properties in EU countries available.
| by Anonymous | reply 6 | October 9, 2024 10:42 PM
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Here's the lesser and much cheaper half:
| by Anonymous | reply 7 | October 9, 2024 10:50 PM
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2 million? Condominiums are priced higher.
| by Anonymous | reply 8 | October 9, 2024 10:56 PM
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I much prefer the main residence to the "west wing." I'd kill for it. But if I'm paying that much, I don't want to share. Who would want this arrangement? The fun of having grand estate is that you have privacy from the rest of the world.
| by Anonymous | reply 9 | October 9, 2024 10:57 PM
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[quote]Too bad the interior has been ruined and would cost about 1.7 million to restore properly.
The main house at OP? Its interior hasn't been ruined; it's been carefully restored and the modern bits introduced in the 1980s -- the bathrooms and kitchen -- made more compatible with the historic architecture. (And the West Wing of the house, for sale at half the price, is largely a later wing that never had the strong character of the Baroque core. It's not clear what you're talking about or where your crazy £1.7M restoration figure comes from.
It's not a house for everyone, obviously, but furniture and art you might not like doesn't mean it's falling apart or was poorly restored.
| by Anonymous | reply 10 | October 9, 2024 10:58 PM
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It might suit siblings who get along really well. It might suit a couple that divorces but wants to raise their kids on just one property. Or perhaps a fancy homo who takes the older part and set up his aging parents, who still entertain a bit, in the wing.
| by Anonymous | reply 11 | October 9, 2024 11:06 PM
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You’d pay that much for a split level in California.
| by Anonymous | reply 12 | October 9, 2024 11:43 PM
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It was on the market for £3 million last year
The fact it's right next to a railway line may explain the problems with selling it...
| by Anonymous | reply 13 | October 9, 2024 11:52 PM
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...as might the fact it's Grade I listed which means any works will be extra-expensive and take an age to get permission for
| by Anonymous | reply 14 | October 9, 2024 11:53 PM
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The exterior could benefit from a good power wash.
| by Anonymous | reply 15 | October 9, 2024 11:55 PM
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It feels like they moved the furnishings of a pop-art modern apartment into an already furnished home. It's wildly cluttered and clashing. I think they may have had another place and they just moved that stuff in here - there's no way anyone would mix these furnishings together on purpose.
The artist clearly needs a storage space for all of this stuff.
Many of the furnishings are fine - BUT it needs a massive edit.
| by Anonymous | reply 16 | October 10, 2024 12:27 AM
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R16 here - I think the argument that they moved in some other apt's furniture holds when you look at the bedrooms which don't have the excessive clutter and clashing pieces.
| by Anonymous | reply 17 | October 10, 2024 12:44 AM
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