A 300-YEAR-OLD manor house described as having “the finest view in England” is up for rent to those who can foot the £3m renovation bill.

Woodstock House, the largest private residence on the 2,000-acre Blenheim estate in Woodstock, was put on the market this week by property consultants Carter Jonas.

Prospective tenants would sign a 20-year lease initially, on the understanding they would refurbish the property in exchange for either discounted or no rent for an agreed number of years.

The deal could work out at someone paying £12,500 a month for the historic house.

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Mark Charter, of the Oxford branch of Carter Jonas, said: “It gives them the opportunity to refurbish and present the house to their liking and specification.

“The retail value could be in the order of £25,000 per month once it’s done.”

Woodstock House was built in the early 1700s by a London goldsmith John Morse.

It was gifted to a friend Walter Pryse in 1737 and remained in the Pryse family until the 1850s when it was acquired by Blenheim Palace trustees. Since then it has functioned as a care home, which closed in February.

It was the stunning vista from the western site of the property, looking out over Blenheim Park’s Grand Bridge designed by Sir John Vanbrugh, that prompted Winston Churchill’s mother Lady Randolph Churchill to declare it “the finest view in England”.

 

Oxford Mail:

  • The view from Woodstock House towards the Grand Bridge, described by Lady Churchill as the finest in England

 

Set in 3.5 acres of gardens, the house boasts a grand hall, four reception rooms, eight bedroom suites, cellars, coach house and stable block.

Original Georgian features that cannot be changed by prospective tenants include the 12-pane sash windows, galleried staircase hall, flagstone flooring and panelling.

Planning permission and listed building consent was granted last November for the addition of an indoor pool and leisure complex, and extending the rear of the house for an open-plan kitchen.

Upper Heyford-based firm Nick Cox architects drew up the plans for restoration, but were unable to comment further. Woodstock town councillor Colin Carritt said: “At one time we thought it might have been a hotel, which might have been useful. But I’m sure it will be an extremely nice place. Blenheim has a large property portfolio and whenever their properties are done up they’re done extremely nicely.”

A great deal of the approximate £3m needed will go towards plumbing, rewiring, landscaping the gardens and other necessary alterations.



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