Evelyn Waugh’s Charming English Country Home Hits the Market for $7.8 Million
Set on 35 rolling acres, the landmarked Georgian manor has been lovingly restored by its current owners
The picturesque English country retreat once owned by famed novelist Evelyn Waugh has hit the market for $7.8 million. Set on 35 rolling acres in bucolic Somerset, a three-hour drive from London, the landmarked Combe Florey House dates to the 17th century and was revamped in 1730 by former owner William Frauncies. Waugh, known for novels such as Brideshead Revisited and Scoop, acquired the three-story manor and its multiple outbuildings in 1956 for use as a family compound. After he passed away a decade later, the red sandstone estate remained with the Waughs, who sold it to the current owners in 2008.
Despite a meticulous update in the intervening years, the interiors of the 12-bedroom dwelling have retained their historic charm, with intricate ceiling moldings, paneling, fireplaces, and floors all being original or restored. In addition to the 16,200-square-foot main house, the sprawling property comes with a three-bedroom keeper’s cottage, an entertaining pavilion, and heated pool—not to mention a trio of walled gardens, tennis court, and lake.
For his part, Waugh reminisced in the Daily Mail about the charming residence, calling it “a handsome 18th-century building of impressively large size… Approached through a 16th-century gatehouse, its grandeur belied the straitened circumstances in which the family had been placed by my father’s extravagant expenditure over the years.”
The home is listed with Oliver Custance Baker of Strutt & Parker. See more photos below.
