Jacob Rees-Mogg’s former family home is up for sale with a £2.75 million price tag. The Rees-Mogg family moved in to the idyllic country spread in Somerset in 1978, giving the future Tory MP and cabinet minister a lavish home to grow up in.
The eight-bedroom property in the picture postcard village of Hinton Blewett, has also more recently been home to om Alexander, the CEO of Orange and T-mobile and the founder of Virgin Mobile. He lived at the Grade II Listed property for 20 years, even renting it out for a year to Irish pop band The Corrs.
The Old Rectory is only five miles away from Bath and Bristol, with Bristol International Airport just around 10 miles away. The property has been renovated over the years, with the current owners spending around £750,000.
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Plumbing, alarm systems, cellars and gutters have all had upgrades to keep them up and running efficiently. The previous owners have also added in lavish extras throughout the property.
New bathrooms have been put in place along with a heated indoor pool and two new two-bed apartments. The L-shaped pool stretches seven metres, reaching a depth of 1.2 metres. It includes an electric retractable cover, toilets, changing rooms, Wi-Fi speakers and even a mirrored ceiling.
The Georgian period house also has six bathrooms, four to five reception rooms and both a kitchen and pastry kitchen. Along with the two new two-bed apartments on the top floor, there is another two-bed luxury self-contained apartment in the former coach house.
Most of the rectory is 18th century but there are medieval parts too, including the beamed and panelled dining room. A letter written by Lord William Rees Mogg, Jacob's father, in 1998 explained the historical significance of the property.
He wrote: “The living at Hinton Blewett belonged in the Middle Ages to the Abbey at Bristol which, at the time of the dissolution of the monasteries, was turned into the Cathedral. Although the garden walls of the Rectory have been rebuilt, they seem originally to have been medieval.
“You will find that we repeated a gothic arch which had been built into a part of the wall which was falling down. In a previous owners' time, a medieval gold coin was found in a flower bed.
“I think there is a medieval priests house built somewhere inside the building and contain(ed in) the present dining room.”
The panelling in this room was copied in the 1990's in George I style.
Heading outside you’ll find a walled courtyard and a large walled garden that surrounds the house, offering a high level of privacy. For the current owners it was a dream come true to find the property.
They said: "It was the massive, beautiful Georgian windows that I first fell in love with, but this property has so many incredible features it was hard to take it all in.
“The Georgian grandeur is evident in the seven original fireplaces, high ceilings, sweeping staircases and panelling in the dining room, the oldest part of the house. Then there is the walled gardens - I just felt this home was perfect."
The owners are sad to part with their beloved home. They added: "I will probably miss most the huge sacred Yew tree that sits outside my office window and casts shade in heatwaves, I'm sure my two goldies will miss it too.
“I will also miss my kitchen; it is a traditional kitchen with a massive Aga set into a fireplace, it's where we gather when we have friends around. We have made some wonderful friends here too, and we know they will make the new owners feel as welcome as they have us."
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