A medieval parsonage that’s a ‘fantasy mash-up of architectural styles’, just down the road from a swish Somerset hotspot

The property market in large parts of the West Country last year was, in the words of Ashley Rawlings from the Savills office in Wimborne, Dorset, ‘a bit of a damp squib’. Yet, if activity in the first weeks of January foretells what lies ahead this year, the pace of transactions should start to gather speed. ‘There is some cautious optimism around,’ reports James Toogood, who specialises in the sale of premium properties across the South and South-West for Savills. His team has already agreed sales within Devon and Cornwall for properties not openly advertised, at or in excess of their guide prices. ‘Buying agents tell me that their clients are no longer sitting tight, too. It’s a sign of good things to come,’ he believes.

With this new-found spring in their step, Savills have launched Tintinhull Court, a Grade I-listed house in the village of Tintinhull, near Yeovil in Somerset, for £1.895 million. It has already garnered a ‘good bit of interest’ from would-be buyers, says Mr Rawlings, who is handling the sale.

Standing beside St Margaret’s church — described by former Country Life Architectural Editor Marcus Binney as ‘a glorious medieval church’ — the charm of the house can be found in its range of features from different historic periods.

It’s fascinating, like a sort of fantasy mash-up of archtirectural styles. Originally built as a parsonage, there are medieval corner buttresses, Tudor battlements, a nail-studded Elizabethan front door, some 17th-century panelling and, in the dining room, a stone fireplace with a vast 10ft-wide hearth that is perfect for accommodating a spit roast.

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