Property FOR SALE freehold:


    A historic and substantial townhouse in Sherborne,
    the 'prettiest small town in Dorset'
    - and a potential income of up to £100,000 pa

 
Above left: the first floor living room; above right: the enclosed private courtyard
Below left: the dining room, with arches through to drawing room; below right: the south-facing drawing room.
 

An imposing, substantial and historic townhouse
The Pheasants, the home of Louise and David Weston and their family, is an imposing 300 year old townhouse built in honey-coloured Dorset stone in the heart of Sherborne, one of Britain's most attractive and historic small towns, with its famous Abbey and two castles. Sherborne's train station, an 8 minute walk from The Pheasants, has hourly direct trains to London Waterloo (2 hours 10 minutes).

The Pheasants enjoys a suberb location in the historic centre of Sherborne, but unlike many townhouses also benefits from a garage, and plenty of space: there are 21 rooms including bedrooms and (5) bathrooms, totalling 4,235 sq ft (393.6 sq m)., and the rooms are spacious with high ceilings. The accommodation is very flexible, with additional rooms which could yield a 6th bedroom or offices/studies.

It is an ideal house for entertaining, with three large interconnecting reception rooms on the ground floor, also linking to the very large kitchen/breakfast room and in turn to the south-facing, high-walled courtyard.

Established income potential as a B&B - up to £98,500 per annum
The Pheasants has been run for a number of years as a successful four-star B&B, and retains a premises license, appropriate fire precautions etc. to allow a new owner to offer B&B accommodation; we can supply figures to prospective buyers showing how an income of between £65,000 and £98,500 per annum could be achieved by offering three or four bedrooms to paying guests. An owner can thus achieve an income of as much as 15% of the property value per annum whilst enjoying this substantial property (with 21 rooms in all including bathrooms and cellar) as a family home. The current owners, whilst taking B&B guests, made use of the size and layout of the house by keeping a private kitchen/dining room and a private living room, whilst allowing B&B guests the use of the separate dining room and drawing room.

The Pheasants is now for sale through Knight Frank and Greenslade Taylor Hunt for £650,000 - contact either:

Philip German-Ribon at Knight Frank's Sherborne office (telephone 01935 812236), or
Steve Allen at GTH's Sherborne office (telephone 01935 813577).

See more pictures by clicking here.

For more details about the property, read or download a sales brochure for The Pheasants below:
The Pheasants - Knight Frank Brochure  
(PDF file, 4 pages)

The Pheasants - GTH Brochure  
(PDF file, 6 pages)



Above: the kitchen, on the ground floor of the South Wing (25ft8in x 14ft4in)


360-degree 'VIRTUAL TOUR'


Click the image above to explore using our virtual tour of The Pheasants (this may take a few seconds to load).


   
Above left: our frontage (largest house, left of pic) on ancient Greenhill; above right: our back entrance, on Hospital Lane.
For a location map and directions, go to our how to find us page.




Louise & David Weston, owners



Louise and David Weston bought The Pheasants in Summer 2003 as their family home with James (then 13) and Sophie (11), and found after a couple of years that with 21 rooms (including 6 bedrooms) and 4,200 square feet, there was room enough to share occasionally with a few guests (apart from Christmas and the New Year, half terms and Summer holidays, when the entire house is full of the extended Weston family!), so they offered one or two rooms on a 'B&B' basis, winning 4 stars and a following of regular guests (including one or two well-known names).

Louise & David have written a book, How to Start and Run a B&B, published by How To Books, and now on its second edition and third or fourth printing.

We must thank our guests Nancy and Charles Scholz of Quincy, Illinois for the above photograph, which they took whilst staying at The Pheasants to celebrate their 55th wedding anniversary. Nancy and Charles kindly wrote to us on their return to the USA on the Queen Mary 2, enclosing the photo and some very kind words. Thank you!


Why live in Dorset? And why Sherborne?



Dorset is often called the most beautiful county in England. So many of the country's most glorious treasures are nearby: Stonehenge, the city of Bath, the spectacular "Jurassic Coast", and great historic houses like Montacute (15 minutes from The Pheasants) and Stourhead (20 minutes). And of course Dorset's gentle landscape and lovely market towns in mellow stone were immortalised by Thomas Hardy as the quintessence of England.

Sherborne, "the prettiest small town in Dorset", is a historic and unspoilt town, little changed since it was written about by Thomas Hardy (as Sherton Abbas) and frequently visited by Charles Dickens. No other town can boast one of England's finest Abbeys, a lake and two castles.

Click here for more things to see and do locally.





Sir Walter Raleigh and Sherborne Castle

   
Sherborne was the home of the Elizabethan adventurer Sir Walter Raleigh, who bought the ("old") castle, and built a splendid new hunting lodge in its grounds now known as the "New Castle" (since it only dates from 1597).

Sherborne New Castle is only about 20 minutes' easy and attractive walk from The Pheasants, or a five minute drive. It is set on a beautful lake amidst a deer park lanscaped by "Capability" Brown.







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