About The Pheasants

 
Above: the south-facing drawing room is a tranquil and elegant, high-ceilinged room with working fireplace (19ft10in x 16ft8in)

The Pheasants ‘bed and breakfast’ is an imposing 300 year old ‘Dorset stone’ town house in the centre of historic Sherborne, Dorset, just 100 yards from the picturesque Cheap Street. It is a Grade II Listed Building of "architectural and historical importance".

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The Pheasants is the home of David & Louise Weston and their family, and is now for sale through Knight Frank for £695,000 - contact Philip German-Ribon at Knight Frank's Sherborne office (telephone 01935 812236).

 
Above left: our south-facing courtyard and ancient south wing in Summer;
above right: the 4th reception room (bar) with a warming open fire in Winter.



"Pheasantalia..."

 


No one seems to know why the house was named "The Pheasants" in the first place, but in more recent years one or two decorative items have somehow grown into a small collection of what someone christened "Pheasantalia". Pheasant postage stamps from China vie with (school of) Warhol amongst the quirkiest items you may spot. A recent guest (a well-known film actress) wrote that she had had "a very pheasant stay". Maybe it is catching...




History

The Pheasants dates back about 300 years. We have started to trace back its history, but only have documentary evidence about the owners from 1876, when the then owner Louise Aubrey Craufurd died, and the property was sold for £600 To Robert James Duncan, the Rector of Beer Hackett, a small village 4 miles South-West of Sherborne. The house passed through several members of the Duncan family until 1937, when Sherborne Rural District Council bought the building (then called "Silver Heys") for £850, and used it as council offices. What was then the Sherborne Town Council Chamber has now been divided to form the Peach Room (Sophie's bedroom) and David & Louise's dressing room. The Council (by then West Dorset District Council) sold the building in the 1970s, when it became a small hotel. It was reconverted back to a family home in the early years of the present century.

We were fascinated to discover that in the 61 years from 1876 to 1937, the property only gained £250 in value - property price inflation of well under 1% a year! The Pheasants has gained in value by nearly 60,000% in the 66 years since 1937, compared with the 42% it gained in the 61 years before. A lesson in the economic history of Britain!


Above: the handwritten, wax-sealed parchment from 1937 selling The Pheasants for £850 to Sherborne Town Council; below is the original advertisement for the sale.



The Pheasants is a Grade II listed historic building, built of Dorset stone with walls over three feet thick. We have yet to find a straight line in the house, but the stone roof of the South wing (to the right facing the door onto Hospital Lane) is particularly eccentric!



High up on the South Wing a stonemason has carved his initials – T.V. – and the date: 1776.



Contact us for more information or to make a booking.