Do you dream of being the star of your own Jane Austen novel? Imagine sauntering around in a picturesque romantic setting, anxiously awaiting a love letter from a nobleman. Well, you’re in luck. The Austen family’s Steventon House in Hampshire is now up for sale, making this fantasy a tangible possibility. With a guide price of almost $10.5 million, the property is listed with Savills, one of the world’s top property advisors.
The present Grade II-listed Georgian house is situated on 51.64 acres of land and was built in the early 19th century by Jane Austen’s elder brother, Edward. Jane was born in the original Steventon house, which stood elsewhere on the estate, and resided there from 1775 to 1801. During her time in Hampshire, Austen composed many of her greatest works, including Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), and Northanger Abbey (1817). Following her father’s retirement as a village rector for over 40 years, he relocated his family to Bath, England.
“Steventon House was the birthplace of the iconic author Jane Austen… The current glorious Georgian vision of her elder brother Edward stands in place of the original house, and is very fitting of the world that Jane wrote about,” remarked Ed Sugden, director of Savills country department. Sugden believes that the sale represents one of the “rarest opportunities to reside in one of Hampshire’s, if not the United Kingdom’s most significant country houses,” according to Tatler.
With just one glimpse of the property, one can instantly see the influence of Austen’s settings. The estate is surrounded by lush green forests, while charming gardens featuring cherry trees are lined with trimmed shrubbery. The rolling hills of the estate appear to stretch on indefinitely.
Inside the home, you’ll find six refurbished bedrooms, four bathrooms, and four reception areas. The period in which the house was built is evident in the ornately-carved fireplaces, high ceilings, intricate cornices, and hardwood floors. Modernity shines through in the modern kitchen appliances and temperature-controlled wine cellar. Outdoors, you’ll also find a heated swimming pool, kitchen garden, tennis courts, a coach house, and a two-bedroom cottage.
The countryside is frequently spoken of with pleasure in Jane Austen’s novels. Mr. Bingley in Pride and Prejudice (1813) says, “When I am in the country, I never wish to leave it.” In Mansfield Park (1814), Fanny Price describes Mr. Grant’s garden with complete admiration. “The evergreen! How beautiful, how welcome, how wonderful the evergreen! When one thinks of it, how astonishing the variety of nature is! In some countries, we know the tree that sheds its leaf is the variety, but that does not make it less amazing that the same soil and the same sun should nurture plants differing in the first rule and law of their existence.”
Given the beauty of the countryside and house, it’s easy to see why Austen loved where she lived.
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