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Jane Austen's Family Home in Hampshire is For Sale

steventon home jane austen
Jane Austen's Family Home is Now on SaleCourtesy of Savills

Ever fantasize about being the protagonist of a Jane Austen novel? To flounce around melodramatically in a romantic setting while you await a love letter from an aristocrat? The possibility has just become greater as the Austen family's Steventon House in Hampshire is now for sale. With a guide price of nearly $10.5 million, the house is listed via Savills, one of the world's leading companies for property advisors.

jane austen home
The current home still has period elements which include ornately-carved fireplaces, high ceilings, intricate cornices, and hardwood floors.Courtesy of Savills

The current Grade II-listed Georgian house sits on 51.64 acres of land and was built in the early 19th century by Jane Austen's older brother, Edward. Jane was born in the original Steventon house, which was located elsewhere on the property, and lived there from 1775 to 1801. Many of Austen's greatest works were written during her time living in Hampshire: Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), and Northanger Abbey (1817) to name a few. When Jane's father retired from being a village rector for over 40 years, he moved his family to Bath, England.

jane austen steventon house
Georgian house sits on 51.64 acres of land and was built in the early 19th century by Jane Austen’s older brother, Edward. Courtesy of Savills

"Steventon House was the birthplace of iconic author Jane Austen… While the original house no longer stands, what is there today is the glorious Georgian vision of her older brother Edward, which is very befitting of the world that Jane wrote about," Ed Sugden, director of Savills country department said. According to Tatler, Sugden considers the sale as one of the "rarest opportunities to live in one of Hampshire's, if not the United Kingdom's most significant country houses."

circa 1790 english author jane austen 1775 1817 photo by stock montagestock montagegetty images
Portrait of Jane Austen Circa 1790. Stock Montage

With one look at the property and the influence of her novels' setting is clear. Lush green forests cocoon the home, while charming gardens adorned with cherry trees are outlined with trimmed shrubbery. The rolling hills of the property seem ceaseless.

Inside the current home, one may find six refurbished bedrooms, four bathrooms, and four reception areas. Echos of the period that it was built in manifest into ornately-carved fireplaces, high ceilings, intricate cornices, and hardwood floors, but modernity finds itself primarily in the modern kitchen amenities and a temperature-controlled wine cellar. Outside, there is also a heated swimming pool, kitchen garden, tennis courts, a coach house, and a two-bedroom cottage.

circa 1920 the old manor house, steventon, home of novelist jane austen 1770 1817 photo by hulton archivegetty images
The Old Manor House, Steventon, home of novelist Jane Austen (1770 - 1817). Hulton Archive

Within Jane Austen's novels, the countryside is often spoken about with delight. In Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mr. Bingley says, " When I am in the country, I never wish to leave it." In Mansfield Park (1814), Fanny Price describes Mr. Grants Garden with absolute 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 recurring themes of the country setting and the house in which they were forged, it seems fair to assume that some of the sentiments of these novel protagonists may also have been felt by their creator.

For more information on the house, please visit Savills.co.uk and see the property assets here.

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