The Old Rectory Old Rectory Mews, Poole

Currently generating significant rental income per annum, this 400-year old Jacobean mansion house extends to 4,135 sq.ft. and has been lovingly restored by the current owners of 26 years. It offers stylish, period living with a contemporary twist, and a wealth of original 17th century and Victorian features. Situated in private grounds of about half an acre encompassing a separate, modern one-bedroom annexe ideal for independent accommodation.

As a Grade 2*, it is in the top 6% of the most historically significant listed buildings in the country, few remain in private residential ownership. Built by Henry Carew, a prominent Catholic family in the 17th century, evidence of the priest hole remains, used to hide priests when they were persecuted by law and more recently for endless games of hide and seek! It is documented that during the Civil War and the siege on Corfe Castle to have housed the Roundheads and visited by Oliver Cromwell, later in the Napoleonic Wars it was home to the Southern Command and hosted the Duke of Wellington.   

The Manor at Higher Ham, as it was then known, passed to the ownership of Lord Wimborne as part of the Canford Estate, it is believed carved panels from the original staircase were removed and used in the building of Canford Manor, now Canford School. In the 19th century Lord Wimborne gifted it to the church and it became known as The Rectory. Adaptations to the staircase and inglenook fireplace and many of the Victorian features were added at this time.  The Old Rectory really will capture your imagination and heart as it reveals itself. From the hidden glimpses as you approach, you cross the threshold of the arched porch and huge Gothic door, that open to a surprisingly light filled dining hall with galleried oak staircase and original flagstone floor. The house has been sympathetically updated and restored; the bespoke English Oak kitchen, hand made and finished in Little Greene paint complement the period oak windows, many still glazed with hand poured glass.

It offers huge potential and versatile accommodation over its three floors for those looking for a stunning family home, home and income, live work space, to accommodate a relative or as a film set!

The grounds are mainly laid to lawn with shrubs and mature trees, a pair of protected Limes and a magnificent Weeping Ash skirt a natural wildflower habitat, encouraged to home several rescue hedgehogs. The gravel drive leads to a large parking area and garage with double doors. A further garage / workshop to the rear of the property is accessed from the library lane, ideal for the boating enthusiasts seeking accessible storage. To the rear of the house there is a large paved terrace for entertaining and beyond that a walled kitchen garden with raised vegetable beds and an apple tree, previously free range chickens have securely roamed.