If you’ve got a few million dollars to spend and the urge to know how it feels to live like a royal, then this real estate sale might be worth your interest. The Old House, the country estate where Princess Margaret resided with her ex-husband Antony Armstrong-Jones, otherwise known as Lord Snowdon, is currently up for sale. The 4,195 square foot property resides in Staplefield in the county of West Sussex, about 38 miles down south of central London, and boasts a modernised house and grounds. It has six bedrooms, a pool house, and outbuildings all in a mix of Tudor and Georgian styles. The estate was passed down through the family for four generations, according to John Hilary’s 2021 book, “From Refugees to Royalty: The Remarkable Story of the Messel Family of Nymans.” The abode was inherited by Armstrong Jones after he received it from his uncle, interior designer Oliver Messel in 1958 as a gift celebrating his marriage to Margaret. The house was part of the Nymans’ country estate, which was purchased by Ludwig Messel, a wealthy scion of a German Jewish banking family in the 1890s. The house is currently listed with Blue Book Agency for £3.95 million (about $5.3 million).
Where the royals lived…
Rolling Stones muse Bianca Jagger, Sir Evelyn de Rothschild and fashion designer Issey Miyake were all here once.
“Princess Margaret was very ‘royal’ and loved the pomp and ceremony of living at Kensington Palace rather than the understated charm of the Old House,” said current owner Amanda Walsh to The Wall Street Journal. During its time as a royal abode, the house played host to both royals and glitterati during the royal wedding. Rolling Stones muse Bianca Jagger, Sir Evelyn de Rothschild and fashion designer Issey Miyake were all here once. “It was a mad place, but it was a very happy one,” said Lord Snowdon in a 2003 interview with Hello! magazine. In the 197-s when the couple divorced, he moved out of Kensington Palace and into the Old House. He said he decided to sell the house because he found the journey back and forth from London onerous and he couldn’t justify maintaining it for occasional visits. After him, the house was owned by a British couple who were close friends with Walsh, now 70 and her late husband, Brian Stewart. Then, the couple bought the house in 2005. Walsh and Stewart converted the attic into two extra bedrooms and a bathroom. They replaced some chintz decor with monochrome and put up Stewart’s collection of photographs and restored the 5.5-acre garden. But Stewart passed away two years ago, and Walsh decided to move to London to be close to family and friends. According to Vanity Fair, by the mid 1960s, receiving an invitation to stay at the Old House had become one of the most coveted privileges in British high society. More than a home, the place established itself as a gathering place. “There are country houses, and then there are those that become part of national history. The Old House undeniably belongs to the latter category. … It was a place where members of the royal family mingled with artists, actors, writers, and creators, and where some of the most influential figures of the 20th century gathered in an intimate setting. Very few estates can truly claim to have been the setting for such a remarkable chapter in British cultural history,” said Blue Book director Theo James-Wright and the listing agent of the house, to the outlet. “There are country houses, and then there are those that become part of national history. The Old House undeniably belongs to the latter category,” he added.
