STATUS: GRADE II*
For Sale: £800,000
Can you rescue this beautiful house and make it a family home?
Wincanton, Pevsner says, is home to some handsome stone houses. Balsam House is no exception. Yet despite its good looks and great age, the house which lies at the end of a tree lined driveway, has been vacant for some years and is now being offered as a fantastic opportunity on the open market.
Located just off the high street of lovely Wincanton, Balsam House is a Jacobean property with two wings to either side of a narrow courtyard. The house dates to the late sixteenth or early seventeenth centuries and is set amidst large, mature gardens. It was built in local stone and the design boasts gables and mullioned windows. On the south side, a two-storey gabled porch projects from the building, an entrance is made through a semi circular arch.
Nathaniel Ireson, a very well regarded local architect, made alterations to the inside of the house in the eighteenth century but these were probably removed in the 1930s by the then owners whose coat of arms remains on the exterior. Ireson’s influence now remains solely in the separately listed garden walls outside, themselves a wonderful feature.
The house has lain empty for several years. It was boarded up but the vandals continued to affect the property and a lack of maintenance is now clearly evident. An urgent works notice was issued but sadly had little effect. The house has been further blighted by a previous owner and property developer who sold off much of the land, the positive side however is that the house has been left with a far more manageable 1.4 acres.
Balsam House is crying out for one lovely family who will bring the property back into use as a single residence (sub-division is not a satisfactory solution). Heaps of character and several outbuildings combine together to make the restoration of this house a very exciting possibility.
For further information: Agents
Stags
4/6 Park Road
Yeovil
Somerset
BA20 1DZ
Tel. 01935 475000
For further information: Planning Authority
Historic Buildings Advisor
Development and Building Control
South Somerset District Council
Brympton Way
Yeovil
Somerset
BA20 2HT
Tel. 01935 462648
This property is only one of about 800 entries in our Buildings at Risk register.
Go to the BaR-Register
