A country house at Sellack, near Ross-on-Wye, with 12th and 17th century origins and previously a seat of the Viscounts Scudamore, goes under the hammer next month with a guide price of £1.75 million.
The partially restored Caradoc Court is reputedly built on the site of a former fortress and is sold with 15.07 acres and planning permission for six detached houses by joint agents Thompsons and Knight Frank.
Although a private residence, there was previous planning consent, now lapsed, for a health and leisure complex.
The property was substantially re-modelled in the mid 19th century to create the Jacobean-style house with its Dutch gables, and to landscape the gardens and grounds to include a stone balustraded terrace and a series of stone gate pillars with pineapple surmounts.
A large part of the house was destroyed by fire in 1986 and the once-grand property stood derelict for several years before being bought by the current owners in 1991. They have been painstakingly restoring the property with two thirds now complete.
The agents say the house provides a superb opportunity to complete the restoration and there may also be scope to divide it subject to necessary planning consent.
Restored as one house, the layout is logically divided into three sections – east, west and central wings with a self contained flat above a double garage adjoining the east wing. The east wing has been fully restored, the central wing has been structurally completed but is in need of further work and the west wing is still a ruin.
The house has extensive gardens and grounds along with the building land which has planning consent for the six houses. Planning clauses require work to the main house to be carried out to a certain degree before any building work can start on the new houses. Work on the main house still needs to be completed.
The agents say: “Informal correspondence with the planning authority indicates that they may be sympathetic to a division of the house or a change of use subject to the necessary consents.” The vendors may also sell the property before the auction.
The public auction will be at The Left Bank Village, Bridge Street, Hereford at 3pm on Wednesday, July 2.
