Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon’s Former Country Retreat Lists for £4M

Location: Old House, Staplefield, West Sussex, England

Price: £3,950,000

Year Built: 1481

Footprint: 4,195 square feet (6 beds, 4.5 baths)

Lot Size: 5.52 acres

From the Agent: "For the first time in its history, the Old House in Staplefield, West Sussex, the former country retreat of Antony Armstrong-Jones, Earl Snowdon and, during their marriage, HRH Princess Margaret, is being publicly offered for sale for £3.95 million.

Dating back to 1481 and set within 5.52 acres of gardens and grounds, the Old House has been shaped and expanded over more than five centuries. Today, the house retains elements from several periods of its history, including Tudor beams and fireplaces, Georgian paneling and bay windows, alongside later alterations made by the current owners over the last 20 years.

Situated on the historic Nymans estate, the Old House was part of the world created by the German-born financier and horticultural enthusiast Ludwig Messel, who transformed Nymans into a renowned Arts and Crafts landscape after acquiring it in 1890. In 1958, Ludwig’s grandson, the celebrated stage designer Oliver Messel, gifted the Old House to his nephew Earl Snowdon shortly before his marriage to Princess Margaret in 1960.

At the time, the house was charming but relatively neglected, with a crumbling roof and no electricity or toilet. Over the following decades, Snowdon transformed the house and grounds into a country retreat away from the glare of public life.

By the mid-1960s, weekends at the Old House drew a remarkable cross section of postwar cultural figures. Guests over the years included Peter Sellers, Sir John Mills, Dame Margot Fonteyn, Bianca Jagger, Sir Evelyn de Rothschild, Kenneth Tynan, Issey Miyake, and Edna O'Brien, along with members of the royal family.

Traces of Snowdon’s imagination and playful eye for design remain throughout the property, including the bow windows he introduced to the Georgian wing and the raised gallery stage level above the open kitchen. Upstairs, one bathroom survives largely as Snowdon left it, its walls lined with original newspaper cuttings chronicling royal scandals, society intrigue, and major events from the early twentieth century, interspersed with family photographs and personal mementos.

Elsewhere, his former photographic darkroom survives as a library, while hidden within the grounds is a whimsical folly incorporating a balcony salvaged from Ascot Racecourse’s Royal Box during refurbishment works in the 1960s. The lake was one of Snowdon’s most ambitious projects and became one of the defining features of the estate.

The entrance hall has been opened up to reveal original Tudor windows, exposed timbers, and a gallery above, while the principal rooms include a double reception room overlooking the gardens and a paneled Georgian sitting room. The family kitchen, centered around an Aga cooker, opens directly onto terraces with views across the grounds and Snowdon’s lake beyond.

The principal house has six bedrooms, with additional guest accommodation in a separate pool house. Other structures include a garden office, library, tractor shed, stores, and a traditional vardo. Across the grounds are formal gardens, water features, a rill running toward the lake, bridges, stepping stones, and an island pavilion.

Despite its extraordinary provenance, the Old House has never previously been publicly marketed. Lord Snowdon sold the property privately in 2003 and the current owners acquired it off-market in 2005. More than two decades later, this represents the first opportunity for the wider market to acquire one of the U.K.’s most significant private homes."