Read the article
Read the article on the Country Life website, or browse properties available to buy at Flete House, Ivybridge, Devon.
Flete House featured in the news this week, as one of the
Five country houses with glorious open fires to warm up your winter, from £375k to £3.6 million.
The Country Life article features a photo of the stunning fireplace in the listed building. Jump down to more photos of Flete House below.
About Flete House
Audley Flete House retirement village is a stunning Grade I listed country house set within 12 acres of Grade II listed landscaped grounds near Modbury in Devon.
Located in the village of Holbeton, nine miles east of Plymouth by the River Erme, Flete House is nestled in the heart of the South Hams region of southwest Devon. This area boasts some of the most pristine coastline along the South Coast, with the entire shoreline and the lower Avon and Dart Valleys forming a significant part of the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Holbeton is a tranquil village with a population of fewer than 1,000, featuring charming thatched and stone cottages.
Please note that, due to the listed status of Flete House and its picturesque surroundings, there is no swimming pool or health club on-site, and a very limited dining service is available.
The history of Flete House
Flete House is a Grade I listed country house in Holbeton, Devon, originally a Saxon estate held by the Damarell family until the reign of Edward III. Parts of the house date to the 16th century, with substantial rebuilding around 1620 by Sir Charles Hele. The Gothic remodeling by J.C. Bulteel in 1835 replaced earlier classical work with castellations.
In 1861, the arrival of the railway brought Henry Bingham Mildmay, who loved the estate and purchased it, commissioning architect Richard Norman Shaw to remodel and extend it in 1878. The house became a hub for distinguished visitors, including Crown Princess Friedrich Wilhelm and Queen Mary.
During WWII, Flete House served as a maternity hospital, delivering its first baby on July 14, 1941. By 1947, Lord Francis Mildmay, the estate’s owner, had passed, and the hospital closed in 1958. The house returned to the Mildmay family in 1959, operated briefly by the Country House Association, and became luxury retirement apartments when acquired by Audley Group in 2005.
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