Nether Lypiatt Manor is a compact, neo-Classical manor house situated in the parish of Thrupp, near Stroud in Gloucestershire. It was formerly the country home of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent.
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Built in 1702–1705 by an unknown architect for Judge John Coxe, with one wing added in 1923, the small house forms a perfect square of side 46 feet (14 m), with sash windows, tall chimneys, hipped roofs and gate piers and railings. It is a Grade I listed building and has been praised by architectural historian Mark Girouard as perfectly exemplifying the early eighteenth-century formal house in miniature. It comprises four floors, including a tall basement and an attic floor. Inside, much of the early eighteenth-century panelling survives, as do original stone fireplaces. A fine staircase runs from basement to attic.
The house, in 35 acres (14 ha) of grounds, has four reception rooms, eight bedrooms, and four bathrooms.
The grounds have recently been re-developed with a series of new gardens, including a refurbished traditional flower garden in keeping with the original arts and crafts backbone of vistas and hedges.
It is possible that the architecture of Nether Lypiatt Manor was inspiration for the building of the Governor’s Palace, Williamsburg, Virginia, United States of America, built only a few years later.
For many years the manor was used as a farmhouse. Before 1980, when it was bought by Prince and Princess Michael, it had been the home of the well-known harpsichordist Violet Gordon-Woodhouse, who lived there with her husband and three lovers.[1]
In 2005 Nether Lypiatt Manor was put up for sale. The agent was originally asking for offers in excess of £6 million but by February 2006 this had been amended to £5.5 million. According to the Sunday Times it was purchased by the businessman and Labour Life Peer Lord Drayson for £5.75 million.[2]