Strange house - ransacked and graves!

[Woollypullover]

Currently looking at houses in this area and have come across this place. Why do you think it's so messy? Is this just delapidation or has it been maybe burgled? I don't think I can live with graves in the garden. Seems very spooky but was probably a very nice house at some point. Very old.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/150025598#/?channel=RES_BUY

No longer looking 'ransacked' as the rooms have all been cleared in the new photos

Can really see what a beautiful old building it is now

Worth another look

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/150025598#/?channel=RES_BUY

I too find it a bit unsettling, despite being a fascinating house.

I wonder who is buried with Ida in the garden. It is not Blair (her partner at the house), Don (her last partner) nor her daughter, Kristin.
I really hope someone can restore this house to its former glory

Would be interesting to see how much this would go for at auction. A grade II* renovation is not to be sniffed at, neither cost nor time. This place is in a terrible location, and has a terrible layout, and that would stay the same after the renovation.

It’s beautiful and restored, with a huge amount of money, it would be amazing.

Definitely haunted though 😉

I've found out info from locals.

Ida, her partner Don (who died in a fire at the house) and her daughter Kristin are buried there.

Apparently all of the toys are still in the shop and they're seeking a buyer.

God no!!

I thought I read somewhere that Don died in Canada, or at least the Don Nevard who died in Canada came from England and was the right age but I was very sleep deprived when falling down the rabbit hole!
The more I read about Ida and her daughter the more I realise what fascinating, strong women they were. It would be lovely if they were laid to rest together at the house.

According to some locals, Don died in the living room in the house, in a fire. Sounds horrible, poor man. His piano's still there, by the looks of the pictures.

Blair, Ida's first husband, cheated on her all of the time. He left her at the house and went to London 'for work', but really he had lots of affairs.

I wonder if Kristin was staying at this house when she designed Humpty for Play School!

They also said that Ida threw lovely parties. The poet laureate Cecil Day-Lewis and his young son Daniel were regularly there, apparently.

@Woollypullover you are getting sucked in. Have you viewed it ?

It's a stunning house but you'd probably have to spend as much again on getting it brought to liveable standards. Worth a view to see how noisy the road behind it is?

Graves in the garden wouldn't necessarily bother me if they were screened off in an area like a spinney - and nowhere near the water pipes!

I live down the road from this absolutely magical toyshop (she has died but they are trying to find buyers for the shop). My children adored it and she was wonderful.

I am getting sucked in, but no, I couldn't afford to do the house up. The land it has just be lovely though.

"Kristin’s mother was the poet Ida Graves, her father the artist Blair Hughes Stanton. The couple were key figures in Bloomsbury Group of the 1920s and 1930s, and she spent her childhood surrounded by renowned artists and writers"

I thought Bloomsbury group too and there it is in this article www.sallyreaderminiatures.co.uk/page_4764428

Thank you for linking to this. Really enjoyable.

Until I read, 'You don't see children of different ages playing together outdoors like they used to." It hadn't crossed my mind but it's certainly true where I live.

I've shared a link to the estate agents listing of the toy shop if you're keen to see, it's further down the thread.