James Ashby selling Tudor farmhouse near Winchester for £2m

When James Ashby purchased the 16th century home there was a tree growing in the kitchen and nettles were coming through the upstairs floors.

Now, 32 years on, Mr Ashby is poised to sell the Grade II listed house for £1.95m – that’s a 10,733 per cent rise in value.

When Mr Ashby, 71, bought the dilapidated Mays Farmhouse in Longwood, near Winchester, it had not been lived in for 20 years. The thatched roof was full of holes and the walls had partially collapsed.

Built about 1550, it is one of the oldest houses in the county.

Mr Ashby said: “When I bought the house there was more thatch coming off the roof than on it, nettles growing on the bedroom floors and a 12ft tree growing in the kitchen.”

Mr Ashby, who has been in the renovating business since 1964, spent years restoring and extending the house and its barn into a seven-bedroom, five-bathroom property with a function room and almost one and a half acres of garden.

It was two years before he and his family, including three children, could move into the property in 1980. He is unsure exactly how much he has spent on it.

He said: “We have virtually doubled the size of the house and we spent an enormous amount of money on the place but as I’m in the business I knew the tricks of the trade and where to save money.”

Mr Ashby, who owns renovating company Ashby Heritage Development Ltd, has a history of turning old buildings into sought-after homes. In 1970, he revamped the oldest building in Winchester, the Blue Boar Inn on the corner of St John’s Street and Blue Ball Hill, which was built in 1340.

Mr Ashby said Mays Farmhouse would be attractive for commuters. He said: “We have had a number of people interested since we started offering the house on its own, and much of it is from London.

“It is an ideal location for commuting to London. It is close to Shawford railway station where you don’t have to pay to park.”

Mr Ashby plans to move to Edinburgh to be closer to family friends, but he will still make regular visits to Winchester for work.

Phillip Blanchard, director of Jackson-Stops and Staff, the estate agents responsible for selling the property said: “It’s a great location in a wonderful spot. It would be a good place for commuters and there are schools nearby for children.”

When the house was built...

When Mays Farmhouse was built in the 1550s:
■ England had four monarchs. Edward VI, Lady Jane Grey, Mary I and Elizabeth I.
■ Queen Mary married Phillip of Spain in Winchester Cathedral in 1554.
■ Winchester Castle was given to the city.
■ Small outbreaks of the plague occur across Hampshire in 1554 and 1558.