Explored with stranton, The Wombat and a non-member
History
The enormous property, constructed with a tennis court, swimming pool and spiral staircase, was built in 1966 by Patrick Loyd after he had inherited a ‘large sum of money’ from his grandfather. At the time he was a student at the Royal Agricultural University in Cirencester, and spent around eight years working the surrounding land as an arable and beef farmer. He moved into the property aged just 24 and stayed there with his wife and three children until 1974, at which time he left the UK for Guernsey for ‘tax reasons’. Hidden away from the main road in Market Harborough, Leicestershire, the house overlooks the River Jordan away from the public gaze. Mr Loyd paid £150,000 for it to be built - more than 30 times the price of an average property at the time, which was around £4,000. After the Loyd family left, the property was inhabited by a Mrs Leslie before briefly being used as offices for commercial businesses. The site has since been purchased by Careys Homes who plan to turn Overstone House into 50 new homes. The mansion lies on an ancient site where excavations have uncovered a Neolithic tool resembling a knife. Many more discoveries have been made on the site showing evidence of Bronze Age and Roman activity - with pottery, coins, metal objects and glass were all being recovered in archaeological excavations.
Since this visit the property has been demolished to make room for 50 new homes
Explore
This was our first visit on the day, and only above ground. The place was absolutely trashed, even the garden walls had been smashed.
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And now, time for a game of tennis
Cheers for Looking
History
The enormous property, constructed with a tennis court, swimming pool and spiral staircase, was built in 1966 by Patrick Loyd after he had inherited a ‘large sum of money’ from his grandfather. At the time he was a student at the Royal Agricultural University in Cirencester, and spent around eight years working the surrounding land as an arable and beef farmer. He moved into the property aged just 24 and stayed there with his wife and three children until 1974, at which time he left the UK for Guernsey for ‘tax reasons’. Hidden away from the main road in Market Harborough, Leicestershire, the house overlooks the River Jordan away from the public gaze. Mr Loyd paid £150,000 for it to be built - more than 30 times the price of an average property at the time, which was around £4,000. After the Loyd family left, the property was inhabited by a Mrs Leslie before briefly being used as offices for commercial businesses. The site has since been purchased by Careys Homes who plan to turn Overstone House into 50 new homes. The mansion lies on an ancient site where excavations have uncovered a Neolithic tool resembling a knife. Many more discoveries have been made on the site showing evidence of Bronze Age and Roman activity - with pottery, coins, metal objects and glass were all being recovered in archaeological excavations.
Since this visit the property has been demolished to make room for 50 new homes
Explore
This was our first visit on the day, and only above ground. The place was absolutely trashed, even the garden walls had been smashed.
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)
(9)
(10)
(11)
(12)
(13)
(14)
(15)
(16)
(17)
(18)
(19)
(20)
(21)
And now, time for a game of tennis
Cheers for Looking
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