WHAT A HOVEL...
There’s no getting around the name of this historic property within its glossy sales brochure. Its official Post Office-registered name is The Hovel, a name that hails from medieval times when it was used to describe farm workers’ homes.
But as England became richer, the term became derogatory and from the early 17th century onwards was used by upwardly mobile metropolitan types to poke fun at their rural brethren in ‘rude or miserable cabins’, as one early dictionary puts it.
This Grade II listed property, which is on Duck Lane in Ludgershall near Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, is believed to be the last original hovel in the UK and is mentioned indirectly within the Domesday Book.
Its peasant residents in medieval times would be shocked to learn that their two-room home is now on the market at 14 times the UK average income, or £400,000.
The Hovel has been upgraded a little since the Domesday Book, to be fair. A bedroom, kitchen and bathroom have been added, along with most modern conveniences.
“I purchased the house 12 years ago and it was the fact it was so old and unlike any of the other houses I had looked at that attracted me,” the vendor says. “It retains a wealth of really beautiful and very unusual features such as undulating oak beams, wattle and daub ceilings, and a lovely little inglenook fireplace in the living room. It really is a beautiful home.”
The Hovel is being marketed by agent Michael Graham via OnTheMarket.com