Cruella’s country bolthole
IT’S difficult to believe that someone could look at this idyllic property with commanding views across the Essex countryside and think of the name ‘Hell Hall’. Yet this house, actually called Greys Hall, was indeed the inspiration for the ramshackle country pile of Cruella de Vil, the villain of the 1956 novel The Hundred And One Dalmatians.
The book’s author, Dodie Smith, lived in the nearby village of Finchingfield and was taken by the idea of Greys Hall as the home of the sinister Cruella.
Smith, who died in 1990 at the age of f 94, was inspired to write the timeless s tale by her own dalmatian pup Pongo, who o makes it into the book as the father of f the brood of dogs menaced at Hell Hall l by cunning Cruella.
If the thought of living in a villain’s lair is s too much, take heart; by the end of the book the doggy family, along with their human owners the Dearlys, move into the house and turn it from tumbledown terror to a very desirable residence… which is more the feel that the house has today.
‘I’ve never owned dalmatians,’ says owner Karl Rolewicz, who is downsizing. ‘But the previous owners before us did.’
Greys Hall, in Sible Hedingham, is on the market with Essex Heritage for £925,000.
Mr Rolewicz, an art dealer, discovered the property’s literary heritage when his family were buying it 14 years ago, and sought out the Janet and Anne Grahame Johnstone illustrations which accompanied the first edition of the book and which quite clearly show Greys Hall, both as Cruella’s lair and afterwards, spruced up by the Dearly family. The house has been turned around, as it were, in that the frontage depicted in those illustrations is now the back of the property, with the main access to what was the rear.
The history of the house, says Mr Rolewicz, goes back much further than Dodie Smith’s time. Greys Hall faces the grounds of St Peter’s Church and was originally built, between 1690 and 1714, to serve as the vicarage of the parish, which it did for many years.
And it has remained largely unaltered since, being designated a Grade II* listed building, which strictly limits what can be done to it.
But setting foot inside the property, you would be hard-pressed to even think about changing a single thing. The lower entrance hall boasts an impressive original staircase that sweeps up to the six bedroom son the upper floor, two of which have en suite bathrooms.
The high ceiling sand large windows make the rooms light and airy. Mr Rolewicz says: ‘The house was completed in 1714, the year Queen Anne died, so the styling is of that period rather than it being a Georgian house. The staircase is original, as are the gates and railings around the property.’
Among the many period features inside the house, there is widespread wood panelling, especially in the dining room and what Mr Rolewicz refers to as the ‘Green Room’ – his favourite in the house.
He says: ‘In these rooms the walls are panelled with pine, which was always meant to be painted rather than left in its natural wood state.
‘I think I like spending time in the Green Room the best – it has a wonderful aspect across the churchyard next door. We’re on the same elevation as the church so you get amazing views across the countryside.’
PERHAPS running a close second to the Green Room would be the kitchen, which has an imposing wood-burning range cooker that Mr Rolewicz says pumps out enough warmth to heat most of the house. Outside, there are extensive gardens mainly to the left of the house, and a shingle parking area that can accommodate several cars. The approach to the house is lined with trees, and beyond that is the village of Sible Hedingham and its facilities including schools, shops and pubs. The village is close to Essex’s borders with Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. ‘There’s definitely nothing sinister about t he pl ace, ’ laughs Mr Rolewicz, referring to Greys Hall’s reimagining by Dodie Smith as Cruella de Vil’s lair. ‘It’s a fantastic place to bring up a family.’ And with all that space, there might even be room for a dog, or two… or even 101.