Windmill living: it’s a whirl!
THIS WEEK: Homes in old windmills, including this head-turner...
ITS old sails used to turn at a sedate pace, but in recent years converted windmill The Tower House has been in the eye of a storm. The Grade II listed property was the constituency home of Edwina Currie when she was a Tory MP in the 1980s and 1990s. She was famously forced to resign as a Junior Health Minister in 1988 for causing a crisis in the egg-producing industry with her comments about salmonella, and it was later disclosed that she conducted an affair with John Major between 1984 and 1988.
Mrs Currie courted further controversy by claiming that ‘good Christian people’ do not get AIDS, that old people who couldn’t afford their heating bills should wrap up warm in winter, and that Northerners die of ‘ignorance and chips’.
The Tower House, which is set in two acres of parkland on the edge of the village of Findern in Derbyshire, is now owned by Jeff Elliott, 51, chief executive of an engine manufacturing company. He bought it from the former MP in April 2007 but it is now back on the market for £850,000 with estate agents Fine & Country.
The property’s piece de resistance is the ‘tower room’ – at the pinnacle of the old windmill, it offers panoramic views over the Trent Valley.
‘It has 16 windows that go all the way around and the views on a clear day are spectacular,’ Mr Elliott says.
‘The property has an abundance of character, including traditional servants’ bells and a circular dining room at the base of the tower, which is great for entertaining.’
The five-bedroom house was originally built in 1715 as a working windmill, and for many years it produced flour for the local community. It was converted into a dwelling in 1914, then greatly enlarged.
It now has three reception rooms, an indoor heated swimming pool and a separate one-bedroom annexe. There is also a pond in the grounds and garaging for four vehicles – handy for Mr Elliott’s classic car collection.
Mr Elliott is planning to downsize as his children have now left home. He adds: ‘My collection of classic cars is having to be reduced in preparation for the move.’