Chance to explore valuable and storied writer’s retreat

PEOPLE are being offered a rare chance to look inside a landmark South Devon property that was once the home of famous poet and novelist Rudyard Kipling.

The Champagne guided tour is being held at historic Rock House in Maidencombe, Torquay, from noon to 4pm on Saturday.

The event will be the first time the house has been open to the public.

Nobel Prize winner Kipling lived at the property with his wife from 1896 to 1898 after returning from America.

In his memoirs Something of Myself, Kipling described his former South Devon home as “Large and bright, with big rooms each and all open to the sun, the grounds embellished with great trees and the warm land dipping southerly to the clean sea under the Marychurch cliffs.”

The open house is being hosted by Smart Estate Agent which is marketing the property for £1,200,000.

Director Adam Reed said: “I’ve been speaking to lots of people and locals in Maidencombe and I can’t believe how much interest there is in wanting to look inside Rock House and learn more about its heritage and history.

“We are opening the house for the first time to the public, this event is not just for buyers.”

Looking south over the bay, Rock House has a distinctive castellated roofline, ornate moulded ceilings and cornices, original fireplaces and later Art Deco features.

There are five bedrooms, three bathrooms, four reception rooms including a drawing room with a ballroom floor, a two-bedroom flat, formal gardens and five acres of paddocks.

To find out more about the property or the open house event, call 01803 410198.