For Sale: A Georgian House in Oxfordshire With a Rare Baroque-Inspired Façade
Bedrooms: 6
Bathrooms: 4 bath/shower rooms
Interior: 963.9 m² / 10,375 ft²
Lot: 1.16 ha / 2.87 acres
Amenities: Three-bedroom cottage, outbuildings, stables, garaging for three cars, swimming pool, tennis court, walled gardens, mature planting, gravel drive, and village setting.
Listed with The Country House Department for £5,500,000, West Hanney House is a Grade II* listed Georgian residence set behind iron gates in the Oxfordshire village of West Hanney. With a rare Baroque-influenced façade and a prominent position on The Green, the house has a more theatrical architectural character than its village setting might suggest.
The property extends to approximately 963.9 m² / 10,375 ft², with six bedrooms, four bath/shower rooms, four reception rooms, a three-bedroom cottage, outbuildings, stables, garaging, a swimming pool and a tennis court, all set within about 1.16 ha / 2.87 acres of walled gardens.
The house is believed to date mainly from the early 18th century, with the principal part built around 1727 and an older rear section. It was formerly the village rectory, positioned close to the Church of St James the Great, and occupies a central place in West Hanney, where its façade, gates and garden walls give it an unusually formal presence.
Its distinction lies in the way the house combines Georgian symmetry with Baroque influence. Georgian architecture is often associated with restraint, proportion and classical order, but West Hanney House belongs to a more expressive local tradition. Its façade is composed with the balance expected of the period, yet its skyline, central emphasis, rubbed brickwork, prominent keystones and architectural detailing give it a more dramatic quality.
This has long been part of the house’s reputation. In Murray’s Berkshire Architectural Guide, edited by John Betjeman and John Piper in 1949, West Hanney House was described as a Georgian classic of “remarkable distinction.” The phrase remains useful because it captures the unusual character of the property: not a vast country seat, but a village house with the architectural confidence of something grander.
The house has also been connected to a select group of Baroque-influenced country houses in the region, including Kingston Bagpuize House near Abingdon and Ardington House near Wantage. These houses are associated with a local school of skilled masons working in the early 18th century, at a time when the architecture of nearby Blenheim Palace had made the language of English Baroque newly influential. Rather than copying the scale of Vanbrugh and Hawksmoor, West Hanney House reflects that influence in a more contained, domestic form.
Inside, the house retains the spatial clarity of its period. The principal reception rooms are arranged around a central hall, with high ceilings, sash windows, panelled walls, open fireplaces and finely detailed joinery. The central staircase is among the house’s notable historic features, rising to the first-floor landing and reinforcing the formal axial arrangement of the plan.
In recent years, the current owners have undertaken a sympathetic restoration, preserving the house’s architectural integrity while adapting it for contemporary family life. The principal reception rooms provide formal entertaining space, while the kitchen and adjoining family areas create a more relaxed centre to the home, looking out towards the courtyard and gardens.
Beyond the main house, the property includes a separate three-bedroom cottage and a range of traditional outbuildings currently arranged as stables, stores and garaging. Together, they offer flexibility for guest accommodation, staff, workspace or ancillary use.
The grounds are a defining part of the property’s character. Arranged within old garden walls, they include mature planting, lawns, gravel paths, sheltered seating areas, a swimming pool and a tennis court. The setting gives the house privacy while preserving its relationship with the village, where the church, green and surrounding historic buildings contribute to the sense of an established Oxfordshire settlement.
Located in the Vale of White Horse, West Hanney offers rural village life within reach of Wantage, Oxford and London. Didcot Parkway is approximately 14 miles away, with rail services to London Paddington, while the A34, M4 and M40 provide wider road connections.
All photographs belong to the listing agency. See more on The Country House Department.