A historic house in west Suffolk which featured in a Harry Potter film has been put on the market.
The historic village of Lavenham, which is famed as one of the best preserved medieval villages in the country, was the setting for Harry Potter’s family home in Godric’s Hollow.
The Guild Hall featured as his parents’ dilapidated home.
The Grade I-listed De Vere House in Water Street, which dates back to before 1500, appears as the young magician’s birthplace in the movie of JK Rowling’s adventure story Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Part One.
The actors, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson did not actually film in Lavenham, as the film footage was converted into computer generated imags (CGIs) and used as backdrops for the actors in studio shots.
Even so De Vere House has become famous in its own right, and the front door is now one of the most frequently photographed front doors in the country, up there with the Prime Minister’s residence, 10 Downing Street.
Now you could choose to live in Harry Potter’s ‘birthplace’ as De Vere House is on the market, with Carter Jonas, for a little under £1m.
It is one of the most attractive and historically important homes in Lavenham, with stunning period features and lovely south-facing gardens, with outbuildings and parking.
The house has a beautiful facade, jettied and with exposed timbers, brick nogging (in herringhone design), leaded mullions and ornate carved timbers.
Above the door is a mantle depicting the heraldic symbols of the Howard, de Scales, Plaiz and De Vere family..
Either side of the doorway are two carved huntsmen.
Inside the house there are medieval and Tudor features including a massive timber frame, fireplaces, wall paintings and a rare stone spiral staircase with a carved brick handrail.
The property is currently in two halves which can easily be returned to one family home.
The smaller wing has previously been a successful holiday let property.
The principal includes a reception hall, a striking drawing room, dining room, kitchen and utility.
There are three first floor bedrooms, a family bathroom and cloakroom, a vaulted attic and bedroom four and an en suite shower room.
The house takes its name from the De Vere family who in medieval times were the second richest family after the King.
John De Vere, the 13th Earl of Oxford, whould have built De Vere House in the earl Tudor period, probably as a hunting lodge near to the (then) deer park along Hall Road.
King Henry VII visited De Vere House when taking part in a day’s hunting in Lavenham in 1498, and it was possible the house was used to house the many guests of the King and the Earl.
The sister and younger brother of Charles II and James II were held under house arrest in De Vere House in 1651.
It remains one of the most important houses in Lavenham,
• De Vere House in Lavenham is on the market with Carter Jonas for £995,000.
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