John Paul Jones’ Former Mansion Selling for $12.5 Million
Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones’ former mansion is on the market for £9.75 million (about $12.5 million USD). The sprawling 5.75 acres of land houses an eight-bedroom, six-bathroom home named Old Rectory. The home is in Dittisham, Dartmouth, Devon, an oceanside community 200 miles from London.
About the Led Zeppelin bassist’s former home
According to the listing of the property, Old Rectory was built back in 1760. Today, it is a “beautifully proportioned and elegant house” that has been “imaginatively refurbished to create a comfortable family home.”
Jones’ former home boasts soaring ceilings, spacious rooms, and a seamless layout that enhances the overall flow. Abundant natural light floods the interior through numerous expansive sash windows, offering breathtaking vistas of the picturesque River Dart and the countryside that surrounds it.
From the kitchen/breakfast room, French doors open to a sun terrace that overlooks the swimming pool.
The Grounds
In addition to the swimming pool, there’s plenty to enjoy outside of the home, including a tennis court.
“The gardens and grounds are beautifully planted and maintained to create a magnificent private setting for the property, consisting of well landscaped formal gardens, shrubberies and woodland flowing down to its own foreshore,” reads the listing description.
Additionally, the grounds house such outbuildings as a stable cottage former Sunday school, garage block, and a recently refurbished boathouse that sits on the waterfront (the listing notes that this is a “great entertaining space”).
About the area John Paul Jones used to live in
The Old Rectory is located on the edge of the village of Dittisham, one of the most popular villages in the South Hams. Dittisham is known for its delightful cottage-lined streets, as well as its quaint community that includes a church, two inns, a Post Office, and a sailing club.
Just six miles away is the historic town of Dartmouth, home of the Britannia Royal Naval College. Dartmouth is also a famous market town, known as a sailing center. And just eight miles away is the medieval market town, Totnes, which houses a mainline railway station that goes to London, Bristol, and Birmingham.
“The National motorway network is easily accessed via the A38 dual carriageway as are the local airports at Plymouth and Exeter,” notes the listing.
It’s easy to imagine the Led Zeppelin bassist enjoying the sprawling grounds of the Old Rectory when he lived there in the 1980s, as reported by Ultimate Classic Rock. After Jones, manager of Duran Duran Michael Berrow owned the home in the 1990s before selling it in 2007.
The listing doesn’t include the music industry giants who owned the home in the past. It simply says: “This is an increasingly rare opportunity to acquire an elegant and spacious period residence set in delightful grounds commanding outstanding river views and access to the water.”
For more information about the mansion, as well as photos of the home, check out the listing of the property.
