Built in the late 1600s for a homesick Italian aristocrat, Newington House brought a taste of Italy to the Oxfordshire countryside. The Grade II-listed residence was commissioned by Henry Dunch, who is said to have modeled its limestone facade after the Palazzo Pallavicini in Genoa, where his wife, Maria “Mary” Pallavicini, grew up.
Set on 43 acres overlooking the River Thame between Wallingford and Oxford, the estate is asking 14.25 million pounds (about $19 million) through Savills Private Office. The property is also available in three separate lots, with the main residence offered for 9.95 million pounds ($13.3 million), the Grade II-listed Manor House for 2.45 million pounds ($3.2 million), and the Coach House for 1.95 million pounds ($2.6 million), the latter two suitable for guests, staff, or extended family, with their own vehicular access and gardens.
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The Grade II-listed country house was built in the 17th century for an Italian princess.
Will Eastwick-Field; Savills
The house has evolved over more than three centuries. A major expansion in the late 18th century added another floor and the Corinthian-columned entrance porch, along with many of the marble fireplaces and decorative plasterwork that still define the formal reception rooms today.
Newington House also has a notable cultural pedigree. In the early 1900s it was owned by American-born artist Ethel Sands, whose guests included Henry James, Arnold Bennett, Walter Sickert, and members of the Bloomsbury Group, including Virginia Woolf. Sickert completed several paintings at the estate, among them Ethel Sands Descending the Staircase at Newington.
The formal dining room is one of the home’s principal entertaining spaces.
Will Eastwick-Field; Savills
The current owners, the Nettleton family, bought Newington House in 1991 for 1.58 million pounds ($2.1 million), according to records. Over the past three decades, they have carried out an extensive restoration while raising their family, preserving many of the home’s original architectural features and enhancing the grounds with additions including a lake, swimming pool, tennis court, and woodland.
Original timber beams, paneled walls, parquet floors, French wallpaper murals, and towering sash windows remain throughout the more than 13,000-square-foot residence, which includes seven bedrooms, along with a lower level finished with a gym, games room, and additional entertaining spaces.
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The gardens include a swimming pool alongside an open-air cabana.
Will Eastwick-Field; Savills
The grounds incorporate formal gardens, a greenhouse, a swimming pool and cabana, a tennis court, and a croquet lawn. Farther afield are a stabling block, paddocks, a boating lake, and unspoiled woodland. “The limestone masterpiece is greatly admired for its elegant scale and symmetry, while its history tells a beguiling story of romance and a passion for Italian architecture,” says Crispin Holborow, country director of Savills Private Office, who calls it “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to purchase one of Oxfordshire’s most admired country houses.”
Owner James Nettleton says the estate never felt like a museum despite its history. “To most people, it’s a historic country house with centuries of history behind it, but to me it has always been home,” he says. “The house felt loved rather than preserved, lived in rather than displayed.”
Click here to see more photos of the Oxfordshire residence.
Will Eastwick-Field; Savills
Authors
Abby Montanez
Abigail Montanez is a staff writer at Robb Report. She has worked in both print and digital publishing for over half a decade, covering everything from real estate, entertainment, dining, travel to…