The Childhood Home Of Princess Margaret’s Husband Lord Snowdon Is For Sale

When it comes to handsome country homes, you can’t get much better than Womersley Park. Standing proud over a 24 acre plot in North Yorkshire, this magnificent Georgian property is brimming with over 300 years of history – and it’s even the childhood home of Lord Snowdon, renowned 20th century photographer and husband to Princess Margaret.

Inside Womersley Park

Even those who aren’t buffed up on their royal history will likely recognise the name of Lord Snowdon from The Crown. An eccentric photographer with an aversion to royal duty (and monogamy), the Netflix show depicts his short-lived marriage to Margaret as a tumultuous affair – burning with equal parts passion and resentment.

Earlier this month, the pair’s Sussex retreat came on the market for £3.95m. Complete with a bathroom wallpapered with royal signatures, scandalous newspaper clippings, family photos and personal momentos, plus a balcony salvaged from Ascot Racecourse’s Royal Box, and a tranquil lake, it’s no wonder so many of their starry friends made a visit to the home. As well as Princess Margaret’s royal mother and sister, visitors over the years include actors Peter Sellers and Sir John Mills, dancer Dame Margot Fonteyn, activist Bianca Jagger, financier Sir Evelyn de Rothschild, writer Kenneth Tynan, designer Issey Miyake and novelist Edna O’Brien amongst others.

But long before this headline-stirring marriage, Lord Snowdon (or Anthony Armstrong-Jones) was raised in an equally impressive abode. Dating back as far as 1680, the estate has been carefully preserved by a string of prominent families – including Lord Snowdon’s mother, the Countess of Rosse, who moved in during the Second World War. (Snowdon reportedly set up his very first photography studio there, in fact.)

Nestled on the southern edge of the picturesque village of Womersley, the main house is complete with 10 bedrooms, seven bathrooms, and eight reception rooms. There are two kitchens, a study, a library (complete with original bookcase cabinets by 18th century architect Robert Adam) and a billiard room with a lantern, not to mention a grand hall, which enjoys south-facing views across the village’s rolling parkland and agricultural round. Today, the reception hall has been reimagined as a grand dining room defined by four stately pillars. From here, the home leads through to the drawing room. A real showstopper: expect towering sash windows, a panelled ceiling adorned by ornate cornices and friezes, a large bay window equipped with working shutters, a white marble chimney piece with sienna pilasters, and four fluted Corinthian columns. 

At the heart of the home sits the the staircase hall, crowned by a carved Cuban mahogany staircase with intricate timber balusters, plus 13 matching Cuban mahogany doors. Illuminating the staircase and the gallery above, is a 17th century stained-glass window featuring the Fairfax coast of arms, credited to Henry Gyles, virtuoso and glass painter of York. With more detailed cornicing and ceiling roses on the first floor landing, the home then leads through to four en-suite bedrooms (two of which feature walk-in wardrobes), plus six additional bedrooms, including two that are tucked away in the attic.

Outside, meanwhile, there’s a host of additional properties: you’ll spot five self-contained cottages (including a three-bedroom Butler’s Apartment and a two-bedroom Stable Apartment); a coaching courtyard with garages and a workshop; and even a fully-functioning coffee shop, called the The Fig & Olive Coffee Shop. A formal walled garden lies to the east of the Hall, plus garden store, large greenhouse and old potting shed and a dovecote. A number of mature specimen trees, including beech, cedar, lime, walnut and horse chestnut, dot the grounds, while interspersed areas of woodland and 13 acres of arable land also sit on the grounds.

On the market for £4,000,000. Find out more at struttandparker.com