Former country home of Winston Churchill’s speech specialist on the market

The former home of a leading doctor who helped Winston Churchill overcome a speech impediment and was later physician to King Edward VII is now on the market for £4.5m.

Grade II listed Rignalls in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, was built for Sir Felix Semon, a German throat and speech specialist who went on to develop the first surgical treatments for throat cancer. In 1897 – the same year he was knighted – he helped a 23-year-old Churchill overcome his lisp while in the military and in 1901 was appointed Physician-Extraordinary to Edward VII.

Semon had Rignalls built in 1909 when he retired from professional life, living there until his death in 1921. The property was designed by Arts and Crafts architect Charles Holden, best known for his London Underground stations of the 1920s and 30s. The gardens were created by renowned horticulturalist Gertrude Jekyll, who designed and advised on more than 400 gardens in the UK, Europe and America.

During the Second World War the house was owned by a member of the free French government and leader Charles de Gaulle is reputed to have visited on numerous occasions. Rignalls is listed for sale with the Country House Department at Savills and Hanover Private for a guide price of £4,500,000.

The current owners have undertaken a thorough programme of renovation, employing the services of London based architect Keyvan Lankarani, specialist in bespoke conservation works, and Patrick Baty, a specialist in historical decorating. Property agent Hugh Maconochie, director in the country department at Savills, said: “Rignalls is a rare example of a country house that reflects Holden’s early Arts and Crafts experience, with steep pitched roofs and striking chimneys that are typical of the style.

“It is a wonderfully comfortable family home, with light and spacious reception rooms that have recently been restored and refurbished to a very high standard. Of particular note is a double height reception hall with double doors opening onto a beautifully proportioned drawing room.”

The ground floor accommodation also includes a sitting room, dining room, kitchen/breakfast room, laundry room, study, garden room and gym. On the first floor is a master bedroom suite with views over the surrounding countryside alongside four principal bedrooms. The second floor has another two bedrooms and a sitting room and could be used as a self-contained flat.

The house, which is a mile from the village of Great Missenden in the Chiltern Hills, also comes with 10.3 acres of land, including an orchard, mature woodland, stables and paddock. The gardens are faithful to Jekyll’s original design and have been restored with the help of horticultural architect and historian Todd Longstaff-Gowan. They include a York stone terrace that flanks the south of the property, with large brick steps leading down to various levels of lawn surrounded by well stocked shrubberies and laurel hedges.

Alex Newall, managing director at Hanover Private, said: “The gardens have Jekyll’s signature, with features typical of her style. Enjoying an elevated position with a mature wooded backdrop, the outside space has the most wonderful views of the Hampden Valley, while the lawned areas enjoy a carpet of daffodils and blue bells in the spring months.”

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