For Sale: The Hampshire Estate Where Jane Austen Wrote ‘Pride and Prejudice’ and Other Books

Any 19th-century manor on an impeccably landscaped patch of English countryside has the potential to feel like something out of a Jane Austen novel. But Steventon House boasts more than aesthetic parallels to the settings in Austen’s work: She herself spent more than half her life on the property.

Technically, it’s not the same 16th-century structure in which Austen once lived with her family. Her parents moved to Steventon, Hampshire, in 1771, so her father, George Austen, could serve as the village rector. They took up residence in a house owned by a cousin, Thomas Knight, and remained there until relocating to Bath after George’s retirement in 1800. Jane was born in 1775, meaning she lived in the Steventon parsonage for about 25 years—during which time she penned the first drafts of Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, and Northanger Abbey.

“This was the cradle of her genius,” her nephew, James Edward Austen-Leigh, wrote of the estate in A Memoir of Jane Austen.

Knight left the property to Jane’s brother, Edward, who demolished the original house and constructed a new one in the 1820s. As Artnet News reports, that’s Steventon House as it stands today—and it’s currently on the market for roughly $10.2 million.

A strong association with one of the most beloved authors of all time isn’t the estate’s only selling point. Steventon House itself has six bedrooms, four bathrooms, a temperature-controlled wine cellar, four reception rooms, and a kitchen island that would make Nancy Meyers proud. The 52-acre property also plays host to the two-bedroom Clover Cottage; a two-car garage that also contains a gardener’s workshop and additional storage space; a walled garden; a pool; and a tennis court. About a mile away is St. Nicholas Church, the same 13th-century building where the Austens worshiped.

If you’re an avid Janeite with millions to spare, you can learn more about the listing via Knight Frank or Savills.

[h/t Artnet News]