A 170-year-old stately home on the edge of one of Wirral's most desirable villages has been put up for sale. Stanacres, on Willaston Road in Thornton Hough, is a grade II-listed neo-Gothic Victorian manor house set in 22 acres of grounds, including a private lake.
History and architecture
The property was built between 1849 and 1851 for Anglesey timber merchant Owen Jones, who shipped to Liverpool. The coat of arms of the Port of Liverpool remains etched on the main staircase. It was designed by celebrated architect Charles Verelst, also known as Charles Reed, who designed several grand homes in Merseyside, Lancashire and Wales, as well as civic buildings and churches including Runcorn Town Hall and Lytham Market Hall.
Verelst, an illegitimate son of Reverend Arthur Charles Verelst, inherited the Aston Hall estate in Yorkshire on condition he changed his surname. By the 1850s he was an established architect specialising in Italianate villas, and served as a Birkenhead Improvement Commissioner. He died in 1859, aged 45, and was buried at Holy Cross, Woodchurch.
Grounds and gardens
The gardens were laid out by Edward Kemp, a prominent Victorian park designer who played a leading role in creating Birkenhead Park. The estate extends to about 22 acres, including five acres of formal gardens, a 1.5-acre lake, paddocks, a stone gazebo, former stables and outbuildings.
Interior and sale details
The house spans four floors, including a basement. The ground floor has a drawing room, sitting room, dining room, kitchen, cloakroom and utility room. The upper floors contain eight double bedrooms, six with ensuite facilities, dressing rooms, a laundry room and a living room. The lower ground floor historically served as workshops, wine stores, offices, game larders, an original ice room and storage areas.
Stanacres is marketed by Fine & Country with a guide price of £2,250,000.
