The former home of Jerome K Jerome, author of the hilarious classic novel Three Men in a Boat, is on the market. 

Estate agents Savills is inviting offers in excess of £6 million for Regency farmhouse Troy in Ewelme near Wallingford.

The house which Savills believe was built in 1827, possibly occupied the grounds of a former monastery.

Oxford Mail: Troy at Ewelme

Jerome K. Jerome, who is buried in Ewelme churchyard along with other notable figures Thomas Chaucer and Alice de la Pole, depicted Troy in his autobiography as "an old farmhouse on the hill above Wallingford."

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He and his family lived there from 1895 to 1908, and he left his mark by adding two theatres to the property which are used by the current owners for charitable performances.

Literary giants War of the Worlds author H G Wells, Sherlock Holmes creator Arthur Conan Doyle and WW Jacobs, who wrote classic horror story The Monkey's Paw, attended house parties at Troy and pursued their writing in the property's summer houses.

Oxford Mail: Troy at Ewelme

Around 1926 the house, which has a tennis court and outdoor pool, was joined to the next door cottages and barns to create a west wing and courtyard.

Jerome K Jerome was born in Walsall, in May 1859 and achieved international fame with his hugely successful comic travelogue Three Men In A Boat, published in 1889.

The comic novel was an instant success and in the year following publication the number of registered Thames boats increased by 50 per cent in 12 months.

It is considered to have played a key role in the Thames becoming a tourist attraction.

The humorous account of a two-week boating holiday on the Thames from Kingston upon Thames to Oxford and back to Kingston was initially intended to be a serious travel guide but the humorous elements took over.

Oxford Mail: Troy at Ewelme

In its first 20 years, the book sold over a million copies worldwide and has been adapted to the cinema, TV and radio and the stage.

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Jerome K Jerome died in June 1927 after suffering a cerebral haemorrhage while on a motoring tour.

Stephen Christie-Miller, head of office at Savills Henley, said: “Troy is an extraordinarily beautiful Regency house, situated in prime Oxfordshire countryside, which has played host to some of Britain’s greatest writers.

"Today Troy has been extensively restored and upgraded by its current owners who have created a wonderful period home with modern systems and design. Outside the owners have also transformed the gardens and grounds with the help of an award-winning garden designer.

"Troy is a very special home, with a very special garden, in a very special location.”