The owners of a Grade II* listed eight bedroom mansion in South Bucks appear to be no further to finding a buyer this week after the latest offer was withdrawn last month.

Beel House standing in thirteen and a half acres of parkland in Little Chalfont has been for sale for three years. 

It is No 33 on Historic England’s list of the 300 buildings in Buckinghamshire with the elite star following the Grade II listing denoting “particularly important buildings of more than special interest.”

The house was built for the Duke of Buckinghamshire in the 1600s. For a spell in the early years it was the home of Mary Penington, a Quaker whose daughter Gulielma by her first marriage married William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania. There’s still a ceiling beam on the ground floor that was there in Mary’s time.

At various times over the last century it has been owned by “Doctor in the House” film star Dirk Bogarde, the wild man of rock Ozzy Osbourne and his wife Sharon, film director Basil Dearden (The Blue Lamp, The Captive Heart, Khartoum) and song writer and record producer Matt Aitken who composed chart toppers for Kylie Monogue, Jason Donovan, Rick Astley and Bananarama.

The most recent household name who owned it was the TV show presenter and former UKIP party leader Robert Kilroy-Silk. He sold the property in 2014 to an international buyer who reportedly paid close to the £6.5m asking price, then to local people’s surprise immediately put it back on the market saying it was “surplus to requirements.”

Since then the price has gradually come down. By January this year it had slipped to £4.95m.

The selling agents at Savills said the drop in value reflected the amount of refurbishment the house now needs. 

Hugh Maconochie at the agency’s country house department told the BFP: “In many respects Beel House is the archetypal country residence: a Grade II* listed home in the heart of the Chilterns, beautiful grounds and easy access to London by both rail and road. Yet, while it was completely refurbished in the 1980s – new garaging, games block and swimming pool complex included – its current state necessitates a complete restoration project.

“For those seeking a country residence to move straight into, Beel House is not the home for them. Instead it would appeal to a buyer looking to restore and revive a Georgian gem. A reduction in price over the years reflects the refurbishment that’s required.”

Film star Dirk Bogarde paid £4,000 for Beel House in the 1950s. At that time it stood in seven acres, not thirteen and a half acres of parkland like it does now. 

Following the relatively recent extensions, the main house now has a living area of 10,700 square feet. As well as eight bedrooms there are seven bedrooms (two suites) five reception rooms also the games block and the leisure complex with indoor pool, whirlpool and steam room.

The house was even larger before Bogarde moved in. As soon as the sale went through, the actor hired a local builder to demolish 11 rooms in the former servants’ quarters. Out of the 15 rooms he was left with, the one he was most proud of  was the 30ft conservatory built around 1910. 

Kay Kendall was rather disparaging about it when she and her co-star Rex Harrison were invited to stay at Beel prior to the opening night of the London production of My Fair Lady. She said the conservatory looked to her like “an out patients’ department.”

She’d be pleased to know a subsequent owner replaced it with the present orangerie. 

Beel House is for sale through Savills country homes department on 020 7016 3780 and the Amersham office (01494 725636).