Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon's home, Old House in the grounds of the Nymans Estate in Sussex, recently hit the market for £3.95 million (about $5.29 million).
This marks the first time that the royals' former seven-bedroom country retreat has been publicly listed, with current owner Amanda Walsh offering the property for sale through Blue Book Agency.
Gifted to then-Antony Armstrong-Jones by his uncle, Oliver Messel, in 1958, the same year he began dating the late Queen Elizabeth's sister, it played a large part in their love story.
While Snowdon invested time restoring the cottage, which originally had no electricity and indoor plumbing, Margaret reportedly preferred spending time at their more prestigious residence in Kensington Palace.
'Mad' party home
On the rare occasions the couple spent time at Old House together, it was to host extravagant parties on the 5.5-acre estate, attended by the likes of Bianca Jagger and ballerina Dame Margot Fonteyn.
© AFP via Getty ImagesGuests could enjoy complete privacy on the estate, which featured a private lake installed by Antony, a photographic dark room and a bathroom papered with newspaper clippings chronicling major 20th-century events.
Lord Snowdon reportedly described the home as a "mad place," but current owner Amanda says it now oozes "understated charm".
She said: "It is not glamorous. Princess Margaret was very 'royal' and loved the pomp and ceremony of living at Kensington Palace rather than the understated charm of the Old House."
Selling the property
However, behind the glitz and glamour of the 60s parties, Snowdon and Margaret's marriage was strained. Following mutual infidelity, the couple got divorced in 1978 – the first for a senior British royal in over 400 years.
He then moved out of Kensington Palace and made the Old House his primary home for several years before selling the property for £1 million in 2002. He described the sale as "really horrid," but said it "just didn't seem do-able any more" after getting rid of his car.
© GettyLooking back at the fond memories he had there, he said: "I have loved Old House for as long as I can remember.
"My sister and I used to walk through the woods to Old House, which my grandmother…had remade out of three cottages entirely in Jacobean style. Tea was always laid out, along with cucumber sandwiches, but there was nothing like water, except from a well, no loo and certainly no heat."
After purchasing the home in 2005, following minor tweaks by the owner after Lord Snowdon, Amanda converted the attic into two extra bedrooms and a bathroom, and restored the neglected garden to mirror Lord Snowdon's plans.
