Norman Wisdom's former home goes up for sale

A luxury Spanish-style villa that once belonged to comic Sir Norman Wisdom is up for sale for £1.5 million.

Sir Norman built the house in West Chiltington, in West Sussex, in the 1970s and lived there with his second wife Freda Simpson, a dancer he married in 1947, and their children, Jackie and Nicholas.

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He later sold the house and moved to the Isle of Man, where he remained until his death in 2010, ten years after he was given his knighthood.

Lakers House is built in the style of a Spanish villa, with arched windows, ornate - and in some cases rather odd - plasterwork, beams and exposed stonework. Other unusual features include a crazy-paving stone floor in the dining room and a circular cloakroom on the first floor.

It has five bedrooms, one en suite, and a family bathroom, with four of the bedrooms having Spanish-style balconies.

On the ground floor, there's a dramatic hallway and a spiral staircase with stone steps, as well as a large sitting room, a tiny study and a conservatory, with a games room/family room and wine cellar on the lower ground floor.

The house offers, say agents Hamptons International, "spacious, well planned accommodation ideal for a family and entertaining."

Outside, there are three and a half acres of gardens and paddocks, with a manege, stables and tack room, as well as a heated swimming pool and pool house.

There's also a huge detached garage big enough for eight cars - Sir Norman owned several including a Bentley and a Jaguar - and with two rooms and a bathroom above.

The garage actually caused problems for the actor when the house was first built, with the local parish council clerk complaining that it was an eyesore.

However, he and his family became part of the village community, with Sir Norman even picking up a series of awards at the local flower show.