Nottinghamshire &amp; Derbyshire

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="683" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-house-1024x683.jpg" alt="Lea Hurst house florence nightingale's childhood home derbyshire" class="wp-image-9511" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-house-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-house-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-house-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-house.jpg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



Ooh, Muddy loves a nose around a peach of a period property and they don’t come peachier or more prominent than this beauty. Once the beloved home of Florence Nightingale, there can’t be many places on the market with a history as rich as Grade II listed <a href="https://bluebookagency.com/properties/lea-hurst/">Lea Hurst</a> – and it could be yours for a cool £3.75 million.



Yep, the Lady with the Lamp started her life at this gorgeous gothic country pile in the village of Holloway near Matlock overlooking the Derwent Valley. Florence was home-schooled here and, even after the family moved out in 1895, they kept it on as a summer house. Snazzed up from humble farmhouse to country pile in 1820 by Flo’s father after he inherited the place, it has oodles of Elizabethan flair.



The 13-bedroom house stayed in the Nightingale family until 1951 when it took on a fitting new life as a nursing home. But once that closed current owner, Peter Kay (no, not that one) snapped it up in 2011 and lovingly restored the house back into a family home, re-established the Victorian gardens and amassed collection of letters written by Florence, pictures, drawings and furniture linked to the Nightingales to help preserve its history.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-sq-door.jpg" alt="doorway of lea hurst florence nightingale home" class="wp-image-9510" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-sq-door.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-sq-door-300x300.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-sq-door-150x150.jpg 150w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-sq-door-768x768.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-sq-door-500x500.jpg 500w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



Although peppered with gothic features, this place has none of the gothic gloom. Walk through the gorgeous arched door and it’s light, airy and welcoming. What’s more, this place has flow.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="731" height="1024" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-hallway-x-731x1024.jpg" alt="hallway at lea hurst florence nightingale's childhood home" class="wp-image-9523" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-hallway-x-731x1024.jpg 731w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-hallway-x-214x300.jpg 214w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-hallway-x-768x1075.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-hallway-x.jpg 1000w" sizes="(max-width: 731px) 100vw, 731px" /></figure>



Flagstone floors, stone niches and high ceilings make for a showstopper of an entrance which leads to a bright corridor with formal rooms flowing off it. A panelled archway links the dining room (all the original floorboards on this baby) with a light-filled, triple aspect sitting room, once the schoolroom where Florence buried her head in books. Original carved wooden chimney pieces, gothic niches and period features galore, it’s hard to know where to look.



Although, with big vista views across the Derwent Valley to one side and pretty parkland to the other, I know where I’m looking first.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="683" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-view-1024x683.jpg" alt="views from lea hurst florence nightingale's childhood home matlock derbyshire" class="wp-image-9515" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-view-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-view-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-view-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-view.jpg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



Fancy a snifter after your dinner party? Head to the elegant lounge or the whopping games room, complete with Cluedo-esque billiard table and original bread oven niches in tact (this was once the kitchen).



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="683" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-lounge-1024x683.jpg" alt="lounge at Lea Hurst house florence nightingale's childhood home derbyshire" class="wp-image-9512" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-lounge-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-lounge-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-lounge-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-lounge.jpg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="683" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-library-1024x683.jpg" alt="study at Lea Hurst house florence nightingale's childhood home derbyshire" class="wp-image-9513" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-library-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-library-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-library-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-library.jpg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



Your sumptuous dinner party wouldn’t need to end there. The very cool (and funkily-lit) stone lined cellar is perfect for wine tasting and suppers. Just as well there are 13 (count ‘em) bedrooms for you and your guests to sleep it off in afterwards. All lovely and big enough to swing several cats in, the showstopper has a beautiful bay window, a dressing room and slick modern bathroom with rolltop bath.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="683" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-cellar-1024x683.jpg" alt="wine cellar at Lea Hurst house florence nightingale's childhood home derbyshire" class="wp-image-9514" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-cellar-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-cellar-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-cellar-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-cellar.jpg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="683" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-bedroom-1024x683.jpg" alt="master bedroom at Lea Hurst house florence nightingale's childhood home derbyshire" class="wp-image-9516" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-bedroom-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-bedroom-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-bedroom-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-bedroom.jpg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



The dashing double to which Florence retreated after her spell in Crimea is another beauty with a Virginia Creeper-fringed balcony to boot.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="683" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-bathroom-1024x683.jpg" alt="bathroom at Lea Hurst house florence nightingale's childhood home derbyshire" class="wp-image-9517" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-bathroom-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-bathroom-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-bathroom-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-bathroom.jpg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



Thinking about summer garden parties? Oh yes, those will work too, with a whopping 19.23 acres of landscaped gardens and mature parkland. Start by sipping Champers in the rose garden before heading to the stunning stone terrace (peppered with yellow roses) that hugs two sides of the house. Then you can float down the flight of stone steps to the lawn, lily pond, fountain and formal gardens, before cruising down the clematis-soaked pergola walkway to warm up in the summerhouse as sun sets. Bliss.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="683" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-overview-1024x683.jpg" alt="lea hurst florence nightingale's childhood home derbyshire pictured from above" class="wp-image-9524" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-overview-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-overview-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-overview-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-overview.jpg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



Already moved in in your head? Snap back to reality and get practical girl! What about the commute? Well, it would be a shame not to WFH, but the M1 is 10 miles away, the direct train from Derby to St Pancras only takes 1 hour 30 and East Midlands airport is an easy 45mins away. Sorted.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1024" height="683" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-parkland-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-9518" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-parkland-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-parkland-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-parkland-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-parkland.jpg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Parkland views with the Derwent Valley beyond</figcaption></figure>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="731" height="1024" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-plaque-close-up-731x1024.jpg" alt="blue plaque at Lea hurst florence nightingale's childhood home matlock derbyshire" class="wp-image-9519" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-plaque-close-up-731x1024.jpg 731w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-plaque-close-up-214x300.jpg 214w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-plaque-close-up-768x1075.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/nottsderbyshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2024/06/Florence-plaque-close-up.jpg 1000w" sizes="(max-width: 731px) 100vw, 731px" /></figure>



All images courtesy of <a href="https://bluebookagency.com/properties/lea-hurst/">The Blue Book Agency</a>

Property flirt! Take a peek at Florence Nightingale’s childhood home

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