“Grandpa used to say ‘Oh, there’s Gerald!’ every time he saw a pheasant,” Harriet Sinden recalls fondly.
She is reminiscing about the happy days spent at Sir Donald Sinden’s country house Rats Castle – a home she inherited after his death which is now on the market for £1m.
The theatre and screen actor, known for his booming, bassoon-like voice, award-winning performances with the Royal Shakespeare Company and role in 1970s sitcom Two’s Company, bought the cottage in 1954 with his wife Diana.
They spent the following decades transforming the home in the Isle of Oxney, Kent, into its current iteration. They hosted many well-known guests at the property including Sir Patrick Stewart, Jeremy Irons and Michael Attenborough.
Harriet remembers spending most of her Easter, Christmas and summer holidays there – “it was beautiful,” she says.
“We were allowed to roam free, make dens and go ‘sploring’. My parents would keep an eye on us with their binoculars, which are still there,” she says.
Surrounded by green farmland, Rats Castle provided seclusion from life in the public eye for Donald.
The wisteria-clad property has five bedrooms, five bathrooms and two reception rooms. The garden boasts a south-facing terrace and a hot tub as well as a garden house that doubles as a games room.
Exposed beams and original fireplaces mean the house retains an authentic feel but features such as a modern kitchen make it extremely liveable.
