Bath, England, has enchanted visitors for millennia, from first-century Romans who were drawn to the town for its mystical thermal waters to Americans who embarrassingly assume you can still take a dip in their UNESCO-listed spas.
But it’s Bath’s stately Georgian architecture that’s perhaps the biggest draw of all, with its elegant matching townhouses, imposing squares, and hushed gardens. These grand 18th-century edifices have formed the backdrop for Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey and even the Featheringtons’ residence in Bridgerton. Now, a particularly covetable address could be yours.
A townhouse on Bath’s famed Circus—a ring formed by three sets of townhouses—has just been listed for £5 million ($6.3 million). The Circus (not to be confused with the city’s iconic Royal Crescent) was first designed by John Wood the Elder, Bath’s visionary architect, in the early 1750s in a classic Palladian style, with facades made from characteristic honey-colored Bath Stone and slate roofs. The array “is arguably the finest complete Georgian circle of architecture in the world,” said Jack King, who holds the listing at Savills Bath.
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The five-story property at 26 The Circus, in particular, is an architecture lover’s dream that, despite modern amenities and updates, retains its graceful Georgian charm. Upon entry through an arched hall, visitors encounter a stair that leads to a living area on the second floor, the primary bedroom suite on the third floor, and additional bedrooms on the fourth and fifth levels.
The ground and basement levels, meanwhile, contain a sizable kitchen as well as a gym and a cavelike wine cellar (which originally would have hosted bread ovens). Step through doors in a rear butler’s kitchen and you’ll encounter your very own secret garden.
Many rooms feature large sash windows that provide views out to the Circus and Bath’s buildings—just as Austen would have seen them. Look closely and you’ll spy original details, like the mantel in the drawing room, which still depicts castles from the original owner’s coat of arms. But if you’re interested in indulging in your regencycore fantasy, you’d best act quickly: “Opportunities to buy a home in this location, with its architecture and impeccable restoration like this, very rarely exist,” King adds.
