UK Edition
Inside naturalist Simon King's wildlife sanctuary home
‘That grass print is a sign a roe deer slept here last night,” says Simon King, a naturalist, cameraman, conservationist and TV presenter. He is pointing to a circular indent in the grass path by a lake. “And that’s where the otters go. We’ve made a slide for them.”
Walking around King’s house and its gardens with him is like being in a David Attenborough programme. This perhaps shouldn’t be surprising, as he has travelled the world in search of big cats, huge mammals and rare creatures, working with the national treasure himself on several series. Except we’re not in the middle of nowhere, but rather in King’s back garden near Frome in Somerset.
It all feels and looks as if it is a real-life Swallows and Amazons, a home with the recipe for a perfect childhood. There’s a river to jump in, a bridge to play Pooh Sticks from, and a lake to boat in. The environment surrounding the house is a natural haven.
King established this wildlife sanctuary out of three paddocks that initially contained nothing but grass and a river called Egford Brook. He planted 2,500 native trees, created the lake, planted wild-flower meadows for butterflies and other insects, and provided space for small mammals to thrive.
Roe and muntjac deer can be spotted wandering over the land, and even in daylight barn owls fly over the meadows to hunt the voles that now live on the land. There are also otters and kingfishers, while butterflies fill the meadows.
These animals are similar to some of those he would have spotted while co-presenting the Springwatch and Autumnwatch programmes. But he has also spent his career filming more exotic species, in series including Blue Planet, Life in the Freezer and Planet Earth, for which he won a Bafta; he also co-presented Big Cat Diary, which took him to the Maasai Mara Game Reserve. “I’m passionate about my natural neighbours,” he says.
The view is delicious enough to make anyone feel like flowering it with poetry. It is little surprise this was once home to a poet, Elizabeth Rowe, who was of international repute in the 18th century, but is now somewhat forgotten. She was linked to the Thynn family at Longleat, which is about six miles away, as is Babington House, now part of the Soho House chain.
To get to the house, you have to wriggle down a few lanes to get there from what looks like a relatively inauspicious area. When you arrive there’s a classic Somerset farmhouse frontage, slightly austere on the outside. The house itself is a Grade II listed home with four bedrooms made from two adjoining farmhouses.
King, who has four children, bought Maed House to create a peaceful retreat. The location suited him perfectly – not too far from Bristol, where the BBC Natural History Unit is based, as well as its airport. It’s also near Frome’s railway station and good schools such as All Hallows. “Frome is a fantastically funky place,” he says. “You can walk to the town from here.”
Back in the house, through the kitchen, a wet room is off to the side – handy for washing down after a skinny dip in the river that snakes through the garden. The kitchen is large, well equipped, stunningly decorated and there’s a big inglenook fireplace, traditional Somerset stone on the floor and at the back, a very low door.
Ducking is imperative in certain areas of this house. The stairs are steep and windy, which wouldn’t be allowed today but are attractive in an Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland way. Seemingly endless spiral steps lead up to a fabulous attic room at the top floor, which is airy and light.
Outside, King has installed fibre optic cabling around the house and has converted the garage adjacent to the property, which has room for two cars and an office. Maed House may be a natural haven but it has every mod con you could think of – perfect for working at home among the abundant natural habitat.
King’s house is on the market for £1.95 million with Knight Frank