The founder of modern nursing started her life at this country estate in Derbyshire, which is now on the market for £3.75m via Blue Book Agency.

Florence Nightingale’s father, William Shore, inherited Lea Hurst from his uncle in 1815 and expanded the Grade II-listed farmhouse into the Elizabethan-style mansion seen today.

It remained in the Nightingale family until after WWII when it was turned into a home for retired nurses. Later, The Royal Surgical Society purchased the building, and it was sold to the current owners in 2011. They spent three years restoring it as a private home.

The 13-bedroom country property is close to Matlock and boasts a treasure trove of period features across its series of reception rooms, including a formal sitting room, dining room, games room, playroom, drawing room and study, where Nightingale was home-schooled by her father.

Bedrooms are on the upper level, including Nightingale’s former bedroom with an adjacent study she’s said to have used after returning from Crimea.

Lea Hurst boasts sweeping views across the Derwent Valley from its 19.23-acre grounds, which include walled and formal gardens, lawns, flower gardens, pergolas, and outbuildings. Their restoration was inspired by descriptions of the original gardens found in a letter by Elizabeth Gaskell, who stayed at the home in 1854 while writing her seminal novel, North and South.

Take a closer look at the Derbyshire property in the gallery above.

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