Tim Burton is selling his Oxfordshire country home for £4.5m

This Grade II-listed Georgian house in Oxfordshire has plenty going for it: generous proportions, authentic Georgian cornicing, River Thames frontage and 17 acres, both formal and wild. But interested parties will no doubt relish The Mill House’s fascinating provenance. Built in 1741 to accompany a paper mill for bank notes, it was sold to Prime Minister Herbert Henry Asquith in 1917, just after he left office, to accommodate guests of his country residence next door.

In 2006, Asquith’s great-granddaughter, Helena Bonham Carter, purchased the home with her then-partner Tim Burton, bringing it back into the family. The film director kept Mill House after their separation more than a decade ago, and he’s now listed the property with Savills for £4.5m.

The Oxfordshire property still includes the mill pond, burbling streams and three small islands — along with ornate marble fireplaces and charming cast-iron window boxes, added to the sash windows in the 19th century. Asquith’s country residence — the adjoining Wharf and Walton houses, where the Prime Minister signed the declaration that took Britain into the First World War — remain next door. However, the sale will not include Burton’s vintage film posters, collection of kitsch or the gypsy caravans and railway carriage in the garden.

Downstairs, the 550 sq m country home features several drawing rooms and studies with bucolic views across the lawns. The kitchen has a four-door Aga, a six-burner Aga range cooker and a walk-in pantry. Directly off is a large utility room with a walk-in Chubb safe, a cloakroom and access to the second staircase. The eight bedrooms include a dual-aspect principal bedroom with an en suite bathroom and an adjacent nursery. Two teen-friendly bedrooms on the top floor share a sitting room and bathroom.

The grounds have an enviable collection of horse chestnut, oak, redwood, birch and beech, with willows at the water’s edge and formal gardens festooned with roses. The Thames Path begins across the river, and the road to Sutton Courtenay is just behind the property. Asquith, who died in 1928, is buried in the churchyard off the village green.

Peek inside Burton’s Georgian country manse.