Gypsy Green, Penkridge, Stafford, Staffordshire, ST19

A Literary Haven in the Heart of the Staffordshire Countryside

Hidden away within the rolling landscape of the Teddesley Park Estate and occupying an envious rural plot, this three-bedroom semi-detached home is a place where imagination and history are deeply rooted in the land. Known as Gypsy Green, the redbrick cottage where J.R.R. Tolkien lived in 1918 with his wife Edith and infant son, the property is widely believed to have shaped the earliest threads of the stories that would one day become The Lord of the Rings.

It is not difficult to see why. The surrounding countryside feels untouched and quietly enchanted — a setting that invites long walks, wandering thoughts and evenings spent by firelight, far removed from the clamour of the modern world. One might easily imagine tales being written here, where “the wide world is all about you” and the land itself seems to whisper of old paths and forgotten stories.

The house offers three well-proportioned bedrooms and characterful living accommodation, with rooms that enjoy a strong connection to the outdoors and a sense of shelter and warmth within. A cellar lies beneath, providing useful storage and further enhancing the traditional charm of the home — a hidden space, not unlike those found in the older houses of Tolkien’s Shire.

A part-built extension presents a rare and exciting opportunity for the next steward of this home to complete and personalise the space. Whether envisioned as a generous kitchen, additional living area or a garden-facing room designed to embrace the countryside, the extension allows the buyer to leave their own mark, continuing the story rather than simply inheriting it.

The grounds are a particular highlight — a plot of notable size and privacy, where the land stretches out gently and the boundaries feel softened by nature. Here, days are guided by the turning of the seasons, and evenings by birdsong and fading light. It is a place of retreat and reflection, where one might feel, as Tolkien once wrote, “safe, warm, and content.”

This is a home of rare provenance and quiet magic — offering history, creativity and future potential in equal measure. A truly unique opportunity to acquire a rural property where literature, landscape and lifestyle are woven together, waiting for its next chapter to be written.