For Sale: John le Carré’s Literary getaway

The home of the celebrated British spy novelist John le Carré has gone up for sale with a guide price of £3m.  The house, which is called Tregiffian Cottage and is actually three fishermen’s cottages turned into one, is near St Buryan in Cornwall and has a commanding cliff-top location.

It was here that le Carré wrote some of his best-known works including Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Smiley’s People.  He lived in the house from the mid-1960s until his death in 2000.  The house includes a large, sea-facing conservatory, an indoor swimming pool and, in keeping with its most famous owner, a glorious library with floor-to-ceiling shelves.  There is also a detached studio building that the author, whose real name was David Cornwell, used as his writing room.

Le Carré was born in Poole, Dorset, in 1931, joined the Foreign Office and entered a career in undercover intelligence after studying at Oxford.  His first novel, Call For The Dead, was published in 1961.

He needed a pseudonym as Foreign Office officials were not allowed to publish books under their own name.

His third novel, The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, written in 1963, brought him worldwide acclaim in a career which saw him publish 25 works.  In many ways he became the pre-eminent voice in Cold War literature.

His own career as a spy came to an end in 1964 after his name was given to the Soviet Union by a double agent, an incident which inspired Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, published in 1974.

The house is being sold by upmarket estate agents Savills and is fondly remembered by le Carré’s novelist son, David Cornwell.  He said: “My earliest memories are of playing in the garden at Tregiffian and adventuring along the coastal path. The whole place is alive with butterflies, rabbits, swallows, foxes and occasionally badgers.

‘In winter, you bank up a log fire and listen to the wind around the house and feel as if you’re in a castle or a lighthouse. The storms are dramatic and beautiful and when they’re gone you get that wild horizontal sun. It’s a wonderful place to rest, or work or just be yourself.’