A 17th-century manor house once owned by the family of film director Stanley Kubrick is on the market.

The American film director spent most of his life in England.

His former home in Hertfordshire is for sale through Fine and Country with a guide price of £1.35 million.

It’s on the outskirts of the village of Markyate, close to the county borders with Bucks and Beds, less than an hour’s limo ride from Pinewood.

In the 1600s the land on which it stands was widely believed to be owned by Katherine Ferrers, a highwaywoman known thereabouts as the “Wicked Lady.”

Fast forward to 2022 and highwaywomen have mostly been banged up. Stand and Deliver is no longer a phrase you hear on street corners.

About 15 years ago the site of the manor at Ferrers Hill Farm was re-developed to provide five houses, one of which became the country home of the famous film director.

The area attracts residents who value its close proximity to London and also the countryside. Families invest in their property. That’s why the standard of state education and other public services in Bucks are among the best in the country. Go to the baker for a loaf of bread and you can be waiting in line with a film director.

Kubrick is probably best known for A Clockwork Orange (1971), Paths of Glory (1957), A Space Odyssey (1968) - Eyes Wide Shut (1999) was the blockbuster he directed and completed less than a week before his death in March that year at the age of 70.

Restoration House, his one-time home on Pipers Lane, is handy for local shops. It’s two miles from junction 9 of the M1 and other amenities including pubs and restaurants, a Post Office, doctor’s surgery and state primary schools.

The house itself is behind electric gates.

The ground floor includes a 31ft sitting room with a log burning stove and windows on three sides. The dining room has a vaulted ceiling.There’s also a study area. The kitchen has recently been refitted - that, too, has a vaulted ceiling plus fitted units including a wine cooler.

Upstairs are four bedrooms - two with en suite shower rooms. The family bathroom serves bedrooms three and four (no queues for a shower before breakfast if you buy this house).

The main garden has a raised deck with a sunken heated pool as well as a roof-tiled entertaining area with power, lighting and cabling for superfast IT.

More details from Fine and Country in Redbourn (01582 936812).

l According to Rightmove, the chance of finding a buyer in the first week is the highest ever - twice as likely as the poor souls in Easter 2019. Go to it. Good luck.