The winner takes it all

Three properties in East Anglia are fine examples of the wealth and beauty that have characterised the region for centuries

- Penny Churchill

ARCHIBALD PRIMROSE, later 5th Lord Rosebery, reputedly had three aims in life: to marry an heiress, to win the Derby and to become Prime Minister. He managed to achieve all three. In 1878, he married Hannah de Rothschild, the sole heiress of banker Mayer Amschel de Rothschild and the wealthiest British heiress of her day. In 1894, he became Prime Minister following Gladstone's retirement, but resigned a year later.

As a result of his marriage, Rosebery acquired the Mentmore Towers estate and Mentmore stud near Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, and the Crafton Stud in Buckinghamshire. He went on to win the Derby in 1894, 1895 and 1905, and was a major force in racing for 40 years. His fortune bought him houses in Scotland, Italy and England, among them The Manor House at Postwick, near Norwich, which apparently served as a hunting lodge before the First World War and was eventually sold by the family in 1945.

The classic late-Georgian house, built by Francis Gostling in 1831, which is, surprisingly, unlisted, is now for sale through the Norwich office of Savills (01603 229229) for the first time in more than 40 years. Selling agent Natalie Howlett-Clarke quotes a guide price of $2.2 million for the wonderfully private, 9,284sq ft manor house set in 7½ acres of gardens and grounds, and surrounded by mature woodland. The house stands close to the medieval church of All Saints on the edge of the village of Postwick (pronounced 'pozzick'), which sits amid narrow winding lanes in the gentle hills above the River Yare, four miles east of Norwich. The property lies within the Broadland district of Norfolk, which, incidentally, boasts the lowest violent-crime rate in the UK.