Yahoo News £7m mansion complete with Poundland musuem goes up for sale
A huge mansion formerly owned by Poundland's co-founder has gone on sale for more than £7million. Ludstone Hall Estate, located in Shropshire and around five miles from Wolverhampton, was formerly owned by Keith Smith who died in August 2022, aged 79.
Keith and his son Steve co-founded Poundland alongside Dave Dodd, opening their first store in Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, in December 1990. Keith's story was one of entrepreneurial success, going from operating a stall on Bilston Market to becoming a multi-millionaire.
Keith, alongside his wife Maureen, bought Ludstone Hall Estate for around £2.5 million after returning to the UK in 1997, having previously lived in Mallorca. The couple ended up investing more than the original price tag into renovating the estate, located off the B4176 which runs between Wombourne and Bridgnorth.
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The country house and estate boasts a whopping 177 acres in land. Built in 1607, the Jacobean manor house features a moat, nine bedrooms, seven bathrooms, four reception rooms, extensive office space and a cellar.
It also includes an indoor swimming pool with a solid retractable floor which rises to create a dancefloor. Set within the 177-acre grounds are gardens, a two-bedroom lodge and a range of outbuildings which includes a substantial coach house.
The first floor of the coach house has been turned into a museum which covers the history of Ludstone Hall and Poundland. The Ludstone section features notes and artefacts found on the estate while the Poundland section gives an insight into the history of the retailer - which transformed from a single shop in Burton to a huge national chain with more than 850 shops in the UK.
Keith began life as an apprentice draughtsman at Wellman, Smith & Owen, in Walsall, but his entrepreneurial spirit saw him run a stall on Bilston Market, leading to the creation of Hooty’s cash and carry. While Keith sold the business and moved to Mallorca in 1990, his son Steve wanted to remain in the UK with his wife Tracy and was keen to launch a business of his own.
Keith reminded his son of his popular 10p box on Bilston Market and gave him the idea of selling items for £1. He then gave Steve a £50,000 loan to help launch Poundland, which was co-founded by the father-and-son.
The first Poundland opened in Octagon Shopping Centre in Burton in December 1990. On its first day, it took more than £13,000.
However it was the second store at Meadowhall Shopping Centre in Sheffield which catapulted Poundland to success and saw many more stores opened across England. Keith and Maureen moved back to the UK in 1997 before buying Ludstone Hall Estate.
Five years later, in 2002, Keith and Steve sold Poundland to Advent International for £50million. Maureen, Keith's wife, died several months after him in 2022.
Now Steve and his siblings are selling Ludstone Hall Estate in the hope it can be enjoyed by another family. Steve said: "When my parents came back to the UK they wanted to find a home where they would never want to move from, and they certainly found that at Ludstone.
"My mum and dad really loved their time at the estate which can be seen in the amount of money they invested in the property – it really is the home that Poundland built. One particular investment they made was installing the swimming pool.
"They wanted to have a big party for the millennium so had one with a retractable floor installed so that the room could also be used to host events. Living locally myself, I have some really happy memories of their time here.
"I used to bring dad the broken sweets we couldn’t sell and he’d feed them to the cows that he kept in the grounds. The cows were sold to a supermarket chain who said that it was the sweetest meat they’d tasted.
"We’d also hold charity events and open up the museum to visitors and raised thousands of pounds for local good causes over the years. The property holds so much historic significance, and has only had a handful of owners since it was built. We’re now keen to see the property go to a new family who can make their own memories here.
"While the Ludstone Hall Estate section of the museum will remain at the property, we’ll also be donating all of the Poundland memorabilia to Poundland so that they can preserve the history of the company."
Ludstone Hall Estate has a guide price of £7,775,000. A further residential investment lot, Manor Fold, which comprises of a collection of eight houses on the edge of the estate, is also available, with details available on request. For more information, visit www.fishergerman.co.uk.
