SHROPSHIRE, England -- A plaque over the porch of a remarkable black-and-white house in a small hamlet in Shropshire gives the date 1636. This records the age of the front of the house. Parts of the rest are older. Owner Ian Bailey has documents that are dated 1589, when the first known inventory was taken of the house. Stone slabs in the cellar walls, bearing inscriptions of monks, testify to ecclesiastical associations from as far back 800 years ago.
The most extraordinary feature of this home is that it is a relative newcomer to the country setting it now occupies. Bailey said: "It is not an established convention in England to dismantle a building and reassemble it somewhere else, though it has been done. Perhaps it has never before been done on a solo basis." He is the solo operator who single-handedly took down The Brook House where it used to be in town, moved it and rebuilt it in this country setting, where he, his wife and daughter live.
The Brook House was due for demolition within a week when Ian first saw it. To save it, one of only two remaining 16th century houses in the town of Stoke, Ian had to make up his mind quickly. "Put it down to the optimism and impulsiveness of youth," he said. "I committed myself to The Brook House before I had anywhere to put it."