Kate Middleton may be used to spending her time residing at the lavish Apartment 1A in Kensington Palace and visiting Anmer Hall on the Queen’s sprawling Sandringham Estate during school holidays, but her former family home is a lot less extravagant.
Hailing from Berkshire, the Duchess of Cambridge grew up in the village of Bradfield Southend, living in her West View home until the age of 13.
When Carole and Michael Middleton bought the Victorian home in 1979 for £34,700 the semi-detached property had three bedrooms, though the couple spent their time renovating the house.
In fact, Michael, who was good at restoring properties, converted one of the existing bedrooms into a bathroom, even doing the plumbing himself.
To accommodate their growing family, two further bedrooms were built in the loft space.
Elsewhere, the cosy family home underwent a kitchen extension, with a playroom also being added to ensure that Kate, 40, and her siblings James and Pippa had plenty of space to keep themselves entertained.
Having grown up in the area, the former Middleton family home is in a prime location at the heart of the village and is just two doors away from Bradfield Church of England primary school where Kate studied until she was eight.
The red-brick property is also a short walk to St Andrew’s Church, where Kate and her siblings were Christened.
However, 16 years after buying the home, Carole and Michael sold the property for £158,000 and moved into Oak Acre, where Kate lived until she moved out to begin her studies at the University of St Andrews.
Following her engagement to Prince William, Kate’s first family home went to auction in 2011 and was sold to a young family for £485,000, though recent estimates price the property at £747,000.
Given the interest surrounding the Duchess of Cambridge, the current owners fought off competition from wealthy prospective buyers including oligarchs and shipping tycoons who were interested in owning a piece of Britain’s royal heritage.
But speaking about their purchase, the owners of the property told the Daily Express that they weren’t interested in the home’s notable former inhabitants.
“The Middleton factor did not influence us at all and we had no idea at first. We were attracted to the lovely village, lovely house, good primary school and being near friends.
“We are just looking forward to moving in and enjoying the summer,” they said.
At the time, Dudley Singleton, the auctioneer who handled the sale, revealed that the Middletons would be happy that a couple had bought the home.
He also added: “I have known the Duchess of Cambridge and her family long before any of us thought she would marry a prince.”
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