A sprawling mansion previously owned by Poundland’s co-founder has gone on the market for a cool £7million.
The Ludstone Hall Estate, located just five miles from Wolverhampton in Shropshire, was once the home of Keith Smith, who passed away in August 2022 at the age of 79. The impressive country house and estate spans a massive 177 acres and comes complete with a swimming pool that transforms into a dancefloor.
Constructed in 1607, the Jacobean manor house is surrounded by a moat and boasts nine bedrooms, seven bathrooms, four reception rooms, ample office space, and a cellar. A standout feature is an indoor swimming pool with a retractable floor that can be raised to form a dance floor.
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The extensive grounds include gardens, a two-bedroom lodge, and a variety of outbuildings, including a sizeable coach house.
(Image: Shropshire Star / SWNS)
The upper level of the coach house has been converted into a museum dedicated to the history of both Ludstone Hall and Poundland. The Ludstone section displays notes and artefacts discovered on the estate, while the Poundland section provides a glimpse into the evolution of the retailer, which grew from a single shop in Burton to a nationwide chain with over 850 stores across the UK, reports the Mirror.
Keith, along with his son Steve and Dave Dodd, co-founded Poundland, opening their inaugural store in Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, in December 1990. Keith’s journey is a tale of entrepreneurial triumph, transitioning from running a stall on Bilston Market to becoming a multi-millionaire.
Keith, along with his wife Maureen, snapped up Ludstone Hall Estate for a cool £2.5 million after returning to the UK in 1997, having previously resided in Majorca. The couple ended up pouring more than the initial asking price into refurbishing the estate, nestled off the B4176 which stretches between Wombourne and Bridgnorth.
Keith’s journey began as an apprentice draughtsman at Wellman, Smith and Owen, in Walsall, but his entrepreneurial flair led him to operate a stall on Bilston Market, culminating in the establishment of Hooty’s cash and carry. While Keith sold the venture and relocated to Majorca in 1990, his son Steve opted to stay in the UK with his wife Tracy, harbouring ambitions to kickstart a business of his own.
Keith jogged his son’s memory about his popular 10p box on Bilston Market and planted the seed of selling items for £1. He then handed Steve a £50,000 loan to aid in launching Poundland, which was co-founded by the father-and-son duo.
(Image: Peter James Property / SWNS)
The inaugural Poundland opened its doors in Octagon Shopping Centre in Burton in December 1990. On its opening day, it raked in over £13,000, according to BirminghamLive.
However, it was the second outlet at Meadowhall Shopping Centre in Sheffield that propelled Poundland to stardom and triggered the opening of numerous more stores across England. Keith and Maureen returned to the UK in 1997 before purchasing Ludstone Hall Estate.
Five years on, in 2002, Keith and Steve offloaded Poundland to Advent International for a staggering £50million.
Maureen, the wife of Keith, passed away several months after him in 2022. Now, Steve and his siblings have decided to put Ludstone Hall Estate on the market, hoping it will bring joy to another family.
Steve reminisced: “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.”
(Image: Peter James Property / SWNS)
“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.”
(Image: Peter James Property / SWNS)
“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.”
On sale for a cool £7,775,000, Ludstone Hall Estate comes with a rather useful invitation. Also up for grabs is an additional residential lot named Manor Fold which includes a collection of eight houses on the estate’s edge, details available upon inquiry.
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