John Le Carré: Cornwall home of spy author for sale

The Cornwall home of British spy novelist John Le Carré has gone up for sale with a guide price of £3m.

Le Carré, whose real name was David Cornwell, had owned Tregiffian Cottage, near St Buryan, since the 1960s and lived there until his death in 2020.

The writer of Tinker Tailor, Soldier, Spy conceived many of his stories at the cliffside property between Lamorna and Porthcurno, estate agents said.

The house was three fisherman's cottages before it was converted.

Le Carré, who was born in Poole, Dorset, in 1931, joined the Foreign Office and entered a career in undercover intelligence after studying at Oxford.

His first novel, Call For The Dead, was published in 1961.

He needed a pseudonym as Foreign Office officials were not allowed to publish books under their own name.

His third novel, The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, written in 1963, brought him worldwide acclaim in a career which saw him publish 25 works.

His career as a spy came to an end in 1964 after his name was given to the Soviet Union by a double agent, an incident which inspired Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, published in 1974.

Le Carré died, aged 89, days after a fall in the bathroom at his home as a result of bronchial pneumonia, rib fractures and prostate cancer, an inquest concluded.

Nick Cornwell, le Carré's fourth son, said: "My earliest memories are of playing in the garden at Tregiffian and adventuring along the coastal path to St Loy or Mousehole.

"The whole place is alive with butterflies, rabbits, swallows, foxes and occasionally badgers.

"In winter, you bank up a log fire and listen to the wind around the house and feel as if you're in a castle or a lighthouse."

The property, set in about 3.3 acres (1.3 hectares), has extensions added, converted outbuildings and a pool.

Estate agent Savills said the former fisherman's cottages had been brought together "with great sensitivity, retaining character and charm".

Follow BBC News South West on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Send any story ideas to [email protected].