Now that's a golden oldie! The 16th century home being sold by the man behind Motown legend Marvin Gaye

• Four-bedroom home of Motown publicist on the market for £495,000
• Grade II listed The Hoods in Wethersfield, Essex, date back to 16th century
  

By Oliver Wadeson
PUBLISHED: 21:00 GMT, 6 April 2013 | UPDATED: 21:00 GMT, 6 April 2013

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When former music promoter and journalist Roger St Pierre rolled up outside his new home in Essex in 2005, he did so with three articulated lorries full of his possessions in tow.
The historic house called The Hoods, in the pretty village of Wethersfield near Braintree, had a large double-storey annexe – the perfect space to accommodate the contents of those vast lorries.
For inside were 50,000 LPs – mostly by Motown and American R ’n’ B artists – as well as Roger’s collection of 850 beer bottles.

Great tales: Roger St Pierre, former PR man for Motown's biggest voices, is selling his four-bedroom historic home in Essex for £495,000

And although the Grade II listed house has parts dating back to the 16th and 17th Centuries, he was able to move straight in.
‘I hired a surveyor who specialised in old houses and he said the only work that was necessary was to empty some leaves out of a drain,’ he said.

‘This house was obviously built to last – it was here 500 years before I got here and will still be standing 500 years after I’ve left. So I saw no reason to change things.’
But the previous owners made one small but vital alteration before they left. While removing plaster in the living room, they discovered an ornate 16th Century fresco. It’s a picture of Adam and Eve and carries script from the Bible.

The fresco was covered up during Cromwell’s time when depictions of figures in the Bible were considered blasphemous.

Come to my Hood: The Hoods in Weathersfield, near Braintree in Essex dates back to the 16th century

Open space: The house boasts wooden beams, open fireplaces and exposed brickwork in the large front room

Unique: The ornate 16th Century fresco shows Adam and Eve and carries script from the Bible and is one of 12 remaining frescoes from that period

It has been authenticated by experts from the Victoria and Albert Museum and is one of only 12 frescoes from the period left in Britain. But it’s not the only reminder of the past in this four-bedroom house. Exposed oak beams, brick fireplaces and floorboards leave visitors in no doubt that The Hoods has enjoyed a glorious history.
The property, on the market for £495,000, also has plenty to offer gardeners, with a well-established 165ft plot. And of course the annexe has great potential as a granny flat or accommodation for teenagers preparing to fly the nest.
Divorcé Roger, 71, moved to Essex from London to be near his daughter, who ran a local pub. She has moved back to London and Roger, who now less mobile, is selling up because he needs a home with no stairs.
Most of his record collection has been sold, but what’s left would be the envy of any music fan – a reminder of Roger’s career in the business when he was the publicist on tours for Marvin Gaye, James Brown and David Soul of Starsky And Hutch fame.
He recalls with a chuckle: ‘I was there when Marvin famously stood up Princess Margaret. He was performing at the Lakeside Country Club in Surrey and she requested he had dinner with her before the show.
‘He was staying at the Britannia hotel in Mayfair and we just couldn’t get him out of his room, so Princess Margaret was kept waiting at the table.

'We had to ring Berry Gordy, the top guy at Motown, to persuade Marvin to come down, but when we got to the venue, Princess Margaret had gone and Marvin started complaining that she had stood him up!’