Cannock's White House on the market for £500k
Hundreds of couples have been married there and thousands more have been taught within its elegant portals.
Now one of Cannock's best-known buildings is on the market with a £500,000 price tag. The White House, an imposing Grade II-listed property in the town centre, has been declared surplus by South Staffordshire College and is up for sale. Two companies have already bid to snap up the premises, in High Green.
The building has gone though several different guises since it was built as a family home in 1783 for Sir Robert Fisher, with the distinction of being the first house in Cannock to have its own water pump.
Among its occupants was Captain William Cary, who attended nearby Rugeley Grammar School and became Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire. Also one of the town's biggest ever employers, businessman Frederick Gilpin, who owned several factories in the district.
During the 1800s, the White House became a ladies' boarding school and changed hands several more times until it was bought in 1927 by Cannock Urban District Council who opened part of the building as a registry office.
In the 1980s it was acquired by the county council for Cannock Chase Technical College.
Russell Rigby, of Rigby & Co, which is handling the sale, said it was highly unusual for a building set in such substantial grounds to be found in a town centre.
Mr Rigby said: "The place is an absolute oasis, the setting is beautiful. You don't find grounds like this in any town centre, let alone Cannock.
"It could be returned to residential use again although the offers we've had so far have all been from commercial businesses."
The college is making an area of land around the property available for parking.
The house will remain on the market until the end of January.
