Agatha Christie: Wallingford home on sale for £2.75m

Agatha Christie lived at Winterbrook House in Wallingford from 1934 until her death in 1976

The house where Dame Agatha Christie wrote some of her most famous crime novels is up for sale with a guide price of more than £2.75m.

The creator of fictional sleuths Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple moved into Winterbrook House in Wallingford, Oxfordshire, in 1934.

She lived at the Grade II-listed property, which comes complete with a blue plaque, until her death in 1976.

The current owners described it as a "wonderful family home".

The five-bedroom house faces on to the River Thames and has a small cottage attached.

Gregor Kleinknecht and Karen Holterman have lived there for 20 years with their two sons.

Christie created Hercule Poirot, who has been portrayed by Albert Finney, David Suchet, Kenneth Branagh and many more

The house is thought to be the model for the home of Miss Marple (played here by Joan Hickson)

Mr Kleinknecht said: "Winterbrook House obviously has a wealth of history and it's been a privilege to live somewhere that has such a special place in the hearts of so many.

"There was no blue plaque on the house when we moved in and we weren't aware of the Agatha Christie connection when we first saw the house - we only found out later on.

"Most importantly it has been a wonderful family home.

"It has been a very happy place for Agatha Christie and so it has been for our family and we will of course be sad to leave.

"We have enjoyed our time here immensely. However the time has to come to pass it on to someone new."

The house comes complete with a blue plaque

Stephen Christie-Miller, head of residential sales at Savills Henley, said: "Agatha Christie is one of Britain's most loved authors and it's a genuine opportunity for someone to own a piece of literary history.

"She wrote some of her bestselling novels in the house and Winterbrook itself is thought to have been the model for Danemead - Miss Marple's house in the village of St Mary Mead."

The house has a guide price of more than £2.75m

The current owners have lived at the property for 20 years

Christie, who bought the house with her archaeologist husband Max Mallowan, has had an estimated two billion sales worldwide.

Her official website claims only The Bible and Shakespeare have sold more.

A new big screen version of her novel Death on the Nile, starring Kenneth Branagh, Annette Bening, Russell Brand, Gal Gadot, and Letitia Wright, is due to be released next year.

It includes a study, library and drawing room

Agatha Christie

• Born 15 September 1890, Torquay

• Died 12 January 1976, Wallingford

• Sold an estimated 300 million books during her lifetime

• Published 83 books

• Notable works include the novels Murder on the Orient Express (1934), The A.B.C. Murders (1936), And Then There Were None (1939), and the plays The Mousetrap (1952) and Witness for the Prosecution (1953)

• Made a Dame of the British Empire in 1971