The Georgian manor house which once belonged to industrialist David Brown of Aston Martin and tractor fame can be all yours for £4.95m - half a million cheaper than when it came on the market with a guide price of £5.5m at the end of 2016.

The manufacturer, whose initials provided the DB marque for the sports cars that helped to propel James Bond to the top of the box office ratings, bought Chequers Manor in 1961.

The house stands in 67 acres at Cadmore End. It overlooks the fabulous Hambleden Valley.

The late great author and playwright Sir John Mortimer described the whole area surrounding Chequers Manor and his own home in Turville as Chiantishire. His much travelled actress daughter Emily said it was the best place on earth.

The manor dates from 1271 when it was owned by the Grand Usher of the Exchequer. The present house is thought to stem from the 1800s. The original was destroyed by fire.

There have been many eminent owners over the years – preachers, farmers, admirals, business tycoons. For 15 years leading up to 2009 it was owned by Texan businessman Roger Lilly. When he first put it on the market for £4m in 2008, Cherie Blair came to view it five times.

The wife of the former prime minister seemed particularly impressed by the tennis courts. As well as a hard court outside, there’s a floodit court inside. Rain never interrupts play at Chequers Manor.

Tony Blair accompanied his lawyer wife on two of her visits. Mr Lilly was quoted in the Express as saying “Tony said if Cherie liked it they would buy it.”

Seems she couldn’t have liked it enough to turn down the chance of buying Sir John Gielgud’s Grade I listed house South Pavilion at Wotton Underwood which had come on the market for the same money.

Following Mrs Blair’s fifth visit accompanied by a builder, the vendors didn’t hear any more. Disappointed by the loss of what they hoped was a sale, the Lillys took their country estate off the market but the following year changed their minds and put it back on again but this time at the reduced price of £3.5m which must have been galling due to the amount of money they’d lavished on the house during their 15 year stewardship.

When they first took up residence in 1994, they spent £700,000 on upgrades, Mr Lilly told journalists.

The next owners revamped the whole interior to let in lots more natural light. They probably paid almost as much as their predecessors to put their own stamp on the property.

Today the main house has three principal reception rooms designed to take full advantage of the views across to the Chiltern hills.

There are four hotel standard bedroom suites including the master with dressing room and terrace; the designer kitchen/breakfast room has bi-fold doors to open up the space to the garden, the old floorboards have been replaced with French oak, there’s a laundry on the lower ground floor along with masses of storage.

The grounds include a three bedroom lodge, the old stable block has been converted to create two annexes with a total of seven more bedrooms. There are also two open plan kitchens in the old stables and a gym.

Elsewhere in the grounds is the new stable block, a swimming pool, garaging for eight cars with a hydraulic lift to park one on a lower level, a commercial sized green house and of course there are paddocks galore: it’s a fabulous country estate in a superb position and the price is half a million cheaper than it would have been 18 months ago.

*Chequers Manor is for sale through Savills in Henley.