Notley Abbey, the Buckinghamshire home of theatrical knight Sir Laurence Olivier during his 20-year tempestuous marriage to Gone with the Wind star Vivien Leigh, is for sale for something over three and a half million.

The seven-bedroom grade I listed house, on the outskirts of Long Crendon, stands in 70 acres at the end of a half mile drive bordered with lime trees planted by the actress at some point during their 15 year tenure at the abbey from 1944 to 1959.

Notley was one of the largest and richest abbeys in the Oxford diocese before the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII in the mid-16th century. The king showed lamentable disregard for the monks' hospitality, considering he had often stayed there with Cardinal Wolsey on their way to Oxford before poor Wolsey also fell out of royal favour.

The monks named the abbey after the nut trees in that neck of the woods. Several centuries later, the actor for whom all the world was a stage was taken with them too and planted a romantic nut tree walk at Notley in homage to his beautiful wife. She was devestated when her adored home had to be sold due to her impending divorce from Olivier.

The house now has four reception rooms, including a 39 ft sitting room and 36ft drawing room, as well as a dining room and study and extensive domestic quarters including a boot room and parlour and pantry and walk-in larder and servery. The present owners bought the abbey three years ago and have won planning consent to remodel the kitchen wing and the extensive master suite above in a different configuration in line with current ideas on style.

Upstairs, three of the first-floor bedrooms currently have ensuite bathrooms. Other than those, there are three more bathrooms and a further four bedrooms plus two sitting rooms on the first floor.

Meanwhile the owners have updated the two-bedroom, two-bathroom guest cottage in the grounds and tend to use that if they come to Notley on a flying visit.

The 70 acres also include an impressive grade I listed barn, stables, a tennis court, walled garden, orchards and beautiful walks rolling down to the River Thame where they have 300 yards of double bank fishing and 278 yards of single bank fishing.

Joint agents Knight Frank and Savills say the property is quite outstanding but with a further half million to a million spent on remodelling parts of the interior it would become a really convenient grade I listed house' and that would truly put it in a class of its own.