The couple lived at The Malthouse near Steyning for more than 60 years and their family have now put the property on the market with an asking price of £1,750,000.
The Oliviers bought the farmhouse not long after marrying in 1961 and added extensions and outbuildings which have recently been used as holiday lets.
The seven-bedroom property features three reception rooms, five bathrooms, indoor swimming pool, tennis courts, maze, apple orchard, paddock and outbuildings.
London estate agents TLC are handling the sale. Sales director Toby Brown says that The Malthouse, nestled in the South Downs, “has been the most perfect family home for two of the world’s most famous and revered actors.” Laurence and Joan first bought the former Elizabethan farmouse for their parents, but decided to move in themselves after developing and landscaping the plot. Their 30-year marriage encompassed raising three children, running the Chichester Festival Theatre and founding the National Theatre Company at the Old Vic.
Estate agents TLC say: “Sir Laurence spent the last years of his life playing memorable character roles in films between precious times hosting friends and tending the gardens he designed at his beloved Malthouse, until he passed away there peacefully in his sleep in 1989.” Originally two small cottages farming malt and selling it to trading vessels on the nearby River Adur, Laurence bought two surrounding fields and spent several years crafting the 4 ½ acres, which the property now overlooks today.
The Malthouse hosted several celebrities over the 60 years the Oliviers were there, including Sir Ian McKellen while he rehearsed for Macbeth with Olivier. The 2018 documentary Nothing Like a Dame, featuring Joan Plowright with Dame Eileen Atkins, Dame Judi Dench and Dame Maggie Smith, was filmed at the house.
The property’s snug dining room, with dark beamed panelling and cosy fireplace also hosted Sir Laurence’s 80th birthday party with 22 guests including such illustrious stage and screen names as Richardsons, Redgraves, Mills and Wagners.
Joan died in January this year aged 95.
5. The Malthouse
The house hosted many stars of stage and screen over the 60 years that Laurence and Joan lived there Photo: Contributed
6. The Malthouse
Legendary actors Dame Joan Plowright with her husband Sir Laurence Olivier Photo: Contributed
7. The Malthouse
The 2018 documentary Nothing Like a Dame, featuring Joan Plowright with Dame Eileen Atkins, Dame Judi Dench and Dame Maggie Smith, was filmed at The Malthouse Photo: Contributed
8. The Malthouse
Sir Laurence spent the last years of his life playing memorable character roles in films between precious times hosting friends and tending the gardens he designed at The Malthouse, until he passed away there in his sleep in 1989 Photo: Contributed