THE new owners of the Grade II listed country house that inspired A A Milne when he wrote the Winnie the Pooh stories want to refurbish it.

The 16th century timber-framed Cotchford Farm, where Rolling Stones founder Brian Jones was found dead in the swimming pool in the 1960s, has problems with damp caused by previous alterations using modern materials that are not “breathable”.

It is feared that if the damp is left untreated, it could cause “irreversible damage” to the historic fabric of the building. Refurbishment using “traditional techniques” will help provide a “secure future for the historic asset”, according to a heritage report.

The owners, named as Mr and Mrs de Mestre, have applied to Wealden District Council for listed building consent for “refurbishment works and minor alterations to the internal layout” at Cotchford Farm, which is on a private lane in Hartfield, close to the Ashdown Forest. They also hope to modernise the bathrooms, which were put in the early 20th century, and repair the roof, including replacing broken tiles.

“Hopefully, the work would improve the building,” said Christine Butler, a heritage architect at Hampshire-based specialist company Plan A, which is acting as agent for the owners. “The alterations would deal with the fabric of the building.”

Cotchford Farm, sold in June last year for £1.8million, was bought by AA Milne as a country home in 1925. It was the childhood adventures of his son Christopher Robin that inspired his father’s stories about the fictional teddy bear. Locations in the stories, including the 500-acre wood, Galleon’s Lap and Pooh Corner, are all based on nearby places, including Pooh Bridge. The farmhouse was a short distance from a wooden bridge over a small stream, which the Milnes had to cross to reach the forest. It was on the bridge that Christopher Robin and his nanny first played the game of Poohsticks.

A statue of Christopher Robin still stands in the garden, as well as the character Owl, and there is also a sundial with images of Winnie the Pooh characters carved into its base, along with the initials AAM and the lines, “This warm and sunny spot belongs to Pooh, And here he wonders what it’s time to do.”

In the past year, Christopher Robin has been the subject of two Hollywood movies. Goodbye Christopher Robin, starring Domhnall Gleeson, Margot Robbie and Kelly Macdonald, was released last year and explored the sometimes difficult relationship between AA Milne and his son. And last month, Disney’s Christopher Robin, a CGI comedy-drama starring Ewan McGregor and Hayley Attwell, was released. It follows Christopher Robin as he grows up and loses his imagination, only to be reunited with his old friend Winnie the Pooh.

Milne died at Cotchford Farm in 1956, and in 1968 it was bought by Brian Jones, founder of legendary rock band the Rolling Stones. The following year, the 27-year-old musician was found unconscious at the bottom of the outdoor swimming pool by his girlfriend, Anna Wohlin, at midnight. By the time doctors arrived, he was pronounced dead.

Cotchford Farm has six bedrooms, five bathrooms and four reception rooms over three floors. Dating back to the mid-16th century, when it’s thought it was built with wattle-and-daub walls and had a thatched roof, it has exposed beams, oak-framed mullion windows, drop-latch doors and flagstone floors.

With nine-and-a-half acres of land, the grounds include landscaped gardens, a paddock, a field and woodland, a summer house and an ornamental fish pond. Wealden District Council will make a decision on the listed building consent in due course.

See Weekend for details of a walk in the area.