A Victorian manor house in Worcestershire first built by the man who went on to create Chateau Impney could return to residential use in a new guise.

Rigby Hall in Bromsgrove has planning permission for three new detached four-bedroom executive homes in the grounds, while the district council has confirmed that the hall itself could convert into six high quality residential apartments.

From 1999 until six years ago, it served as the Bromsgrove office of first Garvin’s then their acquirer, Barnett Waddingham, the UK’s largest independent provider of actuarial, administration and consultancy services.

Now property consultancy Fisher German is selling the hall as a residential development opportunity on behalf of former Garvin’s actuaries. Best and final offers are invited urgently.

Bromsgrove District Council granted planning in May for three detached two-storey houses, the largest of 1,883 sq ft.

Fisher German partner Rob Champion said: “We also have proposed floor plans for six x one- and two-bedroom apartments in the original hall, one of each on each of the three storeys.

“There’s a real opportunity for the successful purchaser to deliver an attractive residential development in this popular location with excellent links to Bromsgrove train station and the motorway network.”

Rigby Hall was originally built in 1838 as the first mansion of John Corbett, the son of a wealthy bargee, who later amassed his own fortune after turning the derelict salt works at Stoke Prior into a successful company that produced 160,000 tons of salt a year.

The ‘Salt King’ used his wealth to build schools, houses and hospitals in Stoke Prior, and donated funds to the restoration of churches and cathedrals in the area.

Charmed by Versailles and the French chateaux of the Loire Valley, he built Chateau Impney – completed in 1875 – with his wife, the beautiful French governess Anna Eliza O’Meara.