If Blain wishes he had heeded that advice, he’s not admitting it. His mother and his wife, Jennifer, said much the same, but he didn’t listen to them, either. “We had shareholdings in some tech companies that were expected to go big,” he says. “We should have been able to pay this off in a few years. It was not to be, of course. It was like somebody hit the off switch. You can look back in hindsight and think, ‘If I’d listened, we wouldn’t be in this pickle’, but at least nobody has died.”

Blain, 46, lives with his wife and their three daughters, Kezia, 12, Zanthe, 9, and Talia, 5, in a four-bedroom house in Henley, where Jennifer owns a Montessori school. “She has an element of resentment and I have an element of guilt,” he says of their current predicament, but still he can’t dampen his relentless optimism: “Just when you think nobody is going to buy, you might get two buyers and the price will go up.”

Certainly, in a normal market, the semi-detached house would be a desirable one, with its natural stone, underfloor heating, state-of-the-art light and sound options, and sleek black kitchen (complete with £900 Porsche-designed sink). Some might find it overdone, or want more parking space or privacy, but nobody could knock the view — or the enthusiasm of the vendor.

The Old Bakehouse is for sale for £1.35m with Marchand Petit; 01803 839190, www.marchandpetit.co.uk ; theoldbakehouse-tuckenhay.com

Is he doing it right? Sarah Beeny's verdict

With just about any property, the harsh reality is simple. If it does not sell, then it is simply on for too much money.

While you have to admire the spirit of Jonathan Blain, I can't help feeling that rather than adding to the scattergun approach to marketing he has taken, it would be more productive to take a step back and look at the whole property from a distance.

The asking price may have been substantially reduced from £2.75m to £1.35m, creating what appears to be a £1.5m discount — but this is only true if it was worth close to £3m in the first place. Personally, I think most buyers are more savvy these days. The Old Bakehouse was terribly overpriced, and that only raises the question: “Is it still too expensive?” The asking price may need to come down even more before any prospective buyers will believe that they are picking up a bargain. Few will be fooled by marketing gimmicks.

The real problem with this property, aside from the valuation, is its location. Look at the competition and it is obvious why the Old Bakehouse has not sold. In this area of Devon, the same money would buy a house of a similar size with no near neighbours and lots of land. This period property may have been charmingly restored, and have river frontage and a walled garden, but that is just not enough to make it worth many hundreds of thousands of pounds more than rival properties on the market. Had the refurbishment not recently been completed, it would be tempting to suggest that the owner divide the property into two separate and more affordable houses. Ultimately, it may be more effective for Blain to remove the listing from all websites for a month or so and relaunch it at a more realistic price, so that it appears fresh to the market.

Sarah Beeny, who made her name on the Channel 4 series Property Ladder, has just launched the property website www.tepilo.com

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