Should the new Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton wish to spend some of the £100 million that he will earn over the next five years, he might consider Harmston Hall in Lincolnshire.

This Grade II* listed house six miles from Lincoln, for sale for £4.5 million, is owned by Peter Sowerby, a property developer who is also the 2008 Historic Formula One champion (Class C). The two men will meet for the first time in Monaco next month when they collect their respective trophies at the FIA gala dinner.

Sowerby, 43, has a fabulous collection of 20 classic cars and racing cars, including Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Jaguars, Williams and Benettons, in the basement; the room began as a garage but now has more in common with a centrally heated hotel suite.

Harmston is one of a line of fine squires' houses on the escarpment that runs almost the length of Lincolnshire. When Sowerby bought it in 1996, the property had last been used as a county mental health institution. His interest was in the grounds, which were covered in huts and hospital blocks that he demolished to build 150 houses, all now sold or let.

He had only three viewings in nine months when he put the main house, with 18 bedrooms and 43 acres, on the market for £150,000 later the same year. He did not receive a single offer: “No one was interested. They thought it was too big for a house - which it isn't - or too big a job - which it wasn't.” So he decided to undertake the work himself, at weekends and at night. “The valuers said ‘just give it away' - it was a millstone around the site's neck. But it was a fantastic property in reasonable structural order, only it had not been decorated and needed converting back from offices into a single home.”

He spent “quite a bit” on the house in the process but is moving to allow more space for his car collection and to have a separate office in the grounds. He is not going far - to Caythorpe Hall, near Grantham, which featured in Bricks & Mortar in 2006.

Harmston could soon be brought within commuting range if a plan by National Express East Coast for a high-speed rail link from Lincoln to London King's Cross is approved; it would cut the journey from two hours to one and a half hours.

When Sowerby left school aged 17, his mother recognised his practical skills and pointed to an advertisement for an assistant to the managing director of a small building firm. Sowerby explains: “The boss had lost his licence and wanted a chauffeur. In a few months he had taught me all he had learnt in 15 years.” It was not all plain sailing, however: “I made my first million when I was 24 but lost the lot within a year.” Since then he has rebuilt the business and become a successful racing driver, winning UK and European championships with Ferrari.

Before he bought the house, the grand front door on the south front was so matted in ivy that it could not have been opened for years. He says: “One of my builders had a large goat. He chomped his way through yards of undergrowth and conifers until we suddenly found a balustraded terrace running the length of the garden.” At the end is a four-columned monument that he says was given to the Edwardian owner, a Major Cockburn, by Kaiser Bill. Harmston Hall itself has a date of 1710 on a rainwaterhead. For sheer beauty of proportions and detail, the south front compares with Belton House, near Grantham. It is built of the loveliest golden stone that you could ever wish to find.

Sowerby reopened the north drive, which runs past a newly restored chain of small lakes. The house is entered through an 1890s porch with steps leading to a large hall. The woodwork has an Arts and Crafts flourish, while the hall is dominated by a large marble fireplace. This opens into a large drawing room with massive beams and windows on three sides. A sitting room and dining room retain their 1710 panelling; at the far end is a 35ft-long billiard room with grand mahogany doors. The whole family - Sowerby, his wife, Sallie, and four daughters, Georgia, 17, India, 15, and twins Poppy and Amber, 10 - lived on this floor while builders busied themselves above and below.

Beyond the basement he installed an indoor Roman swimming pool with columns and painted sky, spa bath and sauna. Now it is a large-screen TV room where the children have sleepovers; the sauna has become the laundry. Photographs of Ferraris are everywhere. Next door is the 30ft-square kitchen-breakfast room, where he has lowered the ceiling and raised the floor to make it more cosy, introducing a giant stone arch over the Aga.

The master bedroom on the first floor has grand views down to Belvoir Castle and on a clear day as far as Matlock, Derbyshire. Almost every bedroom has a bathroom attached.

The hard work has been done, the roof is in first-class order, lawns and yew hedges are in perfect trim. All that is needed is a large family burning to party all year round - or a racing driver with a large cheque burning a hole in his pocket.

Fast facts

What you get: Grade II* listed Queen Anne house with 18 bedrooms and 43 acres. In all, 20,816 sq ft.

Where is it:

Six miles from Lincoln (trains to King's Cross take from 1hr 52min), 14 miles from Newark (King's Cross 1hr 17min).

Price: £4.5m through Savills , 020-7499 8644, 01522 508908

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