THE house that once provided a recording studio for the likes of David Bowie, The Smiths and U2 has gone on sale for £3.85m.

Ridgeway House on Runwick Lane, Farnham, was renovated to make space for the recording studio in the 1980s by its owners Andy and Fran Fernbach.

Jacobs Studio, as it was known, was named after a rare breed of domestic sheep local to the area and provided a rural setting for artists just a stone’s throw away from London.

Edward Cunningham from Knight Frank, the current estate agents for the property, said: “I think there were quite a few studios in the Surrey area in the 1980s.

“It became a bit of a trend to get away from London and come to somewhere like this to get a bit of peace and quiet when recording.”

Ridge Farm Studio, a barn in Capel, is another example of Surrey’s previous recording popularity.

Abba, Queen and Ozzy Osbourne all favoured this space for its brilliant acoustics and warm hospitality.

Gold record discs hang on the hallway walls of the building which is now an event and banquet venue, and guests are encouraged to listen to the famous artists’ music through the tannoy speakers from the original studio control room in the lounge.

Other past studios notable in and around Surrey include:

n Strawberry Studios in Dorking, which was opened by 10cc’s Graham Goldman and Eric Stewart and named after the Beatles song Strawberry Fields Forever;

n Surrey Sound in Leatherhead, which was visited by the likes of The Police when recording their first three albums; and

n The Farm in Chiddingfold which drew bands such as The Cure.

Famous with the stars, Jacobs Studio spanned three decades of music from older artists such as Stevie Wonder and Status Quo to newer ones such as Robbie Williams.

The residential nature of the studios also proved extremely convenient for the recording of full albums, with famous examples including The Queen Is Dead by The Smiths, Woman In Red by Stevie Wonder and Pablo Honey by Radiohead.

And with such a famous repertoire of artists passing through, there were bound to be some stories to come out of the place.

Rumour has it that a drunken Rick Parfitt of Status Quo stumbled into the wrong studio by mistake, sitting in on The Smith’s session.

Another story goes that Johnny Marr of The Smiths once tried to steal the master tapes in the early hours of the morning, and another reports a certain, un-named band front man once drove a tractor into the swimming pool after a stint on the A31.

After 30 years’ hosting artists, the Fernbachs decided to move on to new things and the property was sold in 2006.

The new owners renovated the studio into a gym, which is how the property looks today.

The Georgian-style house spans 9,000 square feet and features an impressive seven bedrooms, six bathrooms and seven reception rooms.

Ridgeway House also boasts an outdoor swimming pool, an all-weather clay tennis court and a garden cottage.