The English manor where billionaire Richard Branson grew up just hit the market for $5 million — take a look inside

United Kingdom Sotheby's International Realty

• Sir Richard Branson, 70, a tycoon with a net worth of about $4.5 billion, dreamed up his first business venture in a red-brick home in a quiet English village called Shamley Green.
• The house, located about 30 miles southwest of London, just hit the market for $5.2 million.
• Take a look inside the four-bedroom, three-bathroom property, which Branson described in his autobiography as a "rambling building with many barns and sheds and some land."
• The estate known as Tanyards Farm sits on 1.4 acres of land, where Branson's first business was a Christmas tree farm.

Rabbits wrecked Sir Richard Branson's first entrepreneurial venture.

Branson, the Virgin Group tycoon, planted Christmas trees in the backyard of his red-brick home in the English countryside when he was just a teenager. He planned to sell them at a profit, but rabbits ate up the saplings, decimating his merchandise.

His next venture? Selling mail-order records. In 1971, at age 21, Branson was arrested for a tax evasion scheme involving the records. His mother posted his bail — the very same red-brick manor.

Those failures only bolstered Branson's business savvy.

By 1972, just one year later, Branson used his mail-order business as a springboard to found Virgin Records — a name which came from the conceit that he and his cohorts were "virgins" in business. They had their first major hit with Mike Oldfield's album "Tubular Bells" in 1973. The company went on to sign the Sex Pistols, Phil Collins, and the Rolling Stones.

Today, the Virgin empire also includes an airline, hotels, a space tourism company, and more. Forbes estimates Branson's net worth to be $4.5 billion.

Now, the red-brick home that played such an essential role in the making of a billionaire is for sale. It just hit the market for $5.2 billion.

Known as Tanyards Farm, the 1.4-acre property is 30 miles southwest of London in the quiet village Shamley Green. Jason Corbett of UK Sotheby's International Realty holds the listing.

Keep reading for a look inside the home where Branson dreamed up his first business plans.