Kylie Minogue's country mansion

Apr 15, 2008, 10:20 GMT

An undated handout photo, made available 29 February 2008 by Hocking Stuart Real Estate, of the view from one of the balconies in Pop princess Kylie Minogue\'s holiday house on French Island in South Australia. The 221 acre property, about two hours south east of Melbourne, includes a lavishly renovated four-bedroom home and is up for sale, expected to fetch between US $1.8 million, around 1,2 million euro. EPA/HOCKING STUART REAL ESTATE

Kylie Minogue is set to buy a £3 million country mansion.

The pop princess viewed the riverside Tudor property in the idyllic British county of Sussex last week and is close to putting in an offer in a bid to cheer herself up after failing to crack the US.

A source said: "Kylie was really upset when her album 'X' failed to break into the Billboard 200 chart.

"When she got back to the UK she decided it was the right time to treat herself. She has been thinking about buying a home in the English countryside for a while and thought that would be the thing to put a smile on her face."

Kylie settled on Sussex after her close friend Robbie Williams, who already has a house in the county, recommended the area to her.

The diminutive star wants a place she can call home before she turns 40 next month and has her heart set on the 15th century mansion, which boasts its own chapel.

Last year, Kylie - who has battled and overcome breast cancer - revealed she wanted a country retreat to escape to.

She said: "I've started to look for a property in the country. I do have this need to reclaim myself a little bit, to do things to make me feel whole, which is why I'm doing all these things such as horseback riding and taking walks in the country and looking for a place outside London to chill."

(C) BANG Media International