Interior & Grounds

The house has five en-suite bedrooms, a games room, a drawing room and a dining room, as well as a big kitchen/dining room. On the ground floor a flagged entrance hall leads to a galleried landing which features an “oeil de beouf” window which lights the room by day and a large hall lantern for the evenings. There is a view to the croquet lawn and a door opening to the dining room with its ten foot antique pine table, massive sideboard and honey coloured Cotswold stone floor. The kitchen floor echoes the dining room, and it is very well equipped with Shaker -style units including a central island for food preparation, a vast American-style fridge freezer with ice-maker, a range cooker and two dishwashers. The kitchen has doors to a pretty terrace, and the vine covered pagoda is the perfect place for summer dining and entertaining. To the left of the kitchen is the utility room and downstairs cloakroom, with space for muddy boots and wet macs by the back door leading to the garden.

The house lends itself well to both quiet family holidays and groups of friends looking for a civilized weekend of dinner parties and general merriment. Folding doors at the far end of the dining room lead to an oak-floored games room, which has a huge plasma television with surround sound, a wall of bookshelves, and a comfortable seating area; this is a wonderful room in which to sit and chat over tea, coffee or an evening drink. For larger gatherings the folding doors can be pushed back and two additional tables added to the dining table (this can be further supplemented by a table seating ten in the kitchen). A French door from this room gives access to the north terrace for enjoying finer weather.

The large and elegant drawing room has a Gothic arched fireplace in stone, a high-pitched ceiling and massive beams. It occupies the width of the house and has great views to the north and south terraces, lawn and flower beds, wooded border and trees on the grounds. This room is decorated in rosy-red, ochre and off-white, with a huge ottoman between the fire and the long cushioned sofa, and also comfortable armchairs and an eighteenth century bureau. It is a great place in which to read and relax, or to watch a movie when there's sport on in the games room.

There are three bedrooms on the ground floor, all with en-suite bathrooms or shower rooms. The double room has two windows and a French door leading out onto the south terrace. The magnificent king-size four-poster faces the south terrace and is hung with beautiful hand-embroidered curtains. There are comfortable chairs and a desk: it's a good place to retreat to when there's a lot going on elsewhere. The en-suite shower is big enough for two. There is a twin room with a French feel: the two nineteenth century French beds and Louis XVI chairs are upholstered in a red and white, matching the curtains, and it also has a luxury en-suite shower room. The third bedroom, with two windows and a French door facing west onto the north terrace, has twin mahogany four-posters and a beautiful nineteenth century secretaire. Like the other two bedrooms, it has comfortable chairs and a writing table. The en suite bathroom is tiled in beige marble: the bath has a Niagara tap and an overhead shower.

The other two bedrooms are on the first floor, occupying the full width of the house, with windows facing in both directions. The twin room is furnished with handsome antiques and has an en-suite bathroom, tiled in Carrara marble. The fifth bedroom is large and impressive, with a high pitched ceiling and six foot wide half tester bed. The colour scheme in the room is pretty blues and off whites. Up a flight of narrow stairs is the large en-suite bath and shower room, with a teak-topped vanity unit and bath surround. Both bedrooms are places of peace and tranquility, perfect as a refuge if there is a party going on downstairs.

The drive to the house is flanked by yew hedges leading to a formal graveled forecourt with box hedges and topiary, and a hug magnolia growing up over the front door. There are gardens on both sides of the house, and the north and south terraces are perfectly positioned to get sun in the morning and afternoon. Children will love the swing and seesaw; grown-ups will enjoy croquet or reading in the hammock. In addition to exclusive use of the private garden attached to the house, guests also have the run of extensive grounds around the properties on the holiday estate. This includes lawns, an attractive walled garden, a tunnel of wisteria and apple trees running the length of the main garden, a Yew walk that is growing into an arched colonnade, and many beautiful borders and beds festooned with roses and clematis, lilies and euphorbias, and many other species as the garden is planted with new bulbs every winter to make every spring resplendent.