Property description

A charming farmhouse in an idyllic setting amidst the beautiful North Dorset countryside with extensive grounds, a large outbuilding/annexe & offering tremendous potential.


Property
A most attractive former farmhouse built of mellow honey coloured limestone external elevations under clay tiled roofs. The original house is thought to date back to the mid-18th Century and has been added to and improved at various times over the years but still retains many period character features. The idyllic rural setting, Southerly outlook and extensive grounds all help to make this a really lovely country home with a charming cottagey feel.

The rather quirkily laid out accommodation is arranged over two floors and allows for considerable versatility as to how it is utilised and enjoyed with scope to create an annexe. Although the house is well-presented, it offers the opportunity for a new owner to update and alter it to suit their own needs. There is planning consent (North Dorset 2/2015/ 1281) to extend the current first floor to provide an additional bedroom and shower room.

On the ground floor a large entrance hall with an antique nail studded wooden planked door leads to the welcoming reception hall and on to the drawing room and sitting room, both of which have woodburning stoves. The kitchen has a walk-in larder and is open plan to the breakfast room which has an oil fired Aga. The good-sized family room has a woodburner and gives access to a garden room which has southerly views over the gardens as do all the principal rooms. On this level there is also a secondary kitchen, bathroom with a separate shower, utility/boot room, cloakroom and rear hall. Two staircases access the first floor which has four bedrooms, a bathroom and loft room.

Outbuilding
Adjacent to the main house is a particularly large outbuilding divided into three distinct areas including a building with stone external elevations which in the past has been used as a business/work facility but would be equally suitable for use as additional living accommodation. This consists of a sitting room which is open plan to a sun room, a kitchen/dining room, bathroom and entrance porch whilst upstairs is a large boarded loft room that could be converted (subject to the necessary consents) into bedroom accommodation. In the early 1990’s planning consent was granted (now lapsed) to convert this building into two holiday units.

To the rear is an insulated triple bay timber pole barn/garage with power and light, an adjoining timber barn/workshop/livestock shed and a lean-to store.

Outside
The extensive grounds amount to around nine acres and these comprise of a long tree-lined track through an area of amenity land and past a productive vegetable and cut flower garden with raised beds and a large greenhouse to a generous gravelled drive providing ample parking with a pavioured terrace, shrub borders and a gate to a further area of parking and outside storage.

On the south side of the house is an attractive graveled terrace with stone pathways, a low retaining wall, wooden pergola, wooden deck and a pleasant outlook over the gardens which have areas of lawn, shrubs and an interesting variety of mature, ornamental, fruit, nut and specimen trees. There are also two areas of paddock land, two wildlife ponds and a long wooded strip on the eastern boundary.

Situation
The property is peacefully situated in the most wonderful secluded rural location set well back from a quiet country lane and is surrounded by the glorious North Dorset countryside of the Blackmore Vale with views towards Duncliffe Hill and its ancient wood that’s rich in flora and fauna and thought to have been the inspiration for Thomas Hardy’s Woodlanders. Within a 1.5 mile radius can be found the three villages of Stour Provost, Stour Row and East Stour, a community primary school, a well-respected dining pub; The Kings Arms and the award winning Udder Farm Shop with its excellent delicatessen, butchery and coffee shop. The property is within 4.5 miles of both Gillingham and Shaftesbury each of which offer a choice of supermarkets, local services, leisure facilities and well performing secondary schools with the former town also having a station providing mainline rail connections to London (Waterloo) whilst the latter is famous for the steeply cobbled street of Gold Hill.

Located within easy reach of the A30, the region’s other principle towns including Bath, Blandford, Salisbury, Sherborne, Warminster, Wincanton and Yeovil are all accessible as is the South Coast and A303 for London and the motorway network. Many families are drawn to the area by the large number of highly regarded schools in both the private and state sectors. Positioned in the heart of the beautiful, gently undulating Blackmore Vale, Old Acres Farmhouse is the perfect base from which to explore the surrounding countryside and engage in a variety of rural pursuits such as walking, riding and cycling as well as traditional field sports. There are golf courses at Salisbury, Sherborne, Tollard Royal, Wincanton and Warminster and racing at Bath, Salisbury and Wincanton. There are several excellent dining pubs in the vicinity and many places of interest such as the Longleat Estate, Stourhead Gardens, Sherborne Castle and Wilton House.

EPC Energy Efficiency Rating
Current: 31
Please refer to the agents for the complete Energy Performance Certificate

Agent’s Note

Property Features :

• Lovely Peaceful Rural yet Accessible Location
• Four Reception Rooms
• Four Bedrooms & Two Bathrooms
• Kitchen with Larder & Adjoining Breakfast Room
• 9 Acres of Garden, Amenity & Paddock Land