Description
An equestrian estate including a Grade II listed 17th-century farmhouse in a courtyard with three original agricultural barns - two converted to three and four bedroom accommodation - with two annexes, a stable yard with 20 stables and outbuildings, a manège, a lunging ring set in 26 acres of formal gardens and paddocks in an AONB. A cobbled courtyard is enclosed by four period agricultural buildings with clay tiled roofs, one of which is the 17th-century, timber framed, brick and flint farmhouse, the front of which overlooks a south facing terrace and garden. Beyond the courtyard is a stable yard and further equestrian facilities, all of which, including the drive, are surrounded by paddocks, overlooking open countryside. The farmhouses south façade has gabled dormer windows in the roof and a characteristic 17th-century brick chimney; the rear, with a catslide roof, overlooks the courtyard. The interior retains original features, notably exposed wall and ceiling timbers and some early two-plank doors upstairs. A recent brick extension on the west end forms a separate annexe. The unconverted east barn retains its original timber framing; the other two barns have been extensively restored and modernised to provide living accommodation, including an independent second annexe.
About The House Cont'd Under a porch, the farmhouse front door leads almost directly to the sitting room or kitchen; a courtyard door opens to a lobby accessing the kitchen or hallway. The hallway has the staircase and accesses the cloakroom/ laundry, which has a door to the farmhouse annexe. The two reception rooms are at the front of the house. The staircase accesses the principal bedroom suite, bedroom two and a shower room. A loft room is reached via a ladder. The farmhouse annexe, accessed from the courtyard, opens to the sitting/dining room
- open plan to the kitchen area - with double doors to the conservatory. Barns one and two are accessed from the courtyard and open to double storey, vaulted sitting areas with open plan kitchens. Both have walkways accessing the bedrooms; barn one has four bedrooms on the first floor, barn two has one downstairs and two upstairs bedrooms. The farmhouse and farmhouse annexe is heated with high tec modern electric radiators, the two barns by ground source heat pump.
Kitchen/Breafast Room From the courtyard, a door opens to the glazed lobby with brick and flint and part timber/part plaster walls and a terracotta tiled floor with a brick step up to an original door. 17 ft. by over 13 ft., the dual aspect kitchen/ breakfast room has a tiled floor, windows in the gable end and overlooking the garden, and original structural timbers. It has wooden-fronted base and wall units, (some glazed), and floor-to-ceiling cupboards. A double butlers sink with a tap is set in the granite worksurface, which has matching splashbacks. The Flavel range cooker, with an extractor above, tiles behind and flanking cupboards, is set in the original fireplace, which retains the slightly arched lintel above, supported on original brick piers. There is an integrated Neff dishwasher, space for an American style fridge/freezer and ample room for a breakfast table and chairs, seating at least six.
Sitting/Dining Room Accessed via the hallway or from the kitchen, passing the front door, the sitting/dining room has an original door and two sets of matching casement windows overlooking the terrace and garden. The over 27 ft. by 14 ft. room is defined by the exposed structural timbers in the roof and ceiling; a vertical structural beam in the centre of the room suggests a visual division between the sitting and dining areas. The fireplace in the sitting area has a brick hearth housing a wood burning stove.
Hallway and Cloakroom/Laundry Another period door in the dining area leads to a space with an external door to the courtyard, a door to the cloakroom/laundry, and a further door to the hallway with a staircase with wooden balusters and an early newel post at the top. The cloakroom/laundry has original windows overlooking the courtyard and a door to the farmhouse annexe. It has a matching Victorian style WC and basin and a cupboard with space and plumbing for two appliances.
First Floor At the top of the staircase is an area with a door to a cupboard housing the Megaflow hot water tank. Doors open to the dressing room of the principal bedroom suite, bedroom two and the shower room. In this area are unspoilt examples of two plank 17th- century timber doors. A ladder alongside the chimney breast accesses the vaulted and beamed loft space, running half the length of the original farmhouse, with a window in the eastern gable end.
Principal Bedroom Suite With casement windows in the dormers overlooking the garden and the shape of the roof defining the rooms, the bedroom suite has an over 17 ft. by 13 ft. bedroom with exposed timbers. The bedroom is divided from the bathroom/dressing area by the structural timbers of the 17th-century dividing wall, now left open above shoulder height. The dressing room (with similar dimensions) has three pairs of built- in wooden fronted wardrobes and a stand-alone roll top bath with claw feet beneath the window. A low door opens to the two piece en suite cloakroom with a laminate floor.
Bedroom Two and Shower Room Bedroom two is similarly defined by the shape of the roof and like the principal bedroom has casement dormer windows overlooking the garden. There are two pairs of built-in wardrobes with painted, wooden doors. The shower room, also with beams, has a window overlooking the garden, a WC, and a basin in a vanity unit with a shower cubical with a tiled back wall.
Farmhouse Annexe A door from the courtyard opens to the sitting area with stairs to the first floor. The open plan kitchen/sitting room overlooks the garden and has a reclaimed brick fireplace with a herringbone panel and a woodburning stove on a brick hearth. There are non-structural exposed timbers and double doors to the conservatory. The kitchen has Shaker style units, a composite worksurface with an inset butlers sink, and an integrated oven and induction hob. The conservatory, with an Indian slate tiled floor and a pitched roof over a timber frame on a brick plinth, has French doors to an enclosed paved patio. The wooden staircase accesses two first floor bedrooms with windows on each side of the house, one bedroom has a dressing room area created by the shape of the stairwell. The vaulted, tiled bathroom, with a sliding door, has a WC, a basin, and a bath with a shower over, and a mirrored screen.
Barn One Barn one faces the farmhouse. It has eight Velux windows in the clay tiled roof overlooking the courtyard and in the hipped gable ends. The north side has three gabled dormer windows in the roof and a two- storey glazed cart entrance. Glazed doors open to the two-storey sitting area, which is open plan with the kitchen, and has a vaulted roof, exposed timbers, and a two-sided wood burning stove. The kitchen has doors to a cloakroom (with space and plumbing for appliances), and to a pantry, (with Megaflow hot water tanks). It has a Rangemaster stove, Shaker style base units with a one-and-a-half butlers sink inset in a granite worksurface, a double fridge and a dishwasher. Bi-folds open to a patio and lawned area. A timber staircase by the front entrance rises to the first-floor glazed walkway, which accesses bedroom one and a bathroom in the east end, and bedrooms two and three with en suite shower rooms, and bedroom four in the west end.
Barn One Annexe A glazed door with flanking windows in the west end of barn one opens to the kitchen which has a window overlooking the rear, base units with a composite worksurface, a one-and-a-half sink, and space and plumbing for integrated appliances. On the left, a door opens to a room used as a laundry, with space and plumbing for appliances. A door accesses the sitting room. There is a ground floor bedroom and an en suite shower room. A door in the sitting room opens to a lobby with a door to an enclosed rear garden and a door to barn one.
Barn Two The front of timber-framed and clad barn two overlooks the courtyard; it has a central, gabled cart entrance in the catslide roof at the rear, with a French window and apex glazing overlooking a lawn. The glazed front entrance, with flanking windows and the original timber barn doors, opens to a two-storey vaulted kitchen/sitting room with exposed timbers and underfloor heating. The kitchen has Shaker style units and a peninsular with granite worksurfaces. There is a butlers double sink and cupboards with pull-out pantry drawers, an integrated dishwasher, and a fridge/freezer. A timber staircase with a glazed balcony becomes a first-floor walkway, running the length of the barn and connecting the two upstairs bedrooms at each end of the barn. Both rooms have modern beams in the vaulted ceilings, gable end windows, built-in wardrobes, and en suite shower rooms. A downstairs bedroom overlooks the garden and has an en suite bathroom with a separate shower and a roll top bath.
Agricultural Barn A glazed door with flanking windows in the west end The agricultural barn on the east side of the courtyard and is another timber framed and clad, clay tiled building on a brick and flint plinth. Unconverted, and used mainly for storage, the internal structural beams are predominantly in their original form. There is a central aisle with a gabled cart entrance with timber doors at the rear and double timber doors at the front. The level of the floor on the right of the aisle is raised, retained by a brick wall. The floor is mainly concreted, there is a built-in workbench, and power and electricity connected.
Stables and Feed Stores Behind barn three and accessed from the main drive is the stable yard. On one side is a brick and timber clad, two-storey under tile stable block. There are six separate stables and a stable/break room as well as a tack room and a living area on the two corners with staircases to the first floor. Across the stable yard is a further stable block, this one is timber, with five separate stables, an open-fronted, two-bayed store area, and another store with double doors.
Beyond the stable yard is gated access to a further hardstanding area containing three additional timber stable blocks, each with three separate stables, and two open-fronted feed stores. An overarching modern barn roof covers this entire area.
Gardens and Grounds The grounds are approached via a drive with enclosed paddocks on both sides. The stone cobbled farmhouse courtyard is surrounded by further paddocks, enclosed by post and rail fencing and indigenous hedging which, with the gardens, comprise the approximately 26 acres of grounds. The drive accesses the courtyard via modern metal vehicular and personnel gates; another metal gate in a brick arch opens to an area behind the conservatory.
A path from the drive approaches the front of the farmhouse, which has adjacent rose and shrub borders and a mature wisteria partially covering the façade. A paved terrace runs the length of the house with a circular stone wall protecting the original well. There are retaining brick and flint walls and four steps up to the raised lawn of the formal garden. South facing, the garden has mature specimen trees, a fountain, a dovecote, and an antique lamp post, and is bordered at the end by a mixed belt of mature indigenous trees.
There is a patio, enclosed by picket fencing, and a lawn behind barn one, with a lawned area enclosed by picket fencing for barn one annexe. Barn two has a lawned garden, also surrounded by paddocks.
Manege and Lungin Ring Accessible from the stable yard, the farmhouse, and the drive, is a modern 30 x 60 metres. manège with a sand and fibre mix surface, enclosed by post and rail fencing. Close by is an enclosed lunging ring.
Situation and Schooling Amenities in Naphill include a village hall, a post office/ store, public houses, and a tennis club. The property is in catchment for Naphill and Walters Ash School (Ofsted rated Good), as well as grammar and private schools in High Wycombe. High Wycombe (2.9 miles), has shopping and social facilities, the Wycombe Swan Theatre, tennis and cricket clubs, a sports centre, and a mainline railway station from which the fastest journey time to Marylebone is 25 minutes.
