Sunnyhill House

Introduction to Sunnyhill House

Built in 2006, to high specification, the design of the house is sympathetic to local vernacular architecture. It is double gabled, back and front, with a clay tiled, double pitched roof. The base of the building is constructed in brick, resembling the smaller handmade bricks once typical in the area; the rest of the exterior walls are rendered. Attention to traditional detail extends to the interior with panelled doors, moulded door frames and skirting boards, and bevelled glass in the glazed doors. Exposed wood in the house is oak, notably the doors and the main staircase. The house is nevertheless designed for efficiency and sustainability. The modern insulation, in conjunction with the ground source heat pump fuelling the underfloor heating on the ground and first floor, negates the need for heating on the second floor. Stylistically in keeping, the windows and French doors are double glazed uPVC. There is recessed spot downlighting throughout, and a Condor septic tank.

About the house

The main house has 5461 sq. ft. of accommodation arranged over three floors. On the ground floor there are two reception rooms, a kitchen/dining/family room, a utility room, a boot room, and two cloakrooms. On the first floor there are six double bedrooms, the principal bedroom has a dressing room and an en suite bathroom, four of the five other bedrooms share two Jack and Jill shower rooms and the fifth has an en suite shower room. The unconnected second floor has a yoga room, on one side and a playroom/bedroom seven and a Cinema room/bedroom eight on the other. The property is accessed via a minor road approaching the small north Buckinghamshire village of Little Horwood, which has been inhabited since the Iron Age. While the location is not remote, being four miles east of Buckingham and 2 miles north east of Winslow, the property, with its wrap around garden, is surrounded by the rolling countryside of the vale of Aylesbury and consequently has vistas across open farmland.

Contemporary innovation

The current owners have made numerous modernisations and improvements since 2019. The exterior has security CCTV. The electrically operated timber entrance gates are operated by a Wi-Fi controlled device, as are the exterior lights at the front and rear of the house, and set into the terrace; the state of the art electric fire in the sitting room is similarly controlled. There is an EV charging point inside the front gates.

Ground Floor

The centrally placed, panelled front door has flanking windows and opens to an entrance hall with the main oak staircase immediately in front. This bespoke staircase with turned banisters rises to half the height of the hall and then divides, accessing the first floor on both sides, with a gallery over the hall allowing light from the dormer window above the front door to reach both floors. Double, glazed doors from the hall open to the sitting room, the kitchen/dining/family room, and the home office. To the right of the front door is a plant room containing fuse boards and the multi-level ground source heat pump, and to the left is one of two downstairs cloakrooms. The entire ground floor, apart from the sitting room, has ceramic floor tiles.

Kitchen/Family Room/Dining Room

Remodelled by the current owners, the L-shaped Kitchen/Family/ Dining room has windows overlooking the rear garden and an archway to the dining area, which has French doors opening to the garden terrace and glazed double doors to the hallway. The kitchen is fitted with a range of bespoke, painted base and wall units. There is a decorative wooden mantel, concealing the extractor fan above a Guggenau induction hob, it has a granite back and further storage drawers and cupboards. Integrated appliances include two Gaggenau ovens, with a pizza stone and a rotisserie, two Miele wine fridges, and a Neff dishwasher. There are granite worksurfaces which, on the central island, have moulded edges and incorporate a wooden chopping board. Inset in the worksurface beneath the window is a double stainless steel sink with a Quooker tap. A step up from the kitchen is the family area, also accessible from double glazed doors to the hallway, which has a seating area and fixings for a media screen.

Sitting Room and Home Office

Like the kitchen area, the quadruple aspect, 39 ft. long sitting room is on split levels (inspired by the first owners’ continental villa). It has French windows opening to the terrace, with views of the sloping grounds and open countryside beyond. Further windows overlook the front. On the lower level is a media wall with space for a 75 in. TV. Underneath is an extended multi-purpose Onyx Avanti Electric Fire controlled by a Wi-Fi device. Also accessed through glazed doors from the hallway, is the home office with French doors opening to the garden terrace and the same rural views. (The vendors confirm that the Wi-Fi speeds are adequate for a home office.)

Utility Room, Boot Room and Cloakroom

The utility room is accessed from the family area with a window overlooking the front of the house, under which is a granite worksurface with an inset sink and a stainless steel mixer tap. There is a range of fitted base and wall units, room for an American style fridge, and space and plumbing for a washer and dryer. The utility room accesses the downstairs cloakroom which has a two piece white suite and an obscured window. The boot room, with built in floor-to-ceiling cupboards with hanging space and shelves for boots, is accessed from the family area and has a door leading to the garden at the side of the property with a tiled porch canopy facing the garage.

First Floor

The landing, reached by both sides of the divided stairs, accesses all six double bedrooms, two Jack and Jill shower rooms, a media cupboard with double doors, and a further flight of stairs to two of the three second floor rooms.

Principal Bedroom, En Suite Bathroom and Dressing Room

The double aspect principal bedroom (19.3 ft. by 15.9 ft.), at the rear of the house is vaulted with a window to the side and French windows with a reinforced glass Juliet balcony, giving uninterrupted views of the garden, the grounds, and the fields beyond. There is a TV point. A door gives access to a walk-in dressing room with a window to the side and hanging wardrobes and shelving on three walls. There is a further door to the en suite bathroom, also with a window to the side, which has a free-standing bath with claw feet and raised taps with a shower head, a double power shower, a pedestal basin with mirrored cabinet above, a WC and a heated towel rail. All the walls and the floor are lined with Indian stone tiles, in effect creating a wet room.

Other First Floor Bedrooms

There are five further bedrooms on the first floor, all of which are accessed from the landing, have wood effect laminate flooring, and most have TV points. Three are at the rear of the house with countryside views: bedroom three shares a Jack and Jill shower room with bedroom four. The shower room, with an obscured window, has a double shower, a basin and WC, a towel rail, a cupboard, and stone tiled flooring. Bedroom five is double aspect, with a window overlooking the rear garden and the side, and shares a Jack and Jill shower room with bedroom six. The shower room has a WC, a basin, a shower, a towel rail, and stone tiled flooring. Overlooking the front is double aspect, bedroom six, with a second window to the side. Also with a front aspect, is bedroom two, with double wardrobes, which has an en suite cloak room with a WC and basin.

Second Floor

The second floor, with rooms in the eaves of the house and lighting from Velux windows, is not interconnected and the rooms are reached by two separate staircases. The yoga studio is accessed via a staircase in the walk-in dressing room, while the play room/bedroom seven and the cinema room/bedroom eight are reached via a staircase off the first-floor landing.

Yoga Studio

The yoga studio, its shape defined by the eaves of the house, is accessed via a staircase with grey, wood effect laminate treads, and white painted turned banisters, which rises to form a gallery in the studio. One end of the studio is defined by the triangular space in the vault of the principal bedroom below, which is partially enclosed by an obscured low glass wall. This arrangement allows light in from the principal bedroom; there is also a Velux window.

Play Room/Bedroom Seven, Cinema Room/Bedroom Eight

Oak stairs with turned banister rise from the first floor landing to access the play room/bedroom eight, which is in the eaves and stretches from the front to the back of the house with a Velux window. There are cupboard doors accessing the low eave spaces. A space leads through to the cinema room/bedroom eight which has the same eaves access and two Velux windows. Both rooms are carpeted.

The Grounds

The grounds comprise 2.12 acres. The front and rear gardens comprise 1.11 acres and wrap around the house. The rear garden is 212 ft. long by 140 ft wide and falls away from the rear of the house.

The Front Garden

Timber gates off Little Horwood Road access the property and open to a hard standing area, in front of the garage and stable block, used for off street parking. The front garden is enclosed by a period red brick wall with buttresses and timber fencing at the side. The rest of the front garden is laid to lawn with a specimen acer, and has a Welsh slate path winding to the front door with lighting. A slate and gravel path leads round the side of the house to the rear garden. A capped well at the front of the property, is currently disabled for reasons of safety.

The Rear Garden

As the name of the house suggests, it is in a raised position and not only overlooks its own sloping grounds, but also has views of the distant open countryside beyond. Adjacent to the whole of the back of the house is a Welsh slate paved terrace with room for outside seating and entertaining, which can be accessed internally from French doors in the dining area, the home office, and the sitting room. A central step leads down from the terrace to the south facing garden. In a sun trap, created by shelter from the garage wall and a neighbouring boundary wall, there is a kitchen garden with raised beds and gravelled paths enclosed by picket fencing. The main garden is enclosed by timber fencing on the left, with fruit trees planted alongside, and by native hedging with wire fencing on the right. This area of garden extends to the ha-ha, with a central slope, and is laid to lawn with established willow, oak, and magnolia trees, and an immature monkey puzzle tree.

Outbuildings

Gymnasium

Built on the site of a derelict cottage, the pitched gymnasium is clad in cedar, fully insulated and has laminate flooring and two electric wall heaters. The interior is vaulted, with two uPVC windows overlooking the house and there is a separate cloakroom with a white two piece suite comprising a WC and basin, and marble effect tiles.

Triple Garage

To the left of the property is a timber framed garage with a felt tile roof. It has three bays, two of which are open, with parking space for two cars. The left bay is closed by a timber front wall, the semi-enclosed space created is used as a tractor store. The garage has electricity connected and the current owners have chest freezers at the back of the garage due to is proximity to the utility room and kitchen area.

Stables, Tack Room/Barn and Greenhouse

An earlier building, the painted brick-built stable block, currently used for storage, has timber roof beams supporting a pitched corrugated roof with transparent sections for natural lighting. The woodwork from the original stables is retained, as are the three stable doors. The original tack room is at one end; the stable block has water and electricity. There is a timber framed greenhouse and store in Long Meadow.

Situation and Schooling

Great Horwood is a village in Buckinghamshire located between Aylesbury, Buckingham and Milton Keynes. The village has a village hall and The Swan Inn public house. The extensive facilities of Central Milton Keynes are 9 miles away. Great Horwood is within catchment for the Royal Latin (grammar) school and a primary school is located in the village.