Description continued
The partially glazed front door is reached through a painted lattice porch which leads to the entrance hall/dining area. This has double doors to the sitting room and two steps down to a lower hall which accesses the ground floor guestroom/bedroom five (with its en suite shower room), the cloakroom, and the utility room. An oak staircase with an understairs cupboard rises to the first-floor landing and a door opens to the open plan kitchen/breakfast/garden room. Pocket doors in the breakfast area open to the sitting room and sliding doors in the garden room access the annexe sitting area. A landing on the first floor has doors to double bedrooms on both sides which are interconnected at the rear because the two rooms share a Jack and Jill bathroom. Stairs on the landing continue to the second floor which is built in the eaves of the house. This floor has fitted wardrobes, bedroom four/study, a bathroom, and the principal bedroom.
Ground Floor
Kitchen/Breakfast/Garden Room
This vaulted open plan space, measuring over 39 ft. by 28 ft., is on two levels, with steps down to the garden room, and stone-effect ceramic tiled flooring. The ceiling has A-frame beams spanning the vault. The garden room has one glazed wall overlooking the drive and the gable end has apex glazing and sliding patio doors opening to the terrace and overlooking the garden. Further pocket doors from the breakfast and garden room areas access the sitting room and sliding doors access the annexe; they are framed by horizontal oak beams with curved braces. Fitted by Springhill Kitchens, the kitchen has base, wall, and larder units with composite worksurfaces and an inset one-and-a-half stainless steel sink with a Quooker tap. A peninsular of units has a matching worksurface with an Elica induction hob with an integrated extractor, and breakfast seating. Integrated appliances include a double oven, a microwave and a dishwasher (all Neff), a wine fridge, and a two-drawer undercounter fridge.
Utility Room
Nearby, off the entrance hall and with matching flooring, the utility room has a window overlooking the side and base and wall units with a worksurface and an inset sink with a mixer tap. There is a cabinet freezer, a Zanussi washing machine and a Hoover tumble dryer. (The electricity meter is in this room.)
Sitting Room
Double oak doors from the entrance hall or glazed sliding doors from the breakfast area access the dual aspect over 21 ft. long sitting room which has double windows overlooking the drive and a floor-to-ceiling picture window in the end wall facilitating views across the garden, even when seated well inside the room. On one wall is a contemporary minimalist fireplace. (There is a good supply of firewood from the wooded boarders of the garden.)
Entrance Hall/Dining Room
The dual aspect, single storey entrance hall/dining room, under a slightly angled lead roof, articulates the ground floor with doors accessing most rooms except the annexe. All the internal doors in this space and throughout the house are unpainted, panelled oak. Three casement windows overlook the drive, two on one side. The floor is paved in travertine-like stone, bisected by an oak step across the entire walkthrough, dropping to a lower level towards the staircase. The hand-built oak staircase with slender turned and painted balusters rises to the first-floor landing where it forms a gallery.
Ground Floor Guest Room/Bedroom Five and En Suite Shower Room
A door from the lower entrance hall leads to the dual aspect, over 15 ft. by over 12 ft. guest room/bedroom five, which has windows overlooking the drive and the side. There is a fan in the ceiling and sliding doors to the en suite shower room which has an obscured window over the side, patterned floor tiles, and tongue-and-groove panelling. The double walk-in shower has floor-to-ceiling marble tiles, there is a stone bowl basin on a modern storage unit and a concealed cistern WC.
First & Second Floors
First Floor Bedrooms Two, Three and Jack and Jill Bathroom
Doors accessing two double bedrooms lead off a landing with a casement window over the drive and a wooden floor. Both dual aspect bedrooms run the full depth of the house and are over 16 ft. deep with casement windows overlooking the drive and the side of the house. (Bedroom three is slightly wider than bedroom two, being nearly 13 ft.). The two bedrooms have doors leading to the Jack and Jill bathroom at the side. This has wood effect flooring and metro tiles over the bath, which has a shower over and a screen. There is a concealed cistern WC, a contemporary basin on a vanity unit with drawers and two heated towel rails.
Second Floor Bedroom Four and Bathroom
An enclosed staircase leads to the second floor landing which has built-in wardrobes and storage in the eaves space and a door to vaulted bedroom four, which is currently used as a study with a casement window in the gable end overlooking the lane. A raised cupboard door in the wall accesses the limited space under the roof. Further doors access the principal bedroom and the four piece bathroom which has a Velux window, partially tiled walls, and a tiled floor. There is a basin in a modern vanity unit and a panelled Villeroy and Boch bath. The concealed cistern Vitra shower WC has various functions that can be controlled by a hand-held remote.
Principal Bedroom
With a vaulted ceiling defined by the pitch of the gable, the nearly 18 ft. by 14 ft. principal bedroom leads off the landing. The entire bedroom is dominated by the wall of windows that fills the gable end and its apex, which allows remarkable vistas over the landscaped garden with its leafy boundary provided by the canopy of mature trees. Wherever the bed was placed, it would command a view of the garden. (The curtains will remain.)
Annexe
Accessed from the rear terrace, the front door to the self-contained, single storey annexe leads to a lobby with a glazed panelled wall and a door to the kitchen/sitting room. This open plan room has a skylight window above and glazed patio doors leading to the garden room area of the main house. (Currently unused, these allow the annexe to be instantly reincorporated with the main house, if desired.) There are fitted Shaker style base and wall units along one wall, with an inset sink, a Zanussi hob, and a Neff oven. Under the worksurface are a fridge and washing machine.
A folding door leads to a three piece shower room with tongue-and-groove panelling and tiling behind the corner shower and above the basin. The double bedroom has a window overlooking the lane and loft access in the ceiling. The annexe has electric heating. (A stone parapet on the terrace could be removed and steps built to allow alternative access to the annexe via an already present side gate off the lane.)
Outbuildings
Double Garage
Built to resemble an agricultural barn, the timber framed, clay tiled, wooden clad garage on a stone base has a concrete screed floor and a vaulted roof. Divided into two, one side has double wooden doors, the other is open with wooden storage cupboards at the rear which contain the manifold for the underfloor heating and the hot water tank.
Greenhouse, Gazebo, Garden Sheds
In 2019 the Harley Botanic greenhouse was positioned beside the vegetable garden, overlooking the main lawn. It has a gabled entrance, adjustable windows in the roof and a screed floor.
Equally decorative is the hexagonal painted iron gazebo which provides a secluded seating area overlooking the pond. It has iron balustrading, curlicue details, and a slate-effect roof topped with a finial.
Beyond the vegetable garden and effective wooden compost bins, are two lockable wooden garden sheds (one recently re-felted) used to store garden equipment and machinery.
Gardens
The approach to the house is from a lane off the green which continues as a footpath beyond the garden borders. Stone pillars mark the entrance to a gravelled drive which gives the neighbouring house a right of way and extends past the entrance of the farmhouse and the garage, extending beyond the reception rooms and becoming a limestone paved terrace. Stone steps in a retaining stone wall with urns drop down to the main garden. Behind the garage is a paved area accessed via brick piers and partially enclosed by clipped leylandii hedges, which has the greenhouse and raised vegetable beds. There is a borehole in the garden providing ample water for the garden even during a drought.
Created by the vendors over the last five or six years, the main garden offers outside living, by providing a space in which to entertain, eat or relax. Being framed by the windows of many rooms, the garden adds intrinsically to the character of the house. The ground has been landscaped to create a lawn that slopes down away from the house and rises towards the tree-lined boundaries. By design, multiple view lines have been created, drawing the eye towards decorative ‘eye-catchers’ such as focal planting, the gazebo, or statuary. Beneath a mature weeping willow is a spring-fed ornamental pond, large enough for a boat; wooden and stone bridges cross a brook. The boundaries are mainly defined by mature indigenous trees but the lawn is planted with a collection of establishing specimen trees which, to mention a few, include acers, a monkey puzzle, a catalpa, a ginkgo and various fir and yew trees.
Locality
Evenley is in the centre of a conservation area, bounded to the northeast and northwest by the Great River Ouse and its tributary; its southeastern boundary forms the county border with Oxfordshire, its northwestern boundary the border with Buckinghamshire. It is a vibrant village with a church, the Forge Coffee shop and post office, a village hall, and the Red Lion public house. The much-prized village green with its cricket pitch, is central to village life and is surrounded by mainly period houses built in the local stone. There is also a pocket park and Evenley Woods, both of which are enjoyed by locals. A range of shopping, leisure and health facilities are located in the nearest market town of Buckingham, while Bicester has a wider range of facilities, and there are railway stations at Bicester North and Bicester Village.
