About The House Cont'd
A double-glazed porch shelters the front door which opens to an entrance hall with the modernist oak staircase accessing both floors and a feature window running the full height of the stairwell. There is a coat cupboard with hanging space and shelving behind and opposite is the cloakroom. Further doors lead to a family room, the open plan sitting and dining areas, and the kitchen/breakfast room, which also has double doors to the dining area, and accesses the utility room. This leads to the boot room, accessing both the front drive and rear garden. Leading off the first-floor landing are four double bedrooms, the principal bedroom with a dressing room and an en suite bathroom, bedroom two with an en suite shower room, and two further bedrooms which share a Jack and Jill bathroom. A cupboard on the landing houses the hot water cylinder and heat pump controls. The second-floor landing has doors accessing a built-in store, a shower room, the gym/office, and bedroom five/office.
Ground Floor
Most of the ground floor, except the open plan dining and sitting areas, has ceramic stone effect tiled flooring. Partially glazed, double doors open from the breakfast area to the dining area, these modern doors, like all the doors in the house are engineered oak veneer. Throughout the house are modern, bespoke double-glazed solid oak windows alongside engineered oak veneer bi-folding doors in the open plan space. These echo the exposed solid oak staircase and the Canadian Western Hemlock beams in the vault of the sitting area, which in turn refer to the exposed external beams in the gable above the stairwell on the exterior of the house at the front.
Kitchen/Breakfast Room
A door with a flanking window opens from the entrance hall to the kitchen/breakfast room which measures over 16 ft. by over 11 ft. and has a bank of windows overlooking the terrace and rear garden. The wall units have contemporary matt doors and the base units, predominantly with drawers, are matching. There are granite worksurfaces with an inset double Blanco stainless steel sink and contrasting glass splashbacks; the matching peninsular breakfast bar has seating for four. Inset appliances include two built-in ovens with slide and hide doors, a warming drawer (all Neff) and an AEG dual fuel induction and gas (LPG) hob. There is space and plumbing for a dishwasher.
Sitting and Dining Areas
A notable feature of this house is the open plan, L-shaped space that comprises the sitting and dining areas. The entire space has engineered oak flooring. Accessed via doors from the kitchen, the triple aspect dining area measures over 20 ft. by over 13 ft. and has windows overlooking the front drive, the terrace, and bi-fold doors to the terrace above the rear garden. There is ample room for a dining table as well as, currently, a baby grand piano. The 16 ft. by over 14 ft. sitting area has bi-fold doors to the main seating area of the terrace and a box bay window overlooking the end of the garden, with views across the valley framed by copper beech and oak trees. This vaulted room is double height and above the bay window the apex of the gable is glazed with a frame that echoes the exposed truss, with its distinctive king posts, that bisects the vault. On the northeast wall is a modern wood burning stove set on a stone hearth.
Family Room
At the far end of the entrance hall from the sitting and dining areas is the more intimate family room. This measures over 14 ft. by over 10 ft. and has double windows overlooking the drive. The room could be repurposed if required as a home office or cinema room, for example. The room, as in much of the house, has recessed spot downlighting.
Utility Room and Boot Room
A door from the kitchen leads to the utility room with a window over the terrace. The room has fitted base units with a contrasting worksurface with an inset stainless steel sink and drainer, and space and plumbing for a washing machine and tumble dryer; there is also a full-height pantry cupboard and a separate cleaning cupboard. A door opens to a drying room which has a window for ventilation and a radiator for warming. Another door at the end of the room accesses the boot room, which runs the approximately 22 ft. depth of the house at this point, and has external partially glazed doors to both the front drive and the rear terrace.
Principal Bedroom Suite
Leading off the first-floor landing, the principal bedroom is dual aspect with two windows taking advantage of the valley views. The over 15 ft. by over 11 ft. room has a door accessing a dressing room with a window over the front drive and open fitted shelves and hanging rails. A further door opens to a four-piece en suite bathroom (which can also be accessed from the landing). This room is largely tiled with limestone wall and floor tiles and there is a panel bath beneath the window overlooking the front. There is a modern hanging vanity unit with an inset basin with a mirrored cupboard above, a walk-in shower, and a WC with a concealed cistern.
Bedroom Two and En Suite Shower
Used currently as a guest room, this over 15 ft. by over 10 ft. double bedroom also has a window overlooking the rear garden and a door to the en suite shower room, also with a window over the garden. The fully tiled room also has ceramic floor tiles, a modern basin over a wood veneer cupboard, a walk-in shower, and a WC.
Bedrooms Three and Four and Jack and Jill Bathroom
The south east end of the landing is a walkthrough to two further bedrooms – an area that could be separated from the rest of the accommodation with a door if required. Bedroom three is over 15 ft. by nearly 11 ft., with a window overlooking the garden. It has two double doored, floor-to-ceiling built-in wardrobes and shares a Jack and Jill bathroom with bedroom four.
Bedroom four is the most intimate of the rooms and has a dormer window overlooking the drive. A door accesses the Jack and Jill bathroom which also has a dormer window over the drive. There is a bath with a shower over, a WC with a concealed cistern, and a basin set in a vanity unit.
Bedroom Five/Office and Gym
Leading off the second-floor landing are bedroom five/office and a room currently used as a gym/additional office space. Both rooms are defined by the shape of the eaves and have vaulted ceilings. The gym measures nearly 19 ft. by over 10 ft. and has a Velux window and wood effect laminate flooring. The same flooring is in the over 19 ft. by over 12 ft. bedroom five/office. Currently used as a studio because of the light quality and views, this room has a Velux window, now over a desk, and a window in the gable end overlooking the valley and far beyond. Two low doors in both long walls access useful eaves storage.
Shower Room
The second-floor shower room, is modern, like the other bathrooms and has a pitched ceiling with a Velux window. With fully tiled walls and a ceramic tiled floor, the shower room has a walk-in shower, a basin on a contemporary metal stand, and a WC.
Garage
The current owners have added a double garage to the main house with a matching rendered exterior beneath a pitched roof, tiled with the same clay tiles as the main house. Power and light are connected. There is an automatic up an over door accessible from the drive, a coated screed floor, and a door to the side accessing the garden. Metal shelving units line one wall. The garage also houses the cabinet containing the 30 kWh lithium ferrous oxide battery for the house. There is an external PodPoint car charger under an open, sheltered porchway. The associated air source heat pump is positioned to the side of the garage, accessible via a gravel path. Access to the loft is via a hatch with a drop-down ladder. The loft is fully boarded and the gabled space could be developed for further accommodation, subject to necessary permission.
Gardens
The front of the property is approached from the village road through an entrance in an established beech hedge that continues down one side, forming the boundary to the front of the property. The drive is gravelled and there is ample off street parking for up to four cars.
Running the length of the rear of the house is a ceramic tiled terrace (remodelled in 2018) with a steel balcony with glazed panels – a nod to the internal staircase. It can be accessed from the boot room and the bi-bold doors in the dining area, which are opposite the wide brick and tile steps that lead down to the lawn. The largest area of terrace is accessible from the sitting room bi-folds and is currently used as an al fresco dining area and a sheltered place from which to enjoy the views. On one side of the house is a steep bank planted with shrubs including lavender and rosemary. The main garden is mainly laid to lawn and is enclosed by timber fencing and beech or other indigenous hedging. There is an area of gravel with raised vegetable beds and a flower bed below the far end of the terrace with low maintenance planting. The garden is surrounded by established trees, notably the mature oak that memorably frames the view across the valley when seen from the rear of the house.
Paddock
A dense, clipped indigenous hedge at the bottom of the garden has two wooden gates accessing the paddock situated in an AONB. At the far end of the paddock is a secluded, mature copse of trees, ideal for making dens. The rest of the paddock is enclosed by established indigenous trees and hedging, including beech, hornbeam, cherry and holly or on the opposite side by post and rail fencing. A five-bar farm gate is on the boundary and there are access rights to Flowers Bottom Lane via a neighbour’s adjoining field. The paddock, currently fallow and laid to grass with diverse wild meadow flowers, could be used for different activities, for example equestrian purposes, such as a child’s pony, subject to AONB requirements.
Situation and Schooling
In the Chiltern Hills AONB, Speen has an active community with village events: annual fetes, village fun days and a bi-annual festival. Overlooking paddocks owned by The Horses Trust, the property has access to public footpaths. Amenities include a village shop, a church, playing fields, an all-weather tennis court, and a village hall hosting clubs and concerts. There are a preschool and a C of E Infant school feeding St John’s Primary School in Lacey Green, which has a bus. Buckinghamshire grammar and private schools are in the wider area, and Oxford-based schools within reach. Further amenities are available in Princes Risborough (4.5 miles). Chiltern Trains operate services to London across two commuting lines from stations including Princes Risborough (4.2 miles), Great Missenden (5.2 miles). High Wycombe (5.6 miles) and the London Underground Metropolitan Line starts from Amersham (10.5 miles). The M40 is accessible from High Wycombe (6.7 miles) and Stokenchurch (10.1 miles).
