High Street, Souldern, OX27

***VR TOUR*** An achingly pretty 18th century cottage in a village with no through road. Two separate receptions, eat-in kitchen, three double bedrooms, and a compact walled garden with brick outbuilding. Lovely local pub, walks, and a wonderful community.

Souldern is a small village on the North Oxfordshire border, seven miles south-east of Banbury with roots going back at least 900 years. There is an excellent pub/restaurant The Fox Inn, a Norman church, a chapel, a village hall, plus play area and playing field. Souldern is also one of the only villages in the area served by high speed fibre-optic broadband. Banbury, Brackley and Bicester are all within easy distance with a good range of shopping and leisure facilities, and there are shops in many of the nearby villages. Bicester also offers the unrivalled facility of Bicester Village as well as a 45-minute rail service to London Marylebone. The M40 motorway at junction 10 is about three miles away and access to both Northampton and Milton Keynes is also straightforward.

Nutcracker Cottage is the personification of the timeless cottage design we all associate with villages that grew up through farming. Unusually, the house has managed to retain such rare original features as wide-plank floor boards, and mixed in with this sensitively is a modern kitchen with space for a full-size table, wood burner for practicality, and a modern bathroom. Everything is in lovely order, too, so you can move straight in with nothing to do unless It's to suit your taste - and as everything here is deliciously neutral there's no urgency even to pull out the paint brush. And with no passing traffic save for your neighbours coming past, it really is an idyllic and peaceful location.

The front door opens straight into the heart of the house, with stairs ahead of you. On the right the first of two receptions is charming, with a central ceiling beam and the aperture of the original fireplace still evident. And to the front the sash window provides a lovely view over similar character houses opposite that are set well away from you. Across the hall, the second reception is slightly larger. A smart modern wood burner sits central to a charming brick fireplace with an oak lintel, and overhead is another beam. To the rear, the kitchen is a real surprise. In cottages of this type, a full-size table in the kitchen is unheard of - not so here! A comprehensive range of modern kitchen units runs down two sides, topped off with a smart timber work surface. Underfoot the floor is tiled. And there is such good space here that a table and six chairs is easily accommodated, set in front of glazed double doors opening onto the garden.

Upstairs, the niceties continue with a landing that is lovely and bright due to a window to front, and storage is amply catered for with a double cupboard. Perhaps surprisingly, all three bedrooms are doubles. The largest sits to the left overlooking the frontage, and one alcove hosts a large cupboard built in. The smallest to the left is also an ample space. And to the rear of the landing a third double looks out across the garden and others beyond. Serving the three, a modern bathroom is in impeccable condition, modern with a white suite that includes a thermostatic shower above the bath.

To the front the parking is not monitored or regulated as it doesn't need to be. Outside the house is ample room for two cars, sitting just in front. Slender borders flank a central doorway and to the left is a boot scraper mortared to the wall. On the right a passageway leads between the houses and this takes you to a gate which enters the garden. Compact but light and sunny, with pleasant trees and stone the main visuals, it's a delightful and relaxing no-maintenance space for sunbathing, barbeques and summer dining. There are two sheds, one timber and the other brick - the latter includes the boiler and provides handy storage.