School Lane, Evenley, Brackley, NN13

Evenley is a pretty village of only a handful of roads, centreing on a delightful village green upon which cricket is played most summer weekends. It has that lovely feeling of a Middle England village that is sleepily set off the beaten track, yet it is also absurdly convenient, being less than 3 miles from Brackley, the A43 and A421 hence commuting and access to amenities are both very easy. Within the village itself, the 18th Century Red Lion Pub serves great food, and there's also a coffee shop/ PO. Or if you don't fancy watching the cricket, stretch your legs in the pretty Evenley Wood Gardens. Evenley really does offer something for everyone.

Hope Cottage is incredibly unusual. Few smaller cottages can offer anything much more than a relatively compact outside space - 19th century farmworker cottages tended not to have outdoor space for leisure, and those that did have land have usually long since lost the land to village expansion. So to find a two bed terraced cottage with a garden that's over 700 feet in length and leads down to a stream is literally unheard of. And that's just the land! Then there's the cottage. A lovely, extended open-plan downstairs offers a huge amount of living space for such a property. And the whole place has a feel of coziness and character that's irresistible. Come and have a look, we suspect you won't want to leave!!

The facade is characteful and inviting. A timber door opens into a delightful kitchen, with the view through the extensive downstairs instantly impressive. Elegant, painted farmhouse-style units run left and right, with a peninsula ahead that's deep hence includes cupboards on both sides. There's masses of prep space on lovely timber work tops, with spaces beneath for dishwasher, washing machine etc. And the Belfast-style sink and range cooker give a real feeling of quality as well as being great items to use. Walk on past and you reach a splendid, extended living space. The wood burner instantly draws your eye, a lovely feature that you'll relish on on cold winter evenings. The living space is huge for such a property! Hence there's room for a dining table with eg eight chairs without any difficulty, and beyond it the seating area can accommodate pretty much any suite. And at the rear the double doors lead to a small seating space beyond which the garden is vast - of which, more later...

From the kitchen, a door hides the stair case, which rather delightfully curves upwards to a pretty landing that's also nice and bright by virtue of the large window. The bathroom to the right is in excellent, refitted order. Contemporary in style, it's been fitted to a great standard complete with various handy store cupboards, plus there's a thermostatic shower over the bath. And a nice touch is the timber top to the vanity, keying in with the traditional timber of the doors and beams. Moving past it, a good size airing cupboard is inset to the right, and thereafter the first of the two bedrooms. The first impression is how roomy it is! Well proportioned and sizeable, this is a good double bedroom by most measures. And this is made even more useable as there are generous wardrobe spaces inset to two walls. And, pleasingly, the original fireplace is still present, a rare event. Next door, another hidden stair rises to the top floor bedroom. We love eaves rooms, as they're so characterful, but they can be awkward to use - not so here! A high ceiling into the eaves, flanked with the purlin timbers, gives it great character as well as flattering the size. But it's a good double room in any case, and a roof light window to one end plus a dormer to the rear that looks out towards the garden bring in great light.

Outside, where do we start?! There really is something for everyone. Immediately behind the house is a small, fenced area of artificial grass - safe for a small child to play in sight of parents. The gate leads to a short path which takes you to the main garden, which is immediately by the house, but actually positioned just behind the right hand neighbour. The space is absolutely charming. A broad lawn flanked with a wide range of lovely, mature trees and various shrubs travels for a hundred or so metres, past a concrete hardstanding that would be perfect for an outbuilding of some type. Keep on walking and you'll head down to a large timber outbuilding that would also be a perfect outside office, workshop, or even overspill accommodation for guests. Power is already connected, as is water! Here the garden open space gives way to woodland. There are hints of Narnia here (I regressed to 8 years old almost instantly); as the trees thicken around you a path meanders between them until the trees thin in a grassy clearing in the centre of which is a bonfire. Rough-hewn timber seats remind us of Scout camps and forest schools! And the whole space looks out over a stream towards fields with livestock stretching off into the distance. We have never seen such a wonderful outdoor space attached to an affordable cottage. Your inner Ray Mears may finally have found its paradise!