South Side, Steeple Aston, OX25

A pretty village house dating to the 18th century with later additions, set in a generous plot with delightful landscaped gardens. The well-proportioned rooms with large windows are bright & positive, & include 3 receptions plus a cellar. Lovely as is , with great potential to extend/ improve.

Steeple Aston is an ancient settlement with roots going back to Roman times, maybe earlier. The village has its own shop and Post Office (barely a minutes' walk), a popular pub, a primary school dating back nearly 400 years, and a 1000 year old church. The community is enthusiastic and vibrant with activities ranging from WI to bellringing, football and cricket. Designated a conservation area in 1988, the village is set in glorious surroundings with the river Cherwell running through the valley, situated 8 miles away from the luxurious Soho Farmhouse. And not forgetting that it is also well placed for commuting, you really are spoilt for choice with options by bus, road or rail to Oxford (17m), Banbury (10m), London (47 mins from Bicester North) and Birmingham. We think it's one of the most rewarding villages to live in locally.

The Old Post Office is a thoroughly charming and surprisingly roomy house sitting on one of the roads running through the village. We instantly loved it, but perhaps a few words from the vendors may be of use.We were attracted to the Old Post Office almost 30 years ago because of its position in such a lovely and convenient village, and its quirky features, such as the post box inside the dining room, the large windows and the underground coal-drop/apple store. We converted the cellar into a modern working space. added the ensuite, followed by another living space by building the conservatory. As the house dates back to the mid- to-late 1700s, with an 1895 extension, we have sought to keep its character by using wood for the conservatory and replacement windows. Our pride and joy has been the garden, which we have developed over the years by re-landscaping the flower beds, and re-surfacing and laying a new lawn in 2019. We have extended the terrace in the area by the old pigsty and the former outside toilet, and redesigned the patio around the natural well in front of the conservatory. Over the years, we have installed different greenhouses and have settled on the current version that ties in with the Cotswold stone and white conservatory.

The appealing facade features a central door opening directly into the base of the stairwell. Take a right and the first reception is used as a dining room today. It is bright, a theme throughout this house, with a wide window looking out across the village. The central focal point is a pretty fireplace fitted with a modern woodburning stove, flanked on either side by bookshelves. A door to the rear leads into the living room, similarly proportioned and also containing a woodburning stove. A window seat to the rear provides the perfect spot to enjoy the view of the patio and garden beyond. Nestling under the stairs, stone steps lead to the cellar. A small window, originally the coal hatch, brings useful light into the stairwell. With a further window to the front, the fully converted and heated cellar is a genuinely useable room that could be a study/ office (as now) or even a fourth bedroom should the need be.

Back to the living room, on the left, another door leads into the conservatory. Built in a traditional Victorian style, it is elegant and attractive. As it is a modern structure, with very effective double glazing and heating, it really is a room for all seasons. At the far end, the rear lobby houses the washing machine with a boiler above. Next to this the first of two bathrooms is simple and elegant. Mostly tiled, it is fitted with a white suite centring around a bath, above which is a shower. A storage cupboard has been fitted to the corner. And finally, the kitchen next door includes units round three sides offering all the storage you re likely to need. Double aspect, at the rear you can see through the conservatory hence the view up the garden is very pretty. To the front, another window seat offers the opportunity to peacefully watch the world go by.

Heading upstairs, you find three very generous bedrooms. The first of these mirrors the proportions of the dining room below, hence it is a very good size and easy to use, plus the elevated position offers a fine view over the properties opposite and towards the valley beyond. As with the room below, alcoves either side of a chimney breast would offer scope for adding store cupboards or shelves, and there is also a deep cupboard in the corner that occupies the space over the front hallway. Across the landing, a very similar sized bedroom continues that same lovely view. It also includes access to the cupboard occupying the space above the hallway. It occurs to us that it may be possible to add a Jack and Jill bathroom in place of this cupboard, thereby serving both rooms. Please ask if you would like help with more investigations.

The last of the three bedrooms is reached via a couple of steps up from the landing. Reaching up into the eaves, the ceiling height flatters the already decent proportions. As the main bathroom is downstairs, an ensuite shower room has been created in the corner. To the rear of the bedroom the window seat provides an uninterrupted view right up to the end of the garden and beyond that's truly delightful, and ever-changing.

Heading outside, there is much to tell. At the front there is parking for several cars off road immediately outside the house. Above the entrance door is a rather wonderful Victorian open porch either side of which a shallow lawn area is edged with stone. To the left side a small flowerbed abuts the stone wall which marks the entrance to the driveway on the left. Here, a pair of timber gates open into a paved area offering parking for another car, if desired.

Behind the driveway, the vendors have created a wood store, and next to it the paving continues round the rear of the house, creating a wide patio. As the garden gently slopes uphill in stages, the rear of the patio has a retaining wall behind which the lawn runs seamlessly for several hundred feet right up to a brush fence at the rear. Walking through the garden, it is clear that great thought and effort has gone into creating such a lovely space. And yet it feels natural, not contrived. A hedge to the right flanks first a semi circular planted bed dotted with a wide range of flowers and shrubs. Opposite that, a large hollybush sits to one end of another long planted bed. Thereafter a circular box hedge sits next to the old piggery, beyond which is a further paved patio in front of two sheds. More flower beds, timber edged vegetable planters, and a rather fabulous Victorian green house with a stone base occupy the peripheries, flanking the lawn that continues right up to the rear fence, beyond which is pasture. Few houses of this type and price can offer such a sublime garden.

Mains water, electric, gas CHCherwell District CouncilCouncil tax band E?2,711 p.a. 2023/24Freehold