Detached house for sale in Christchurch Road, Downton, Lymington SO41

A rare property within easy striking distance of both the open Forest and the coast with an extremely attractive house, now in need of updating, set in the middle of 18 acres of grounds given over to formal gardens, paddocks and a beautiful walled garden alongside a tennis court and outbuildings. EPC - F

The house occupies an extremely appealing position sitting comfortably in its surrounding grounds which extend to 18.2 acres. The land provides the house with a great degree of protection and the unspoilt fields which surround the property lend an air of rural seclusion which is challenging to find in such a convenient location. New Milton (2.5 miles) has a wide range of shops including M&S Food, a weekly market and a mainline railway station with direct services to London Waterloo taking under 2 hours. There are excellent schools nearby with Durlston at Barton on Sea and Ballard at New Milton.

The wide open spaces of the New Forest provide endless opportunities for exploration and recreation with endless walks and miles of cyclepaths and bridleways. There are beaches close by at Barton on Sea and Milford on Sea as well as access to secluded coves for bathing between the two villages. Sailing facilities nearby are excellent with renowned sailing clubs and marinas in Lymington which lies 4 miles to the west. A wider range of shops and entertainments can be found in Bournemouth (14 miles) and Southampton (22 miles)

Downton Fields is a delightful rural retreat and has been a much loved family home for many years and provides everything that one would expect in a small country estate. The house looks out over carefully landscaped lawns bordered by yew hedging to park like paddocks beyond which are studded with mature broadleaf trees.

Accommodation in the main house extends to 4,300 square feet with beautifully proportioned rooms over three floors, the majority of which have a southerly aspect and enjoy glorious views across the gardens and grounds. Although now in need of updating there remains considerable scope to enhance or extend the house (which is not Listed) subject to the usual permissions and consents.

On the ground floor the front door opens to a large reception hall with an elegant staircase leading to the first floor. There is a very generous triple-aspect drawing room with an open fireplace and French windows leading to the terrace. Also accessed off the reception hall is a cosy sitting room with a wood burning stove flanked by book cases. The sitting room has double doors opening to a sizeable study and these two rooms together offer a great degree of flexibility to be used either as individual rooms in their own right or a superb single space when entertaining. Also off the hall is cloakroom with wc and washbasin. From the hall, a splendid baize door provides access to the extremely spacious kitchen / dining room which features a four oven oil-fired aga as well as a splendid range of handmade wooden kitchen units of timeless style which could be painted to suit any taste. This room has plenty of space for a dining table which is currently positioned adjacent to the French windows which provide beautiful views down the garden as well as direct access to the terrace for outdoor meals. Accessed from the kitchen is an extremely large utility and boot room which contains a separate boiler room and wc. There are two doors to the outside, one works as a back door opening onto the drive, the other opens onto a very spacious enclosed courtyard.

Upstairs a central landing provides access to all principle bedrooms. The main bedroom suite comprises a large triple-aspect bedroom with a feature fireplace, adjoining dressing room with built in wardrobes and an en suite bathroom featuring both bath and separate shower. The guest bedroom features built in wardrobes and an en suite bathroom. There are two further bedrooms on this floor which share the family bathroom. There is a secondary staircase back to the ground floor emerging off the kitchen / dining room. This staircase continues up to second floor where there are two further large bedrooms, a shower room and two generous store rooms which have great potential either as further accommodation or an en suite bathroom.

The gardens and grounds are a key feature of the property and form a magical, unspoilt parkland setting providing a distinct sense of seclusion married with open views across farmland.

The approach to the house is down a long tarmac drive flanked by an avenue of mature trees with both gardens and paddocks belonging to the house on either side providing an impressive introduction to the property. The drive continues to the rear of the house and also forks to provide access to the outbuildings which comprise two loose box stables and associated store rooms as well as a large garage and workshop.

There is a beautiful period walled garden with a range of glass houses along the north wall which enjoy a sunny southerly aspect. There is also a further run of single story outbuildings against the outside of the western wall of the walled garden which provide useful additional storage.

To the north of the house is a very well maintained tennis court while on the south side is a paved terrace running the length of the house which opens onto formal lawn garden flanked by yew hedges which draw the eye to the park-like paddocks lying to the south which are interspersed with mature broad leaf trees.