House For Sale £1,150,000
Dating back to the 18th Century, Millbrook Cottage has all the charm you would expect of a period home in an idyllic edge-of-Cotswolds village. Spacious and welcoming, this perfectly proportioned gem of a family home oozes laid-back country style and an irresistibly warm and relaxing vibe. And its location in the heart of the perennially popular village of Ashton Keynes adds to the appeal for those seeking a rural retreat with a thriving community and access to excellent schools, transport, and facilities.
With chocolate-box good looks, this gorgeous home is bursting with character and evocative period features including exposed stonework, beamed ceilings and cosy fireplaces. With plenty of space for all the family, and a layout to suit modern living, Millbrook Cottage has five spacious bedrooms, a wonderfully warm and welcoming kitchen/diner, two cosy reception rooms and a pretty, enclosed cottage garden. A separate, self-contained one-bedroom cottage ideal for guest accommodation or an income-producing holiday let adds to the allure of this unique home.
All things river and lake-related play a premier role in this edge-of-Cotswolds location, close to the historic town of Cirencester. Ashton Keynes spans both sides of the River Thames, just 6.5 miles from its source and at the heart of the Cotswold Water Park – a 40 square mile nature haven of 180 lakes created from the worked-out gravel quarries. If you want to sail, water-ski, paddleboard, fish or go bird-watching, it’s made to measure!
But it’s not just nature that makes Ashton Keynes such a sought-after village. A huge draw for families is the highly-regarded village school, one of the top 1.5% of primary schools in the country, regularly featuring in The Sunday Times Good Schools Guide. Pupils move on to leading independent schools nearby or to some of the top grammar schools in the country including Pates Grammar School in Cheltenham, Tommies, The Crypt and Denmark Road in Gloucester, and Stroud High School.
We’re excited to tell you more about Millbrook Cottage so allow us show you around...
Home Comforts
Millbrook Cottage is nestled behind double gates in the heart of Ashton Keynes. Park on the gravel courtyard where there’s space to comfortably park four cars, plus a useful ev charging point. Enter through the rear door of the cottage and into the welcoming kitchen/breakfast room, gently warmed by underfloor heating. With a trio of windows that ensure it’s light and airy all year round, family life will undoubtedly revolve around this expansive room which stretches the entire width of the house and is full of traditional rustic home comforts. The family can gather around the large farmhouse kitchen table for speedy weeknight suppers, and you’ll really enjoy entertaining here too – there’s room to accommodate all your friends for lively dinner parties! For cosy mornings with coffee and the papers, curl up on the squishy sofa at the end of the room in front of the window.
Creamy-white, bespoke farmhouse-style kitchen units line two walls and are topped with glossy black granite worktops providing plenty of space for food preparation. Cooking is done on the traditional Rangemaster stove with double oven and induction hob and there’s an integrated fridge and dishwasher. Laundry can be dealt with in the separate utility room just off the kitchen and there’s a downstairs WC here too.
Leading off the kitchen is a useful study area with built-in shelving and workstation – an ideal space for the children to do homework while you keep an eye on them from the kitchen, or for working from home without feeling shut off from everyday life.
There are two reception rooms at Millbrook Cottage. The more formal 19ft x 12ft drawing room has a feature woodburner as a centrepiece and is a lovely place to entertain – full of rustic character and style. This room is enchanting in winter when you can relax to the sounds of the crackling log fire, but equally appealing in summer when the light floods in through the window overlooking the pretty cottage garden.
The second, less formal sitting room, also is also warmed by a woodburner and is the ideal spot to curl up with a book, to watch TV or for the children to hang out with their friends. An internal hallway between the two sitting rooms has plenty of space to hang coats and store shoes and boots, and it’s here you’ll find the door leading to the pretty, south-east facing garden, which we will explore later.
But first, let’s head upstairs to discover Millbrook Cottage’s five well-appointed bedrooms.
Sweet Dreams
Take the staircase from the sitting room and on the first floor you’ll find four double bedrooms and a single bedroom where restful sleep and delightful views across the village are assured.
The vaulted and beamed principal bedroom is a tranquil and spacious haven with an ensuite shower room and two built in wardrobes. A trio of Velux windows to allow the maximum amount of national light to flood in, creating a peaceful and luxurious retreat.
There are three further spacious double bedrooms on this floor, two of which have built in wardrobes providing ample storage space. They share use of the large family bathroom which is well appointed with a deep roll-top bath as well as a separate shower cubicle. Bedroom five was created when the current owners extended the first floor living accommodation 15 years ago and would make a fantastic nursery or younger child’s bedroom.
More To Discover
Adding extra allure to Mill Brook Cottage is the beautifully presented one-bedroom annexe just across the driveway. Converted from one half of the detached double garage, this two-storey cottage is well equipped with shower room, kitchenette, sitting area and double bedroom. It would be ideal self-contained accommodation for an elderly relative, au pair or as an income-generator. The Cotswold Water Park location makes this a desirable and lucrative holiday-let opportunity. The second half of the detached garage has been retained and provides ample storage space.
Garden Delights
Head outside to enjoy Mill Brook Cottage’s lovely gardens. With an enviable south-east orientation, they enjoy the best of the sunshine, with patio terraces to both the front and rear of the cottage making the most of this throughout the day.
Private and safe for children to run and play, the main part of the garden is found at the south side of the house and is divided by an arbour gate and hedging from the rear section. Both are lawned and framed with mature plants and flowers. A lovely gravelled terrace with raised borders is positioned next to the cottage and is the perfect spot for summertime barbeques and entertaining.
The Perfect Location
Ashton Keynes is a really buzzy, thriving village with lots going on all year round. The current owners of Mill Brook Cottage describe the community as ‘magically like-minded’ and there’s certainly something to suit everyone in this village, from baby and toddler groups and a family-friendly pub, to tennis and running clubs, a village cinema, even it’s own music festival! With so much on offer, it’s a fabulous place to put down roots and one of the reasons why premium homes here so rarely come up for sale.
On the doorstep, the idyllic Wiltshire countryside was featured in the opening credits of the London 2012 Olympics. The River Thames and endless lakes offer a whole range of leisure options for outdoorsy families – all kinds of wildlife and birds can be spotted on the wetlands. The Thames Path passes through the village but other than walkers, Ashton Keynes remains quiet and untroubled by tourists.
All the everyday necessities can be picked up from the community-run shop in the village while guest ales and good pub grub are the order of the day at the welcoming White Hart Inn. There’s a popular weekly steak night and regular pub quizzes.
Ashton Keynes CE Primary School is a major draw for families. The school has been extended in recent years with the addition of three new classrooms and a central hub. In the last two years of publishing, the school has featured in The Sunday Times Top 250 best primary schools list, ranking within the top 1.5 per cent of primary schools nationally.
There’s also a good choice of independent schools locally such as Hatherop Castle, Rendcomb College, Prior Park, Cricklade Manor Prep, Cheltenham Ladies’ College, Cheltenham College, St Edward’s Cheltenham and Pinewood. There are transport links from the village to schools including award-winning grammar schools in Cheltenham, Stroud and Gloucester as well as good comprehensive schools in Cirencester, Fairford and Malmesbury.
At the centre of community life in Ashton Keynes is the village hall, home to an endless array of activities and classes, plus the monthly ‘rural cinema’. Bradstone Sports Field has facilities for soccer, cricket and three courts for the tennis club, while youngsters will love the well-equipped playground. At the High Road Playing Fields you’ll discover tennis courts and two separate play parks to cater for children from babies to ‘tweens.’ It’s a lovely space where families congregate to play and have picnics in summer and football training during the winter. An excellent village website and newsletter effectively keep residents ‘in the know’.
For supermarket shopping the nearest place is the beautiful historic town of Cricklade (3.5 miles), which also has a leisure centre. For a wider range of shopping and leisure options, Cirencester (five miles) is fantastic, and there are Waitrose and Tesco superstores too. Swindon, 13 miles away, is the home of gwr’s Steam Museum and fashion followers will love the McArthurGlen designer retail outlet.
Transport links here are excellent. Commuters can hop on a train to London at Kemble Station with a journey time of around 80 minutes. Swindon station also has frequent trains to London Paddington in 55 minutes. By road, it’s a straightforward drive of nine miles to junction 16 of the M4 for access to London or the West Country.
Finer Details
Square footage: Main House: 1894 sq ft / 176 sq mtr
Annexe: 363 sq ft / 33.7 sq mtr
Garage: 92 sq ft / 8.6 sq mtr
central heating: Oil
tenure: Freehold
distances:M4 Junction 16 – 9 miles
Cirencester – 7 miles
Swindon – 13 miles
Kemble Station – 6 miles
Cheltenham – 23 miles
London – 95 miles
Heathrow Airport – 82.6 miles
EPC: D
local authority: Wiltshire District Council |
With chocolate-box good looks, this gorgeous home is bursting with character and evocative period features including exposed stonework, beamed ceilings and cosy fireplaces. With plenty of space for all the family, and a layout to suit modern living, Millbrook Cottage has five spacious bedrooms, a wonderfully warm and welcoming kitchen/diner, two cosy reception rooms and a pretty, enclosed cottage garden. A separate, self-contained one-bedroom cottage ideal for guest accommodation or an income-producing holiday let adds to the allure of this unique home.
All things river and lake-related play a premier role in this edge-of-Cotswolds location, close to the historic town of Cirencester. Ashton Keynes spans both sides of the River Thames, just 6.5 miles from its source and at the heart of the Cotswold Water Park – a 40 square mile nature haven of 180 lakes created from the worked-out gravel quarries. If you want to sail, water-ski, paddleboard, fish or go bird-watching, it’s made to measure!
But it’s not just nature that makes Ashton Keynes such a sought-after village. A huge draw for families is the highly-regarded village school, one of the top 1.5% of primary schools in the country, regularly featuring in The Sunday Times Good Schools Guide. Pupils move on to leading independent schools nearby or to some of the top grammar schools in the country including Pates Grammar School in Cheltenham, Tommies, The Crypt and Denmark Road in Gloucester, and Stroud High School.
We’re excited to tell you more about Millbrook Cottage so allow us show you around...
Home Comforts
Millbrook Cottage is nestled behind double gates in the heart of Ashton Keynes. Park on the gravel courtyard where there’s space to comfortably park four cars, plus a useful ev charging point. Enter through the rear door of the cottage and into the welcoming kitchen/breakfast room, gently warmed by underfloor heating. With a trio of windows that ensure it’s light and airy all year round, family life will undoubtedly revolve around this expansive room which stretches the entire width of the house and is full of traditional rustic home comforts. The family can gather around the large farmhouse kitchen table for speedy weeknight suppers, and you’ll really enjoy entertaining here too – there’s room to accommodate all your friends for lively dinner parties! For cosy mornings with coffee and the papers, curl up on the squishy sofa at the end of the room in front of the window.
Creamy-white, bespoke farmhouse-style kitchen units line two walls and are topped with glossy black granite worktops providing plenty of space for food preparation. Cooking is done on the traditional Rangemaster stove with double oven and induction hob and there’s an integrated fridge and dishwasher. Laundry can be dealt with in the separate utility room just off the kitchen and there’s a downstairs WC here too.
Leading off the kitchen is a useful study area with built-in shelving and workstation – an ideal space for the children to do homework while you keep an eye on them from the kitchen, or for working from home without feeling shut off from everyday life.
There are two reception rooms at Millbrook Cottage. The more formal 19ft x 12ft drawing room has a feature woodburner as a centrepiece and is a lovely place to entertain – full of rustic character and style. This room is enchanting in winter when you can relax to the sounds of the crackling log fire, but equally appealing in summer when the light floods in through the window overlooking the pretty cottage garden.
The second, less formal sitting room, also is also warmed by a woodburner and is the ideal spot to curl up with a book, to watch TV or for the children to hang out with their friends. An internal hallway between the two sitting rooms has plenty of space to hang coats and store shoes and boots, and it’s here you’ll find the door leading to the pretty, south-east facing garden, which we will explore later.
But first, let’s head upstairs to discover Millbrook Cottage’s five well-appointed bedrooms.
Sweet Dreams
Take the staircase from the sitting room and on the first floor you’ll find four double bedrooms and a single bedroom where restful sleep and delightful views across the village are assured.
The vaulted and beamed principal bedroom is a tranquil and spacious haven with an ensuite shower room and two built in wardrobes. A trio of Velux windows to allow the maximum amount of national light to flood in, creating a peaceful and luxurious retreat.
There are three further spacious double bedrooms on this floor, two of which have built in wardrobes providing ample storage space. They share use of the large family bathroom which is well appointed with a deep roll-top bath as well as a separate shower cubicle. Bedroom five was created when the current owners extended the first floor living accommodation 15 years ago and would make a fantastic nursery or younger child’s bedroom.
More To Discover
Adding extra allure to Mill Brook Cottage is the beautifully presented one-bedroom annexe just across the driveway. Converted from one half of the detached double garage, this two-storey cottage is well equipped with shower room, kitchenette, sitting area and double bedroom. It would be ideal self-contained accommodation for an elderly relative, au pair or as an income-generator. The Cotswold Water Park location makes this a desirable and lucrative holiday-let opportunity. The second half of the detached garage has been retained and provides ample storage space.
Garden Delights
Head outside to enjoy Mill Brook Cottage’s lovely gardens. With an enviable south-east orientation, they enjoy the best of the sunshine, with patio terraces to both the front and rear of the cottage making the most of this throughout the day.
Private and safe for children to run and play, the main part of the garden is found at the south side of the house and is divided by an arbour gate and hedging from the rear section. Both are lawned and framed with mature plants and flowers. A lovely gravelled terrace with raised borders is positioned next to the cottage and is the perfect spot for summertime barbeques and entertaining.
The Perfect Location
Ashton Keynes is a really buzzy, thriving village with lots going on all year round. The current owners of Mill Brook Cottage describe the community as ‘magically like-minded’ and there’s certainly something to suit everyone in this village, from baby and toddler groups and a family-friendly pub, to tennis and running clubs, a village cinema, even it’s own music festival! With so much on offer, it’s a fabulous place to put down roots and one of the reasons why premium homes here so rarely come up for sale.
On the doorstep, the idyllic Wiltshire countryside was featured in the opening credits of the London 2012 Olympics. The River Thames and endless lakes offer a whole range of leisure options for outdoorsy families – all kinds of wildlife and birds can be spotted on the wetlands. The Thames Path passes through the village but other than walkers, Ashton Keynes remains quiet and untroubled by tourists.
All the everyday necessities can be picked up from the community-run shop in the village while guest ales and good pub grub are the order of the day at the welcoming White Hart Inn. There’s a popular weekly steak night and regular pub quizzes.
Ashton Keynes CE Primary School is a major draw for families. The school has been extended in recent years with the addition of three new classrooms and a central hub. In the last two years of publishing, the school has featured in The Sunday Times Top 250 best primary schools list, ranking within the top 1.5 per cent of primary schools nationally.
There’s also a good choice of independent schools locally such as Hatherop Castle, Rendcomb College, Prior Park, Cricklade Manor Prep, Cheltenham Ladies’ College, Cheltenham College, St Edward’s Cheltenham and Pinewood. There are transport links from the village to schools including award-winning grammar schools in Cheltenham, Stroud and Gloucester as well as good comprehensive schools in Cirencester, Fairford and Malmesbury.
At the centre of community life in Ashton Keynes is the village hall, home to an endless array of activities and classes, plus the monthly ‘rural cinema’. Bradstone Sports Field has facilities for soccer, cricket and three courts for the tennis club, while youngsters will love the well-equipped playground. At the High Road Playing Fields you’ll discover tennis courts and two separate play parks to cater for children from babies to ‘tweens.’ It’s a lovely space where families congregate to play and have picnics in summer and football training during the winter. An excellent village website and newsletter effectively keep residents ‘in the know’.
For supermarket shopping the nearest place is the beautiful historic town of Cricklade (3.5 miles), which also has a leisure centre. For a wider range of shopping and leisure options, Cirencester (five miles) is fantastic, and there are Waitrose and Tesco superstores too. Swindon, 13 miles away, is the home of gwr’s Steam Museum and fashion followers will love the McArthurGlen designer retail outlet.
Transport links here are excellent. Commuters can hop on a train to London at Kemble Station with a journey time of around 80 minutes. Swindon station also has frequent trains to London Paddington in 55 minutes. By road, it’s a straightforward drive of nine miles to junction 16 of the M4 for access to London or the West Country.
Finer Details
Square footage: Main House: 1894 sq ft / 176 sq mtr
Annexe: 363 sq ft / 33.7 sq mtr
Garage: 92 sq ft / 8.6 sq mtr
central heating: Oil
tenure: Freehold
distances:M4 Junction 16 – 9 miles
Cirencester – 7 miles
Swindon – 13 miles
Kemble Station – 6 miles
Cheltenham – 23 miles
London – 95 miles
Heathrow Airport – 82.6 miles
EPC: D
local authority: Wiltshire District Council |
