House For Sale £2,250,000
Why we love Barton End Farm
Barton End Farmhouse is located at the end of a long gravel drive which sweeps on a curve through paddocks and grounds, past a tennis court and a soaring clutch of Wellingtonia trees up to a semi-circular forecourt at the front of the house. The main Neoclassical façade is faced in smart ashlar stone and furnished with large sash windows and a distinctive Tuscan pediment porch with delicate leaf carving.
Inside showcase perfect proportions with a layout designed with entertaining in mind.
The current owners have built on the lovely feel of this house and created timeless refinement in their thoughtful decoration of the interiors. The house features a wonderful natural colour palette of carefully selected chalky finished tones, each of which complements the mood of its designated room and enhances the atmosphere in this historic home.
The front door opens onto the main entrance hall and a glorious swathe of Minton tiles. To either side of the front door sit the drawing room with handsome stone fireplace and log burner, and the dining room with black marble fireplace. Both rooms are very generous (both vertically and horizontally), and have recently laid smart wooden floors, original folding shutters, and freestanding cast iron radiators which are located throughout the house.
The hall leads on from the main entertaining spaces to a cloakroom and a study with another handsome fireplace and French windows leading out onto a terrace.
The kitchen and sitting room are located to the side of the house in a 19th century stone extension with an attractive symmetrical stone façade and mullioned casement windows framing the side door. The kitchen features pretty painted cabinetry, stone flagstone floor and a Rangemaster cooker with breakfast table in the centre. It is supported by a particularly well-appointed laundry/utility room and a linen room. The comfortable sitting room features a cozy logburner and an enormous mantlepiece.
The first floor houses the principal bedroom with ensuite and walk-in wardrobe. There are five further generous bedrooms with original fireplaces and window seats on this floor as well as three bathrooms, all in immaculate condition. The second floor houses a charming bedroom up in the eaves which is currently configured as a children’s dormitory.
Garden and Grounds
A west facing lawn at the front of the house looks out over the wider grounds and paddocks, most of which has previously been set to grazing.
To one side of the house sits a garage/carport and a tennis court. To the other side there is a wonderful Victorian stable block which stands largely unaltered with many original features. It houses a gym, tackroom, and six loose boxes. Around the stables sits a lovely large walled garden, formerly a kitchen garden, and still retaining mature trees and shrubs, rhubarb, a fruitful fig tree and a covered stone well. This part of the garden also has a stone terrace ideal for lunches outside in summer months under a pergola with trailing roses.
Out and About
Barton End is situated on the edge of a wooded valley within unspoilt rolling hills in a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The hamlet is ideally located for access to a distinguished selection of nearby villages and picturesque Cotswold market towns whilst being tucked away from the hustle and bustle.
Immediate amenities can be found in the pretty village of Horsely including a community shop, church, primary school, and a traditional village pub The Hog which has been recently renovated and hosts regular pop-up music and food events.
The thriving next door market town of Nailsworth is a popular artistic and culinary hub which boasts popular restaurant Wild Garlick, and two multi-award-winning delicatessens William’s Food Hall & Oyster Bar and Hobbs House Bakery.
Additional offerings can be found in nearby Tetbury, famous for its lovely stone streets and antique shops, and in Stroud which has an excellent Farmers Market. Further afield Bristol, Bath and Cheltenham each have a wide range of speciality shops as well as theatres, restaurants and cultural amenities.
There are endless walking routes in the idyllic surrounding countryside and plenty of sporting opportunities. There is an equestrian centre in Barton End and world class eventing at Badminton and Gatcombe. There are also a number of golf courses in the area, including the highly regarded courses at Minchinhampton. The Cotswold Water Park offers many opportunities for water sports enthusiasts and there is racing at Cheltenham and Chepstow. Splendid relaxation is provided at Calcot Hotel & Spa which offers two excellent restaurants and at the spa a gymnasium, a pool, and a range of top-class treatments.
For those needing to travel there is good access to the M4 at Junction 17 and nearby Kemble Station which offers intercity services to London, Paddington (scheduled to take about 75 minutes).
Great Schools
There is a fantastic choice of highly regarded schools in the area including Beaudesert Park, Minchinhampton Primary School, Chalford Primary School, Marling, Stroud High, Westonbirt, Sir William Romney’s School, Wycliffe College and the Cheltenham Colleges.
Chapters Past
Barton End Farmhouse is an elegant Grade II listed stone house in the ancient hamlet of Barton End within the parish of Horsely. The core of the house dates to the 17th century, one of only two surviving houses from this period in the hamlet. This corner of the Cotswolds has been a favourable site for millennia with Neolithic as well as Roman and Saxon sites nearby.
Prior to the time of the Norman conquest the parish was royal land owned by Princess Goda, the sister of King Edward the Confessor. The royal link goes further as Earl Godwin (father both to King Harold Godwinson who was killed at the battle of Hastings and to Edith the wife of King Edward the Confessor), is recorded to have briefly mustered an army against his son-in-law King Edward at neighbouring Chavenage Green in 1051.
Following the Norman conquest, the area was granted to the Benedictine Abbey of Troarn in Normandy. By the late middle ages, it had become a centre of the weaving trade with wool from sheep reared on the steep sided valleys surrounding Stroud feeding the myriad of cloth mills of nearby Nailsworth. Barton End Farmhouse occupies a favourably flat and elevated stretch of land and the presence of medieval earthworks in the hamlet indicate a farmstead in the vicinity several hundred years before the current Barton End Farmhouse was built.
