Description
A detached house with equestrian facilities set in over 7 acres with a wraparound garden, a swimming pool, a garage, a carport, driveway parking, stables and paddocks on the edge of a village surrounded by open countryside. Brownleys has approx. 5,801 sq. ft. of accommodation arranged over two floors. Front doors open to an entrance hall, which continues past the office and a cloakroom, to the main stairs that access four bedrooms, two with en suite bathrooms, and the family bathroom on the first part of the first floor. Opposite the stairs, double doors open to the dining room which in turn leads to the open plan kitchen/breakfast room, a cloakroom and the utility room. Beyond the stairs more double doors access the L-shaped sitting room. In one direction this room leads into the games room, with a cloakroom, or through another door to access stairs up to bedroom five, and an en suite bathroom on the second part of the first floor. The other end of the sitting room accesses a hall, off which is bedroom six, with an en suite shower room, and finally to the gym, which also has a shower room attached.
Wired networking throughout the house facilitates home working.
History & Specification Brownleys is thought to have been built in the 1920s-30s, its steep gables and rendered walls reflect a combination of the Arts and Crafts vernacular with a more minimal Art Deco style. Since then, the house has been enlarged, and more recently further extended and modernised to create a contemporary family home - the sitting and dining rooms added for example - but always with a careful approach to the original design. The interior has open plan living spaces that flow into one another, as well as highly flexible accommodation that adapts to inter-generational living. There is uniformly high specification, from bifold doors and double-glazed windows, to re-fitted bathrooms and flooring. However, Brownleys remains essentially a country house, it is set in wraparound gardens and overlooks its own paddocks that, although now grazed by sheep, accord with the three modern stables.
Entrance Hall, Office and Cloakroom A double front door with flanking windows opens to the entrance hall which accesses the main living areas. This has diagonally laid wood effect Karndean flooring which extends throughout the ground floor, becoming square white Karndean ceramic effect tiles when the sitting room opens to the hall leading to the gym. On the left of the front door is an office with a window overlooking the drive and an open brick fireplace from the original house. Opposite is a cloakroom, one of three on this floor, with ceramic tiles to dado height, a long basin in a marble surround with cupboards beneath, a vertical towel rail and a WC.
Sitting Room The L-shaped sitting room is accessed through double doors from the entrance hall and continues ahead to an area (currently with a grand piano), with bi-fold doors overlooking the garden, and on through an elliptical arch to a snug area with a door to the patio and a window over the garden. In the other direction, is another walk-through to the main part of the sitting room, which has windows on each side. There is a contemporary fireplace with a double-sided wood burning stove on a herringbone brick hearth with a wooden mantel shelf above. Openings on each side of the fireplace and a step down, lead to a more intimate area of sitting room with a window on one side and French doors to the patio on the other. This side of the fireplace has exposed brickwork. Doors from the sitting room access a staircase, with a window above, leading to bedroom five and the games room.
Kitchen/Breakfast Room The dual aspect kitchen/breakfast room has windows overlooking the drive and French doors to the garden with vertical radiators on each side. There is a wooden mantel above an inset hob with an extractor over, an integrated double oven and a dishwasher (all Neff). Floor-to-ceiling cupboards flank a Smeg fridge/freezer and there are base and wall units, some with glazed doors. A butler's sink is inset in the marble worksurface, with a similar splashback, and this marble is used on the central island, which has draws and storage beneath, two integrated Caple wine fridges and seating for at least seven. There is a walk-through to the breakfast room, which has a window overlooking the drive.
Utility Room and Cloakroom The dual aspect utility room has a leaded window overlooking the garden, a stable door with an outside porch and a ceramic tiled floor. There are wooden fronted base units with a quartz worksurface and an inset butler's sink. A double doored cupboard houses the Heatrae Sadia Megaflo hot water tank and there is space and plumbing for a washing machine and dryer. A hatch in the ceiling accesses a loft space and just outside is the Grants oil fired boiler. Doors from both the utility room and the kitchen area access a cloakroom with a window to the side, which has a WC, a basin and a fuse box.
Dining Room Accessed via double doors off the entrance hall, the contemporary dining room has a vaulted ceiling and the longer side of the room (over 21 ft.), which overlooks the garden and the paddocks beyond, is almost entirely glass with two sets of three-door bi-folds, whilst the gable above has angular glazed panels. The structural beams have also been used as a design feature with an industrial accent, heightened by the exposed metal work.
Games Room Measuring over 28 ft. by 23 ft., this room (converted from the old garages), also functions as a cinema room, with a walk-in media cupboard and a purpose-built space for a projector as well as the fittings for a large games screen on a side wall and a cinema screen on the far wall. There are three pendant lights over a space which currently has a pool table, a granite island in the middle with seating for four people, and a seating area facing the far wall. On one wall is a built-in bar with a wooden worksurface. The bar is fitted with base and wall units, with glass shelving above, and an integrated double Adexa wine fridge below. A door opposite the bar opens to the patio, facilitating outdoor entertaining. Another door leads from the games room to a two piece cloakroom.
Bedroom Six, En suite Shower Room, Office The snug area of the sitting room has a door to the hall with Karndean square floor tiles which continue to the gym. A double door opens to the tech/media cupboard and opposite, French doors open to the garden. Bedroom six is the next room off the hall with double French doors overlooking the garden, and a built-in wardrobe. The en suite shower room is part of an unusual serpentine layout and has floor-to-ceiling stone tiling, large tiles on the floor and one wall, and mosaic tiles on the curved wall. There is a double walk-in shower, a round basin on a cupboard, a matching WC and a heated towel rail.
Gym At the end of the hall, the gym has four bi-fold doors in the end wall which open to the swimming pool; one side wall has French doors with flanking windows opening to the sandpit, the other has a window overlooking the garden. There is ample space for various pieces of equipment and a TV point. A door leads into a shower room with a floor-to-ceiling window, a walk-in power shower, a round basin on a table and a WC.
Swimming Pool The swimming pool outside the bi-folds at the end of the gym, is surrounded by paving and enclosed by low picket fencing with bolted gates. The pool has a year old automatically retractable pool cover which can also be left in place while swimming in the winter.
First Floor Two
Bedroom 5 Reached via stairs from the sitting room, bedroom 5 (currently a playroom), measures over 30 ft., but has restricted head height due to the eaves. It has Karndean flooring on the stairs, two Velux windows and three low storage cupboards in the eave spaces. There is a desk built into an alcove with inset shelves alongside. The tiled en suite bathroom has a bath with a shower above, a basin in a cabinet with drawers, a WC and a heated towel rail.
First Floor One Off the hallway, the main staircase has painted turned balusters, an arched window over the stairwell, and a Velux providing light for the galleried area of the L-shaped landing. This landing, with Karndean wood effect flooring, accesses a double doored airing cupboard opposite the stairwell, the four double bedrooms on this floor and the family bathroom. There is also loft access.
Principal Bedroom, En Suite Bath Room Immediately on the left of the landing, double doors open to the principal bedroom with double windows overlooking the side garden and a TV point. The walk-in wardrobe has hanging space and shelves, and a walk-through to a further walk-in wardrobe, also with fitted storage, which opens to a dressing room with more built-in wardrobes. The first walk-in wardrobe has a door to the en suite bathroom with a window overlooking the rear, Karndean marble effect tiled flooring and partially tiled walls. There is a double power shower, a corner bath with a shower fitting, double basins in a marble surround, which continues under the window, and a WC. There is also a heated towel rail and a fitted wall cupboard.
Bedrooms Three and Four and Family Bathroom On the right of the staircase is bedroom four with windows overlooking the drive and fields beyond, and a TV point. Bedroom three is further along the landing, also with a window overlooking the drive and with two double doored floor-to-ceiling wardrobes. These two rooms share the family bathroom which is built into the eaves and has a modern, free-standing bath, a double shower, a basin with a cupboard beneath, a heated towel rail and an obscured window. It has marble effect floor and wall tiles.
Bedrooms Two and En Suite Bathroom At the end of the landing is bedroom two with a dormer window overlooking the front drive and floor-to-ceiling built-in wardrobes. The newly-built en suite bathroom has a Velux window, a panelled back with a fixed shower above, and Karndean marble effect floor and wall tiles. There is a basin inset in a storage cupboard and a heated towel rail.
Outside
Garden and Paddocks Brownleys is on a corner plot. The drive is accessed by timber electric gates off the Marston Road and round the corner off the lane there is access to the carport, a personnel gate, and a farm gate to the paddocks. The stone paved drive has ample parking in front of the single garage on the end of what is now the games room. A path continues round the property. Gated post and rail fencing on both sides separates the rear garden from the drive. The garden is laid to lawn with established trees, including a mature weeping willow, and there is an orchard. South east of the house is a paved seating area, interspersed with planted beds, which leads to a sandpit and overlooks a paved chess board set into the lawn and a tree house. There is a new square, paved patio in an area defined by the sitting room, the hall to the gym, and the stables.
Paddocks, Stables and Carport Behind the garden is a block of land which is divided into three paddocks. It is separated from the garden by stock fencing with farm gates, and is enclosed from the neighbouring fields by indigenous hedging or further stock fencing.
The three modern brick-built stables extend from the games room and the garage. They have timber stable doors and glazed windows facing the paved seating area, and further doors opening to the York stone paved path at the side. The stables have concrete floors and light and water are connected.
Accessed off the lane, is the covered timber carport which facilitates deliveries for the house and stables.
Locality Brownleys is situated on the outskirts of Granborough, a village in Buckinghamshire, the nearest town to which is the county town of Buckingham. The neighbouring village North Marston, with which it shares a primary school and other facilities is 1.4 miles away. Granborough has a 17th-century church, a public house and a notable Arts & Crafts village hall. Its 1086 Anglo Saxon name in the Domesday book translates as 'green hill', which remains appropriate since the area has a long history of arable farming which continues. The farmland surrounding the village has a network of footpaths and hacks can be joined directly from Wheatcroft. Conveniently, the renowned Addington Equestrian Centre is a little over 4 miles away.
