Church Lane, Backwell Guide Price £950,000

The house is understood to date back some 500 years and the dimensions of some of the massive stone walls in the oldest part of the property suggest that may be the case. Over the centuries the house has certainly grown and quite a bit has been done during the present owners tenure, including the most recent addition which was the wing added to the side of the house (‘family room’ and ‘hall’ on the floor plan). The family room was actually built to specifically accommodate a Grand Piano but has been more recently used as a ground floor bedroom with the piano now placed in the ‘music room’ as described in our floor plan.

The layout is very flexible which will certainly appeal to many, and the house has a lovely feel having been a treasured home loved by four generations of the family that have lived here or known Church Farm since England were World Cup Winners.

The property is approached from its own long drive via a wicket gate that opens to a straight flagstone path that is flanked by ball clipped privet bushes that draw the eye away to an arch at the edge of the west lawn.

A wide flagstone path branches off to the south and arrives at a terrace and ultimately at the front door.

The entrance hall has a vaulted ceiling with a Velux window, parquet flooring, a theme that continues through much of the ground floor.

The attractive double aspect family room is arranged to the left and like most of the rooms in the house there is an extremely pretty outlook to the gardens with deep sill windows complete with shutters. A period style fireplace with natural stone chimney breast dominates one wall and there are ceiling beams.

The hall also opens via a doorway set in a massive original wall to the sitting room. Here, the tick stone walls give good insulation on the hottest days and likewise will make the house cosier in winter – a factor that EPC software does not allow for! Deep sill windows, again with shutters flank the doorway and a XVIth century fireplace with dressed stone piers and timber bressummer stands at one end of the room with a curved wall drawing the eye to a plank door with Norfolk latch opening to the library. In the library a stained-glass window gives a warm light right into the evening, a plank door leads to the dining room and a quarter return staircase rises to the first floor.

There is a doorway to a utility area with a cloakroom beyond. A hidden recess was once a doorway to what is now the music room and opposite that there is a full height built in storage cupboard with interlocking shelving.

The dining room is a very pleasing room with a broad almost full width bay window overlooking the main terrace and west lawn. A Tudor style carved arch leads to the music room and a doorway leads through to the breakfast area.

The double aspect music room easily accommodates a baby Grand Piano while offering plenty more space in addition. This room has from time to time been used as a large study and quite obviously suits a variety of uses.

Next, the breakfast area, which is part of the farmhouse style kitchen, overlooks and opens via a part glazed door to a superb terrace and the west lawn. A useful fitted cupboard provides storage, and a peninsular division effectively separates the breakfast ‘room’ from the main part of the kitchen, keeping those seated nicely out of the way of the chef maybe.

The kitchen has a full range of bespoke solid pine cabinets with cupboards and drawers, ample granite worksurfaces and an inset 1½ bowl Asterite sink unit. An Aga cooker is a real asset and so too is the traditional walk-in pantry in one corner. There is plumbing for a dish washer, space for further appliances, ceramic floor tiling, ceramic tiled surrounds and another double aspect over the terraces and gardens.

Clearly the space on the ground floor is very good and though the first floor is not quite as large the bedrooms are still of comfortable proportions. The first-floor rooms are also light and airy and none more so than the principal bedroom that has an almost wall to wall window that takes full advantage of the position. There are open views over the gardens, across Backwell and much of North Somerset as far as the hillsides of Wales away in the far distance. This and many other rooms also enjoy beautiful sunsets.

Four of the five bedrooms have built in wardrobes and the family bathroom has a rare Balterley floral glazed white suite and tiling.

The Garden:
Cottage garden lovers beware, you will not be able to resist! Over six decades the garden has evolved and developed with every plant and the majority of the trees introduced by the present owner who has landscaped the full, almost half acre surroundings of the house with considerable flair.

Those years of painstaking thought have created one of the most attractive settings that we have found in this village and a garden that has been the venue for so many happy events including wedding receptions on the wide-open lawns that are framed by ancient stone pathways, very pretty cottage planting in deep shaped beds and a selection of specimen trees.

There are so many areas of interest and while much of the garden is level, to one side the landscaping follows the natural contours with further stone paths and walls retaining yet more ‘rooms’ of the garden including a second sweep of lawn at a slightly higher level from which the views are even more expansive.

A small orchard adds some welcome shade on the hottest days and a substantial cabin style outbuilding with light and power is built of timber over stone and block walls. This building is divided internally to form a summerhouse or perhaps an office at home or Gym, a storeroom-workshop and a separate garden machinery store. Alternatively, this building could provide the basis of an annexe if required, subject to any necessary consents.

A second timber outbuilding is hidden away behind the house offering useful additional storage.

Please click on the brochure link for full details.