Rock House, 2 Puck Lane, Witney, OX28

This handsome four-bedroom Georgian house in Witney retains all its impressive period presence and charm while the two-storey zinc and chestnut-clad extension is a contemporary triumph. Added ten years ago, it was designed by RIBA award-winning architects Robert Dye Associates.

This fantastic family home is in a truly knockout location on a quiet lane right in the centre of the Oxfordshire Cotswolds’ town of Witney, within walking distance of supermarkets (including Waitrose), shops, primary and secondary schools, leisure centre, cinema, pubs, restaurants, coffee shops, and all the other bells and whistles of a thriving community.

The current owners, who have lived at Rock House for 17 years, succinctly sum it up: “With young children we wanted to live in a town and be somewhere we could walk rather than loading them in and out of the car for every activity.”

Well, Rock House – built around 1800 and unlisted - has more than fulfilled their brief; set in a third-of-an-acre plot within a peaceful conservation area, it has gorgeous gardens and copious parking space yet it’s literally within minutes of all that Witney has to offer.

It has impeccable pedigree too, with links to Witney’s illustrious blanket-making industry. The property is thought to have been owned by a wool merchant called Henry Salmon before passing to members of the Early family, whose famous blanket factory – the largest of five in the town - was just across the road. Blanket-making ceased in 2002 when Early’s closed.

While preserving all the original Georgian features of this elegant house such as original fireplaces, sash windows and picture rails, the ground floor has been completely remodelled to create light and spacious living and dining areas. Upstairs, there are four generously-sized double bedrooms and a family bathroom.

The uber-chic extension embraces desirable 21st-century features – on the ground floor a super-spacious kitchen/breakfast room, study, utility room and cloakroom. Upstairs, an interconnecting bathroom and dressing room are appended to the existing principal bedroom and there’s a balcony with glass balustrades with views across the front garden. The work also included the addition of a double garage with attached store room, plus making the house as energy-efficient and ‘green’ as possible – exceptionally, the entire ground floor of the house is now underfloor-heated.

There’s all this and much more to Rock House, so here are the finer details . . .

The best of both worlds

Old and new work in perfect harmony at Rock House and it’s beautifully presented throughout – you can move straight in, crack open a celebratory bottle of Moët, and you’re all set to go!

Positioned well back from Puck Lane, there’s pedestrian access to elegant stuccoed Rock House via a gate and pathway flanked by flower borders. It leads to an impressive pillared portico and double front doors with a decorative blue stained-glass fanlight above. Vehicle access is to the rear, via a private driveway and there is parking space for up to five cars.

The front doors swing open into the fine Georgian entrance hall, which runs the depth of the house with a door to the rear garden at the far end. The original staircase with its decorative mouldings is particularly attractive, as is the mellow reclaimed teak parquet flooring which extends throughout the ground floor of the original house.

Six years ago, the current owners reconfigured the reception rooms by knocking through the four existing ones to create two spacious 23ft rooms – a sitting room to the right and a dining room to the left – and they are stunning! The window apertures to the front of the house were opened to install aristocratic French doors, with the surrounds and shutters reinstated.

Bathed in natural light, both rooms are heritage gems with high ceilings, picture rails and deep skirting boards. There’s a window seat and two decoratively tiled fireplaces in the sitting room plus a similarly impressive fireplace in the dining room - the décor and furnishings illustrate how well the period features can harmonise and contrast with contemporary paint finishes and lighting. The current owners love the sitting room, which enjoys plenty of light throughout the day. They say: “It’s warm in the winter and cool in the heat of the summer due to the thickness of the old stone walls.”

The super-swish 22x16ft kitchen/breakfast room is seamlessly connected at the far end of the dining room, and it’s a striking space, full of sunshine and feelgood vibes. The current owners say: “It delivers exactly what we dreamt of in terms of a practical space with a touch of real architectural drama.” That oh-so-desirable ‘indoors-outdoors’ merger with the beautiful garden terraces is achieved via floor-to-ceiling patio doors next to the kitchen and another set spanning the corner of the breakfast area.

Contemporary, streamlined and the hub of family life, the gloss white kitchen with Corian worktops is equipped to the highest of standards with double Bosch ovens and warming drawer, fridge, freezer and Miele dishwasher. The central island houses the induction hob and adjoining gas wok hob. All the laundry requirements are taken care of in the adjoining well-equipped utility room.

Often an after-thought, the study gets star billing here with floor-to-ceiling corner windows and overhead skylight, once again creating that inspirational indoors-outdoors connection. A modern cloakroom completes the ground-floor line-up.

Beautiful bedrooms

Another plus at Rock House is that all four of the bedrooms are of more-or-less identical proportions and are all doubles – so there will be no fighting between youngsters over who “gets the biggest room”! Three of them have the original fireplaces and again, the light quotient is dazzling thanks to the big sash windows.

With the addition of the dressing room and glamorous en-suite bathroom with walk-in shower and freestanding bath tub, the principal bedroom is a peaceful haven. The balcony is super too, perfect for relaxing with a good book and a glass of something chilled in the warmer months.

The remaining bedrooms share a family bathroom with bath tub and shower.

Impeccable eco-credentials at Rock House

Energy-efficiency and eco credentials were put top of the list by the current owners of Rock House, and they’ve achieved this to the highest of standards.

With the extension in 2013 and the second phase of improvements to the original house, made in 2017, a fully zoned underfloor heating system run off a gas boiler plumbed into a pressurised system with 300I thermal store was installed. The latter phase involved digging out the old floors and replacing with a new floor structure incorporating a recycled glass insulation layer and the underfloor heating system in a Limecrete slab. A key consideration was maintaining the breathability of the 200-year-old house and in fact, it cured a number of historical damp issues.

As a futureproofing measure, the system is ready for a ‘plug in and play’ air source heat pump to be installed.

A 6,000 litre rainwater harvesting system was also fitted and can be used for watering the garden, flushing toilets etc.

On the roof of the house, the 12x250w solar panels fitted in 2013 benefit from a generous Feed-In Tariff (FIT) which pays approximately £700 per year and still has 14 years left to run. There’s also a solar thermal system which provides all the hot water during the summer months.

Additionally, the entire house has been fitted with a mechanical heat recovery ventilation system which recovers excess heat from areas such as kitchen, utility and bathrooms and redistributes this energy to other parts of the house via filters and a heat exchanger.

Finally, there is CAT5E throughout the house.

Into the garden

An array of mature trees and shrubs envelop the gardens at Rock House, creating a private leafy oasis.

With large lawns to the front of the house, youngsters have plenty of space to play in safety while, to the rear, a small fenced and gated terrace and lawn would be perfect for toddlers’ playtime.

Via a five-bar gate from the private driveway, there’s a generous amount of parking space to the rear of the house in front of the garage and storeroom, with access to the house through a door into the kitchen. For the green-fingered there’s also a vegetable garden with greenhouse.

To the front of the house under the overhang of the extension, and to the side, a lovely, paved terrace with planters and shrubs has different seating areas to make the most of the sunshine throughout the day and, with the kitchen/breakfast room’s sliding doors open, al fresco dining and entertaining friends is a pleasure.

Round and about

Witney epitomises a country market town at its best, with everything you could possibly desire right on the doorstep.

It’s a five-minute stroll from Rock House to the shops of Marriotts Close, where there’s a Marks & Spencer store selling both fashion and food, plus brands such as Fat Face, Hobbs, New Look, Café Rouge, Café Nero and a cinema. Witney High Street is just round the corner with a great array of shops - chains such as Next, White Stuff and Lakeland, and independent boutiques such as Lily’s Attic. Supermarkets include a large Waitrose, Sainsbury’s and Co-op.

The Windrush Leisure Centre, in the town centre has a swimming pool, gym, racquet sports and classes include everything from aqua fit and yoga to tai chi and aerobics. The Witney Lakes Resort offers great golf, with 18-hole championship courses and driving range, plus swimming pool and fitness facilities.

Education is always a priority for a family, and Witney is very well served. Within a short walk are Batt CE Primary School, Ofsted-rated ‘outstanding’, and Tower Hill Community Primary, rated ‘good’. The town’s two secondary schools, Henry Box and Wood Green, are both rated ‘good’ and within walking distance. Private schools abound and include Cokethorpe, just outside the town, and many within a ten-mile radius including Windrush Valley School, St Hugh’s and Cothill, as well as top independent schools in Oxford and Abingdon.

You’re spoilt for choice with Witney’s range of eateries, including chains such as Pizza Express and plenty of independents; including Indian, Thai and Cambodian restaurants. The Fleece pub, on picturesque Church Green in front of the parish church of St Mary, is very popular and serves consistently tasty, innovative food, while other good ‘foodie’ pubs include The Plough and Blue Boar.

Just outside the town, The Lamb at Crawley is the favourite of many, along with The Horse & Radish at Minster Lovell.

Venture beyond the town’s boundaries and you’re in the beautiful West Oxfordshire countryside of the Windrush valley with an abundance of gorgeous walks accessible directly from Rock House, plus cycling and horse-riding routes. Families will enjoy meeting the friendly farm animals at Cogges Manor Farm, a unique historic farm in the heart of Witney, and another great day out is the Cotswold Wildlife Park at nearby Burford with its huge collection of zoo animals and acres of beautiful grounds.

THE FINER DETAILS

What3Words: ///shape.rate.tuned (takes you to the driveway entrance)
Distances: Oxford 13.2 miles
London 66.5 miles
Heathrow 54.4 miles