Stockwood, Dorchester, DT2

Once part of the Melbury Estate and originally dating from the 16th century, Braggs Farmhouse is a charming example of a modest, stone-built farmhouse that has been altered and enlarged over the following three centuries. The house has a wonderfully private, rural setting within grounds of about 3.75 acres and has complete privacy at the end of a 300 yard long private drive. It lies alongside a spring-fed stream that flows down off the hill above the tiny rural hamlet of Stockwood and is surrounded by miles of beautiful, unspoilt countryside. It also has a south west/north east axis, so that it captures the best of the daylight from early morning through until the late evening during the summer months, with the front of the house looking down the long approach drive flanked on either side by the property's two paddocks and strips of mature woodland. The house is Grade II listed and has a lovely feel to it, retaining many of its original architectural fittings including Blue Lias flagstones throughout most of the ground floor, a Welsh slate roof, two inglenook fireplaces and exquisite, moulded 16th century coffered ceiling beams in the dining room. It has three good-sized reception rooms on the ground floor plus a lean-to Victorian extension running along the back of the house. This contains the kitchen/breakfast room, which has windows on three sides looking out over the garden and the surrounding countryside. The kitchen is equipped with a range of units under timber work surfaces, built-in electric appliances and has a flagstone floor and a separate breakfast/dining area. The window on the upstairs, part-galleried landing has a wonderful view out across the grounds allowing natural light to fill the centre of the house and leads to all three double bedrooms. The main bedroom and a second bedroom share the family bathroom and the guest bedroom, which has a vaulted ceiling, has its own ensuite shower room.

The house is not visible from the passing country lane and is approached down an unmade road, which passes through three paddocks fringed on their outer sides by mature trees. The drive ends at a gravelled parking area in front of the house with space for several cars. At the near end of one of the paddocks is a pig pen and an adjacent poultry house currently home to a flock of guinea fowl and two geese. A side spur off the drive leads to a further parking area in front of a double garage and an adjacent brick-built, period cow byre altered to form a workshop and adjacent garden/machinery store. The cow byre could potentially be converted to create a self-contained, single storey annexe to the main house, subject to obtaining the necessary consents. To one side of the house behind tall hedging are a summer house/home office and an orchard. The main part of the garden lies behind the house and is designed to require minimal maintenance. A narrow, paved terrace extends out from the back of the house to a lawn with a spinney of mixed woodland on one side and the stream flowing along the other. The stream is fed by a natural spring and never runs dry, even in the hottest of summers.

Yetminster 3.2 miles • Evershot 4 miles • Yeovil Junction Station 6 miles (Waterloo 2.25 hours) • Yeovil town centre 7.5 miles • Sherborne 9 miles • Dorchester 14.5 miles • Bournemouth Airport 44 miles • Exeter Airport 50 miles miles (Distances and times approximate)

Braggs Farmhouse is situated on the edge of the beautiful Melbury Park estate surrounding the Grade I listed Melbury House. It is close to the small village of Chetnole and just 10 minutes from Yetminster, which has a shop/post office, health centre, veterinary surgery and Montessori nursery. Sherborne is nearby and capable of meeting most day-to-day needs including a Waitrose supermarket. Yeovil Junction station has frequent, direct services to Waterloo (2 hours 16 minutes) and Bournemouth and Exeter Airports are both about an hour's drive away. The local area also offers a wide choice of popular schools from both the state and independent sectors.