Arundell Farmhouse, Whitsans Cross, Donhead St. Andrew, Shaftesbury, Wiltshire, SP7.

Arundell Farmhouse started life as a 19th century coaching inn named The Glove Inn serving travellers on the principal route between Salisbury and Shaftesbury. Used as a farmhouse from the Victorian era to the present, it belonged to the Wardour Estate and is a lovely example of Georgian architecture, with a classic square plan design of two storeys above an impressive suite of cellars. The house is built of green sandstone and red brick, with a pedimented front porch supported on stone columns and 16 and 18-pane sash windows that optimise the levels of natural light inside. It was subsequently used as a farmhouse at the centre of a 700-acre beef and sheep farm until it was bought by the resident tenant farmer when the estate was sold off in 1946 and has been occupied by the same family ever since.

Apart from ongoing maintenance little has been done to the house in the intervening period and it now needs refurbishing. The house is Grade II listed and has retained many original fittings including six-panel doors, timber and flagstone floors, fireplaces, working shutters and picture rails. The house also has a rear service wing incorporating the house's original kitchen, complete with a cooking range and large Welsh dresser, a laundry room equipped with a double copper and bread oven plus a brewhouse and timber store. The house has four good-sized reception rooms, one of which is used as an office and another serves as the kitchen, along with a suite of very impressive cellars beneath. The first floor contains seven bedrooms and there are four further double rooms in the attics. The house sits back from the passing road behind tall, mature hedging in a garden of about an acre. The original drive has been grassed over but has retained two front entrances to allow for the easy passage of a mail coach pulled by six horses. In all about 1.07 acres

Ludwell 1.5 miles, Donhead St. Andrew 1.6 miles, Shaftesbury town centre 4.6 miles Tisbury station (Waterloo 1 hour 50 minutes) 4.6 miles, Gillingham 9 miles A303 9 miles, Salisbury 16 miles, Bournemouth Airport 28 miles. (Distances and time approximate)

Situated within the Cranbourne Chase AONB, Arundell Farmhouse is midway between the villages of Donhead St. Andrew and Ludwell, surrounded by unspoilt, gently rolling countryside. The former has a church and village hall and the highly regarded Forester Inn and the latter also has an excellent village shop/post office, pub, farm shop and an award-winning butcher. Tisbury and Shaftesbury can both be reached in a few minutes by car and have extensive amenities including good local shops. Shaftesbury offers a choice of supermarkets and there is an excellent Waitrose in the neighbouring town of Gillingham. For wider requirements, Salisbury and Bath are both within a reasonable distance. There is a wide choice of schooling locally both from the independent and state sectors. Independent schools including Sandroyd, Port Regis, Clayesmore, Hanford, Bryanston and the Sherborne schools are all within a 20-mile radius. Transport links are good with a regular, fast rail service to Waterloo from Tisbury (12 minutes) and Bournemouth Airport is only about 45 minutes away.