Buckham Hill, Uckfield, East Sussex

Hippocrene Farm is a handsome period house featuring five bedrooms and more than 3,000 square feet of beautifully presented accommodation, set in a peaceful rural position two miles from Uckfield town centre. The property has various splendid attractive features, including its bell tower and U-shaped layout, which wraps around the front courtyard area, while inside there are elegant, corniced ceilings. Most of the accommodation is arranged across the ground level, including the three well-proportioned, airy reception rooms. These include the formal drawing room with its brick-built fireplace, triple aspect and French doors opening onto the gardens. There is also an elegant dining room with a south and west-facing aspect, and a sitting room of similar proportions, with all three providing ideal space in which to relax as a family or entertain guests. There is also a well-equipped kitchen with fitted units to base and wall level and a stainless-steel range cooker, and at the rear, adjoining the kitchen in a semi open-plan layout, the sunny breakfast/family/informal dining room with its tiled flooring and French doors opening directly onto the walled garden. There are four bedrooms located in the east wing of the ground level. These include the generous principal bedroom with its study or dressing room and en suite bathroom, which has a bathtub and a separate shower unit. The ground floor also has a family bathroom, while upstairs there is one further large double bedroom with an en suite bathroom and French doors opening onto a stunning balcony, providing views across the delightful gardens. Extra accommodation could be available in the cottage, which is ideal as a rental property, or for use as a family annexe. It includes a comfortable sitting room, a kitchen and dining room and two double bedrooms, bathroom, and seculded private garden.

The property is located at the end of a singletrack lane and driveway, which leads to the courtyard at the front of the house, where there is plenty of parking space and access to the integrated double garage. The property features various other large outbuildings, including a barn, a workshop, several stores, an open-sided log store, a lean to and a large, elegant greenhouse. The house and outbuildings are set in delightful and extensive gardens and grounds, with west-facing walled gardens that feature well-tended lawns, a patio area for al fresco dining and border beds with a wealth of established shrubs, perennials and hedgerows. The gardens also include a heated swimming pool with a diving board. There is a pool house, which has shower facilities, while beyond the gardens there are open fields and paddocks, surrounded by woodland. Agents note: 8.49 acres of woodland is held in a trust that is owned by Hippocrene Farm and its three neighbours.

The property is set in a rural position in the area of Buckham Hill, between the villages of Isfield and Piltdown and within easy reach of the popular town of Uckfield. There is a well-regarded local pub and Uckfield provides a choice of shops, supermarkets and leisure facilities, including an excellent cinema (the picture house, opened in 1916). There is a choice of local schools including several prominent independent schools (Roedean, Brighton College, Tonbridge school, Cumnor House and Brambletye). The A272 provides easy access to Haywards Heath, from which there are frequent trains to several London mainline stations (Victoria and London Bridge) and Thameslink services direct to Bedford and Cambridge through Kings Cross/St Pancras). There is easy access to Gatwick airport by car and train. The A22 nearby provides routes to Eastbourne and Brighton on the coast and East Grinstead to the north. Uckfield's mainline station offers regular services to London Bridge. Lewes is just 7.5 miles away.