Blackthorn Road, Marsh Gibbon, Bicester, OX27

An overview of Marshfield Farm, Bicester

A panelled front door opens to an entrance porch with windows on either side, leading to a walkthrough to the reception hall/office, this in turn has a walk through to the kitchen/breakfast/dining room which is open plan with the family room. A door leads out of the reception hall/office to a hallway with the staircase to the first floor landing and doors to the two separate receptions rooms: the sitting room and study. Further doors access the utility room and a step down to the boot room. The boot room accesses a cloakroom and a rear lobby, which has a door to the annexe/guest bedroom, which in turn has doors to the annexe kitchen and shower room. (The external door in the boot room would be the independent entrance to the annexe accommodation.) The first-floor landing has an airing cupboard and windows overlooking the patio and garden. Four double bedrooms, three with en suite shower rooms, lead off the landing together with a family bathroom.

Ground Floor

The windows on the ground floor and throughout most of the house are double glazed and have been handmade from iroko (a hardwood) and painted. Most of the doors are panelled from the 18th or 19th century and throughout the house the heights of the ceilings reflect the period, being typically high.

Kitchen/Breakfast/Dining Room and Family Room

The 2015 Kitchen/breakfast/dining area, once the old barn, measures over 30 ft. by over 17 ft. and is open plan with the over 18 ft. by over 11 ft. family room. These adjoining rooms have French windows at right angles to one another, opening to the patio at the front and the main garden. The dining area also overlooks the rear garden and has space for a dining table seating up to ten. The family room, including the French window, is triple aspect. The entire open plan area has limestone flags with underfloor heating. The kitchen/breakfast area has a vaulted ceiling with modern, exposed oak A-frames spanning the room and a window high in the gable end. There are bespoke, solid French oak Fired Earth base units with granite worksurfaces and an inset butler’s sink. The central island has a matching worksurface, storage under, and breakfast seating. There is a five-oven Total Control AGA, with a granite splashback, an integrated Bosch dishwasher, and space for a fridge/freezer.

Reception Hall/Office

The dual aspect reception hall/office is accessed from the front door or via the dinning area and has the same stone flooring, stone skirtings, and underfloor heating. Measuring over 19 ft. by over 12 ft., the room has a casement window overlooking the rear and a walk-in canted bay sash window overlooking the main garden at the front. There is an open, partially brick fireplace with an oak bressummer beam above and an inset wood burning stove on a flagged hearth. A period panelled door leads to the hallway with the original staircase to the first floor with a turned newel post, plain Georgian balusters, and an exposed wooden handrail; there is an understairs cupboard with the manifolds for the underfloor heating.

Sitting Room

With another period panelled door and an identical bay window with the same aspect as that in the reception hall/office, the sitting room is larger, measuring nearly 24 ft. by over 13 ft. It has a floor-to-ceiling exposed brick chimney breast housing a wood burning stove on a flag stone hearth. In an alcove to the right is modern fitted shelving with a space for stacked firewood; there is further built-in shelving on the north wall. The west wall has a casement window over the side garden and a raised window which was once the transom window over the original Georgian front door.

The Study

Once the kitchen in the original farmhouse, the over 15 ft. by over 12 ft. study retains an open brick fireplace under a wooden lintel with a wood burning stove on a slate hearth. Built-in furniture includes a double doored cupboard with drawers beneath and the minimalist bespoke built-in oak desk. Casement windows overlook the side and a further casement window into the boot room allows borrowing of light between both rooms.

Utility Room

On the other side of the hallway, a door opens to the utility room which has a casement window over the rear garden and Karndean wood effect flooring. The base and wall fitted units have painted doors and a granite worksurface with an inset stainless steel sink. There is space and plumbing for a washing machine and tumble dryer. The room also houses the oil-fired boiler for the house.

Boot Room

The final panelled period door off the hallway opens, with a step down, to the nearly 12 ft. long boot room with a pitched roof and porcelain granite effect floor tiles. A practical room for any country house, especially with children and dogs, this boot room is especially useful since it has the external partially glazed stable door which allows independent access to the annexe. The room also has Velux skylight and a window flanking the door. Internal doors lead to a downstairs cloakroom with an obscured window and a heated towel rail and to a rear lobby, overlooking the garden, with a door opening to the annexe/guest bedroom.

Annexe/Guest Bedroom, En Suite and Kitchen

The dual aspect, over 12 ft. square fifth bedroom is on the ground floor with casement windows overlooking each side of the house and a raised meter box. Doors open to the en suite shower room on the right with a mosaic tiled floor, a pitched roof with a Velux skylight and an obscured window overlooking the rear garden. Doors access, on the right, a dual aspect, three piece en suite with a double shower, a pedestal basin, and a matching WC; there is a heated towel rail. The door on the left opens to the kitchen, again with a pitched roof and a Velux skylight, and a Karndean wood effect floor. There is a window overlooking the garden above a stainless steel sink which is inset in the wood effect worksurface. There are base and wall fitted units, an oven, and a hob with an extractor above and space for a full-height fridge. The annexe has an independent water supply and a separate thermostat.

First Floor

The first floor landing continues along one level from the staircase at the front of the house towards the last of the four bedrooms in the north; it has two casement windows overlooking the rear garden and there is access, with a drop-down extendable ladder, to one of the two boarded lofts. There is an airing cupboard with shelving which houses the hot water cylinder and pump. The first floor doors are all period and panelled, the rooms have original skirting boards, and there are column radiators throughout. All four bathrooms have electric underfloor heating.

Principal Bedroom Suite

Measuring over 16 ft. by over 12 ft., the dual aspect principal bedroom has casement windows overlooking the front and rear gardens with far reaching country views. There are built-in double wardrobes in keeping with the age of the house and a period cast iron bedroom fireplace with the original basket for hot coals. A door opens to the walk-in-wardrobe which has a window over the front and built-in shelving and drawers. A further door accesses the en suite shower room which has a window over the rear, a Victorian style WC with a raised cistern, a pedestal hand basin, a walk-in shower, and a heated towel rail.

Bedrooms Two and En Suite Shower Room

Dual aspect bedroom two has casement windows overlooking the front and side and measures over 16 ft. by over 14 ft. It has built-in wardrobes and a door to an en suite which has a walk-in shower, a pedestal hand basin and matching WC, and a heated towel rail.

Family Bathroom

The family bathroom has partial metro tiling, including splashback areas, and a window overlooking the garden. There is a Victorian style three piece suite including a panel bath with central taps, a WC with a raised cistern, and a walk-in shower with glass screens. The floor has wood effect laminate flooring and there is a heated towel rail.

Bedroom Three, En Suite Shower Room and Bedroom Four

All five bedrooms in the house are double, including bedrooms three and four. At the end of the landing, bedroom three has three steps down. This dual aspect bedroom measures over 13 ft. by over 12 ft. and has casement windows overlooking each side. There is a built-in double doored wardrobe with fitted internal drawers and a door to the en suite. This three piece shower room has an automatic light, wood effect laminate flooring, and tongue-and-groove panelling to dado height. Accessed via an angled door off the landing, the smallest of the bedrooms is, however, over nearly 12 ft. long and has ample room for a double bed. There is a casement window overlooking the side and built-in wardrobes with fitted internal drawers and access in the ceiling to the second boarded loft space.

Outbuildings

Triple Garage and Sheds

Immediately off the driveway is a timber-built triple garage with a pitched Onduline roof with solar panels and three adjacent sheds. With a concrete floor and lighting and electricity connected, the garaging comprises three nearly 20 ft. by 10 ft. separate garage spaces with double doors; the central garage has an internal door to the third garage which has the same doors but is marginally smaller and includes a workshop at the far end. Adjacent to this garage/workshop are a garden shed and a potting shed, both accessed from the side, and a further shed accessed from the front. On the far end is an open-sided, lean-to log store.

Gardens and Paddock

The nearly 2.5 acres of grounds include a rectangular paddock to the south, with a pond at the far end, bordered on three sides by hedging and mature trees, and on the third side by post and rail fencing., A gravel drive leads off the road and curves round a corner of the paddock before extending into a larger drive with private parking for up to ten cars overlooking the house. The main garden is at the front of the house, bounded by the paddock and mainly lawned. It has a limestone pathway from the drive to the front door. The front of the original farmhouse is gravelled, but to the side, in the space created by the dining and family area right angle walls, is a limestone patio, providing a sheltered al fresco dining area. The established front garden is landscaped and includes a specimen magnolia, Portuguese laurel hedging, and a variety of mature trees and shrubs providing a backdrop to an open fronted garden building with sheltered seating and a wood burner. The rear (truncated)

Locality

The Buckinghamshire village of Marsh Gibbon is in the Vale of Aylesbury on the border of Oxfordshire and was mentioned in the Domesday Book. It has an historic centre of numerous listed stone or timber-framed buildings and the 13th-century St Mary’s parish church. There are a C of E primary school, highly rated by OFTED, a preschool, a shop, and post office, as well as a public house and a thriving village hall that caters for many events and clubs. Ranges of shopping, health and leisure facilities are in the town of Bicester, Bicester Village (both approximately 5 miles), and the market town of Buckingham (approximately 11 miles). To the south of the village is a nature reserve which includes Long Herdon Meadow, an 11-acre wet grassland meadow, providing a habitat for snipe and curlew, which is protected as a national Site of Special Scientific Interest.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Services: Mains electricity, Oil, Mains Water and Private Drainage - Klargester Local Authority: Aylesbury Vale District Council Council Tax: Band H EPC Rating: D