Station Road, Launton, Bicester

A wonderful village farmhouse offering 3,500 sq feet of interesting and bright accommodation mixing great history with stunning practicality. Four receptions including a fabulous garden room, 20 ft kitchen, four bedrooms (one ensuite) plus a separate & sizeable two storey annex.

If you would like the convenience of Bicester with the village experience, Launton should be high on your list. It has a thriving community not least due to its good school, a popular village shop (with Post Office) and two pubs. In addition there is a wide diversity of activities ranging around the village hall and sports pitches, with a social club, football clubs, a tennis court, and even an amateur theatre group. Unusually, the village also owns its own wood, Island Pond Wood, bought by village public subscription and planted in 1999. Between its own amenities and its immediate proximity to road and rail commuting, Bicester Village and Bicester itself, it's no wonder the village is so popular.

Green farm is one of those properties we have noticed many times over decades of travelling through the village. It has that classically proud and attractive facade always associated with the best village houses, hence it's almost impossible to pass without at least a brief admiring glance.

Owned by the same local family for generations, the farmhouse has evolved gently through that time to cater for their changing needs. In that regard it has been an admirable centrepiece to their family's life. The considerable square footage offers large, bright rooms that flow well from one to another, as well as offering vast flexibility that's very suitable for busy family life. In addition, the two storey building behind the house offers garage and work space currently, complete with significant loft room above. Whether used as a serious business space or a teenage/granny annex, it's a valuable extra dimension.

The front door is rarely used, as it is often the case with such houses. However, centrally mounted in the classic frontage, the main door opens into a large hall, with a toilet neatly hidden beneath the stairs. The panelling running round the stairs and walls, with a rather majestic staircase the main focus, are more akin to a Baronial hall than a village farm! As grand entrances go, there are few better first impressions...

Look right, and the first of several reception rooms is a significant size, continuing the same high ceiling first found in the hallway. A stone fireplace is a welcome central focus, and the window seat at the front encourages you to relax and enjoy the view of the large front garden. The room is over 25 feet long, narrowing slightly at the rear where it currently houses more easy chairs, a very relaxed spot. Double doors at the rear connect to a vast conservatory. That is a necessary superlative when you consider that it currently houses a full sized professional snooker table, with more than enough room besides for a dozen or more chairs. This room is used for family weddings/parties/Christmases as the dimensions are so good. And with doors leading out to the secluded rear garden, it's a room you'll want to use on every possible opportunity

A useful by-product of the evolution of the house just be the two utility rooms. The first runs down the right hand side of the house, then connecting to a store room. The combined space is so large it has become the storage space for the whole extended family... Next to the sun room, the kitchen is equipped with a whole host of fitted cabinets offering more storage than you're ever likely to need. This includes an l-shaped breakfast bar that is large enough to cater for four people with ease.

And yet there is still ample space remaining for a breakfast table, even a sofa or easy chairs. Once again, the dimensions are so good that the flexibility of the room is endless. And the terrace behind double doors is covered with an open porch, making summer dining on the terrace an absolute must. And from the kitchen, an entrance lobby to the left offers another external access door, this time to the driveway parking, through a utility room.

From the kitchen, the last of the receptions offers that same lovely view over the front garden, with another window seat from which to do so. With the other receptions offering such good space, this is a very handy extra that's the perfect evening room away from the day to day living areas, or it could be the perfect children's room. And it features another fine stone fireplace, complete with wood burner.

Heading upstairs, the theme continues. A rather grand landing feeds off to the two sides of the house, with the main bedroom neatly separate from the others. Depending on your viewpoint, there are four bedrooms and a walk-in dressing room. The main suite in particular is a delightful room, so bright and spacious a super king-size bed seems almost insignificant. But that very fact offers huge flexibility to make the room so much more than just a bedroom, able to accommodate easy chairs, a blanket chest, even a sofa. And its en-suite features both a shower and a separate bath, such are its proportions. Combine this with the walk-in wardrobe/dressing space next door and you have all the space you could ever need.

Across the landing, two more double bedrooms are both very characterful, bright, and both offer a pretty view over the front garden. Opposite, the last bedroom is likely to be the one the children will argue over as it's long and framed by its eaves. The three are served by a family bathroom that's smartly equipped with a bright white suite including a shower, very characterful with a distinctly nautical theme plus panelling reminiscent of the floor below.

Turning to the annex, this is rather more than the word suggests. Our clients have worked from home with a dog grooming business for many years hence the building is deliberately designed with a shop space on the ground floor, plus a separate garage to the side. Professional wash and dry facilities for pets are fitted to the rear, and the vast loft space above is not currently used as much more than a vast storage space, but could be converted to offer much more accommodation (subject to consents).

The outside space is unconventional, but quite extensive. Between the rear of the house and the outbuilding, the whole garden has been covered with gravel and paving, for ease of maintenance. It is a fantastic sun trap, very peaceful and very secluded. It could of course be reconfigured in any fashion,you desire. Down the left side of the house there is ample parking off-road, adjacent to the concrete roadway that leads only to this house and the neighbour behind.

At the front, the house is set a good way back from the road outside, with trees and a stonewall nicely separating the garden from the roadway. It's a broad expanse of lawn, along with plenty of paving for relaxed seating. The whole space feels mature, calm and extremely inviting.