South Side, Steeple Aston, Bicester

An interesting and beautifully presented house of over 2,100 sq ft with great character including galleried landings, vaulted ceilings, living rooms that flow beautifully, & a wonderful garden that includes a sizeable outside office/home gym. Great village with amenities including school & shop/PO.

Steeple Aston is an ancient settlement with roots going back to Roman times, maybe earlier. Today it is one of the most popular villages in the area, offering the rare mix of its own shop and Post Office (a few minutes' walk), a popular pub, a primary school dating back nearly 400 years, and a 1000 year old church, all set in pretty, rural location. The community is enthusiastic and vibrant with activities ranging from WI to bell ringing, football and cricket, and it is in the catchment for Deddington health centre. Designated a conservation area in 1988 it is set in glorious surroundings with the river Cherwell running through the valley. It is also well placed for commuting by road or rail to Oxford and London, Banbury and Birmingham.

Nisbet house is a truly marvellous family property. It’s also far more interesting than many, with exceptional light and an awful lot of character. The layout appears a little unconventional, but, in the fact the owners have found it offers the perfect balance between sharing family life and everyone having independent spaces. Add to that a wonderful garden with a large outbuilding/office/gym, plus the elevated position on a quiet lane in this fabulous village, and there are many reasons why this house has an awful lot to recommend it.

The house sits comfortably back from the quiet village lane, behind a quite generous front driveway. The first impression is exceptionally favourable, with a sturdy timber door above which is a fan light window.

Once inside, a smart tiled floor stretches away in all directions. Look right and a very useful utility room offers a range of cupboards and stainless steel sink, with plumbing for washing machine and dryer. Next door, there is also a shower room. Then back across the hall past the stairs, there is also an immaculately presented toilet. The reason for this layout becomes apparent. The first of several flexible rooms is currently set up as a mix of guest bedroom and home office, complete with fitted desk, drawers and cupboards. Hence effectively this floor can operate as a neatly separate guest suite.

Head up the rather stylish stairs and at the top you find a clever layout. All rooms interlink through wide double doors that are rarely closed, sharing natural light. The landing is so large it has become the perfect mix of TV and playroom, with a fitted media wall of shelves, storage and TV space across the whole end wall. Double doors with rather pretty stained glass accents to the glazed panels open into a smart kitchen with a range of modern units centring around a large island with breakfast bar and a range cooker. The thought that has been applied is apparent and appreciated, with darker painted base units and lighter wall units. The unconventional shape has also been used to great advantage, with another wall hosting significant storage cupboards around a US style fridge. As you look to the rear, French windows with further windows above open out onto a terrace sheltered by a balcony above.

The kitchen opens to a fabulous sunroom next door from which floor to ceiling windows look straight out across the whole garden, with more French windows heading out to the terrace and stairs to the top floor. This room features more double doors opening back to the mezzanine landing, ensuring an excellent flow. And a further pair of doors opens into the living room. It’s a wonderful space, beautifully proportioned as well as very sizable, with yet more French windows opening out onto the terrace at the rear. And a large wood burner set in a stone fireplace is just perfect for cold winter days. It’s a very stylish, very welcoming, and immaculately presented.

Back to that sunroom, and at the top of those stairs turn back to admire an elevated view of your garden from the galleried landing. Three exceptionally spacious and well thought out bedrooms share this floor. To one end a generous double offers a beautiful, elevated view back across the village and valley to the front through a heritage roof light window. It’s a large room by many measures, but because the ceiling above is vaulted, it feels even more spacious than it is.

Back across the landing the family bathroom is very stylish, neat and beautifully presented, with travertine tiling framing a pristine white suite with a bathroom above which is a shower. Next door, another double offers similarly gorgeous views, this time through a dormer window. The shape and proportions are unusual but in practice the shape lends itself well to housing wardrobes, shelves, the largest of beds, and still have room left over for an easy chair.

And at the end of the landing, the principal bedroom is just splendid. As elsewhere, the ceiling up here is vaulted. But this time it makes a feature of the A-frame roof trusses that cross the ceiling. There is so much character, embellished and flattered by the fitting of a long run of neat wardrobe storage across one wall. And at the rear French windows open out onto a stunning balcony, with further glazed panels above them that simply flood this room with light. And for every great bedroom there should be a great ensuite. Beautifully fitted, the ensuite is tiled floor ceiling, with a large walk-in shower.

Turning to the outside space, we have already mentioned the generous driveway parking. At the rear left of the drive, steps lead up to a path on the left-hand side of the house. Due to the position built into the bank, this is a sensible way to access the garden easily without going through the house. Behind the house, a gate on the left-hand side opens to a really broad terrace that runs almost the entire width of the back of the house. There is no shortage of entertaining space here.... A low stone retaining wall ensures that the bank is flattened out into two tiers. Head up half a dozen shallow steps past very pretty planted beds, and you reach a lawn that heads quite some distance between fences on either side.

There’s more than enough space for children to enjoy. But there’s plenty for the adults as well. A semi circular brick and rendered seating area has been created to the left, with circular paving in front, for all to sit around a barbecue. Next to it, the large outbuilding includes two store rooms that flank a sizeable studio room with French Windows looking across the garden. This could be an outside office, a home gym, children’s games' room, whatever you wish.

From the end of the garden, as you look back towards the house, you appreciate the scale of the outside space. It’s mature, relaxed and informal, with plenty of flowers and shrubs alongside a number of mature trees. And situated where it is within the village, it is exceptionally light and very peaceful.