Ratley, Banbury, Warwickshire OX15

The house was formerly a vicarage and is constructed from rock-faced ashlar natural Hornton stone under a steep slate roof. The main house (likely a 17/18C long house) was extensively remodelled in the mid-19C to give a mid-Victorian appearance. The house is not listed, although it is mentioned in Pevsner’s Buildings of Warwickshire. With about 4,800 square feet of accommodation in the main house and a further 1,950 square feet self-contained annexe, Ratley House is a substantial stone-built detached village house. The house has double-glazed hardwood windows with trefoil windows to the second-floor gables. Moulded cornices, solid panelled timber doors, exposed stonework and wide boarded floors. Reception hall with an oak floor, the drawing room has built-in bookshelves and double doors to the dining room, both with handsome fireplaces, with a wood burner in the drawing room, as does the sitting room, which has a door to the garden.

The kitchen has a range of fitted and free-standing fittings and appliances, an electric 4-oven AGA, a separate pantry and door to the covered patio. A large vaulted utility/ boot room houses the boiler, sink and plumbing. Cellars, including a wine cellar.

There are two staircases and four substantial first-floor bedrooms, two with blanked-off Thomas Jeckyll Aesthetic Movement fireplaces. The principal bedroom has a dressing room and an en suite shower room. Bedroom two also has its own shower room. Family bathroom with shower and roll-top bath.

To the second floor is a large games room/ playroom, two further bedrooms, a shower room and attic storage. Two substantial stores separate the house from the annexe.

Annexe

The annexe was converted from outbuildings in the 1990’s with a separate heating system, and electricity supplied through a sub-meter from the main house and shares the access and parking.

The accommodation is versatile, with a ground-floor shower room, a drawing room with windows to three sides, open to the rafters with an inglenook with a wood-burning stove and French doors to the garden. Steps down to the dining room. A fitted kitchen/breakfast room with timber tops, and the study can work as a third bedroom if desired, with a conservatory off with a terracotta tiled floor. There are two first-floor double bedrooms and a shower room off a wide landing and exposed joist timbers.

Gardens and grounds

Approached through a stone garden wall to a gravelled private parking area for several cars with a herbaceous border, to serve both properties. The garden lies to the front of the house with views to the church, and the principal garden is to the west side of the house and annexe and slopes up with a series of lawns and terracing with stone retaining walls, yew hedging and a number of planted borders, trees and shrubs, fruit trees and seating areas, two greenhouses, a shed, a pergola used for a wood store and chicken run and numerous mature trees. The front garden has wisteria, and a small seating area is a sun trap that is deceptively private.

West-facing patio with a canopy, in a contemporary, Victorian style, off the kitchen, ideal for outdoor dining. with oak plank decking and blue stone sets, all surrounded by a low wall planted with garden herbs.
Two stone-built outbuildings adjoining the rear of the house were former stables, now used as a small garage and workshop.

Ratley House is situated in the centre of this quiet village with a large garden. Ratley is a small village behind the Edgehill escarpment, tucked away in a valley, with an ancient church and a renowned village inn. Edgehill, nearby, features the local landmark Castle Inn and the site of the Civil War battle of Edgehill in 1642. The village is ideally placed on the south Warwickshire borders, in the Cotswold Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and there is access to both the Cotswolds to the south, Banbury and Stratford-upon-Avon.

The M40 is easily accessible, and Birmingham International Airport is just 30 miles away. There are some excellent schools in the area, including Winchester House Prep School at Brackley, Sibford and Bloxham Public Schools to the south of Banbury, Stratford-on-Avon grammar schools and to the north Warwick School, together with a wide selection of primary schools in the surrounding villages, including Tysoe Primary School with a high Ofsted rating. Stratford-upon-Avon is the region’s cultural centre with its Shakespearean heritage and theatres.

The village of Kineton is about 4 miles away with shopping facilities for day-to-day requirements, doctors and dentist surgeries and primary and secondary schools. There are golf courses at Brailes and Tadmarton, and racing at Stratford-upon-Avon and Warwick.