Ashmore Green Road, Cold Ash, Thatcham, Berkshire

A spacious and adaptable detached family home, set high on its plot on the edge of Cold Ash, with open countryside a few minutes from the door and the village green just across the lane. Rotherfield is light and warm throughout, and full of the kind of touches you only come to appreciate once you have lived with them.

You arrive along a quiet lane and onto a gravel drive, with a covered car port for up to three cars. Inside there is room to breathe. At the heart of the house is the family room, a large and genuinely multi-purpose space with a wood burner and easy access to the patio, and its finest hour, the owners will tell you, is Christmas. The snug is larger than you expect, with a spectacular view over the rear garden and a lovely spot to watch for deer visiting from the countryside beyond. On the ground floor, a fifth bedroom is currently used as a hobby room and works just as well as a study or an office, giving you space to work from home, to make things or to exercise, however family life shifts. The kitchen/ diner is light and welcoming, with views over the courtyard garden, and a useful downstairs shower room and utility complete the ground floor.

Upstairs, the principal bedroom has a modern en suite and the room everyone falls for, a private covered balcony with peaceful, far reaching views to enjoy in any weather, all year round. Three further bedrooms are each a generous double with its own outlook, two of them with scope to add an en suite, and a modern family bathroom serves them all.

Outside is where the family spends much of its time. The landscaped gardens wrap the house, with a large lawn for children to play on, a sun terrace and a gravel courtyard for morning coffee. Storage is generous inside and out, with a potting shed, a cycle shed and a tool shed, and the elevated position gives lovely views across the countryside. There is scope to extend under permitted development, and the house lends itself easily to multi-generational living.

Cold Ash is a discreet village with a real sense of community. Two well-regarded pubs, the Castle and the Spotted Dog, are an easy walk away, and the recreation ground immediately opposite is home to a tennis club, junior football, a playground, a pre-school and a village hall full of activities. The countryside is on the doorstep, with the North Wessex Downs and miles of woodland walks close by, and plenty for families a short drive further out, from Bucklebury Farm Park to the Nature Discovery Centre.

Families are very well placed for schools, from St Mark's primary and The Downs School at Compton to a strong choice of independents nearby, including Downe House, Brockhurst and Marlston, Elstree and St Gabriel's. Both Newbury and Thatcham have fast trains into London, and the A34 and M4 put Oxford, Reading and London all within comfortable reach.