Englishcombe Way, Bath, BA2

There are homes you live in for a few years, and there are homes that become part of your life. The owners have been here for 15 years, and it is easy to understand why. Tucked away in a quiet cul-de-sac on Englishcombe Way, this four bedroom detached house has a rare sense of peace, space and neighbourliness. They describe it as their sanctuary and, after 15 years, they are genuinely going to miss it.

The road has its own little village feel. Neighbours know one another, there is a WhatsApp group, street get togethers and even street parties. At the same time, the house feels private, with very little passing traffic and plenty of space between neighbouring properties. It is the sort of place where you can sit outside with a coffee, hear the birds and occasionally stop for a chat with someone walking past.

Inside, the house has been thoughtfully changed over the years to suit the way the owners actually live. The downstairs accommodation has been reconfigured, with the former garage largely brought into the house to create a particularly useful open plan kitchen and dining space. It is light, practical and sociable, with windows on several sides, a bifold opening towards the garden and an electrically operated roof Velux bringing in more daylight.

The kitchen is well equipped for everyday life as well as entertaining, with a Rangemaster dual fuel cooker, integrated Bosch dishwasher, large American style fridge plumbing, hot water tap and built in wine fridge. Underfloor gas heating runs from the dining area through into part of the kitchen, making this a comfortable place to spend time in colder months. The wide steps leading down from the hallway have become what the owners affectionately call the ‘party steps’, somewhere guests naturally gather while food is being prepared.

The dining room has also worked well as a small home salon, with plenty of natural light and a large mirror. For anyone working from home, the layout gives plenty of flexibility without needing to turn the house into an office. Broadband speeds are currently around 90 Mbps download, with the owners using Sky for their services.

The living room is a quieter space. Large bifold doors look directly onto the garden, while a generous picture window brings in light from the other end. It is where the owners spend much of their evenings, watching television, listening to music through the ceiling mounted Sonos speakers or simply looking out towards the garden. In warmer weather, the bifolds can be opened to bring the outside in.

There is also a surprisingly important part of the house at the front the extended porch, or ‘garden room’ as the owners call it. It has become one of their favourite places to sit throughout the year, with lighting and an electrical socket already in place. In the evening, it catches the setting sun and provides somewhere sheltered to sit outside while still feeling connected to the street and neighbours.

The garden itself is a big part of the house. The rear is particularly private, with mature trees, established planting, decking and several places to sit. The owners have breakfast and lunch outside whenever the weather allows. The decking catches the sun through the earlier part of the day before the light moves further down the garden into the afternoon and evening.

Rather than being limited to one aspect, the wraparound garden allows you to follow the sun or find shade as the day moves on. There is another seating area to the side of the house which catches the afternoon and evening sun, while the front garden and porch are especially enjoyable towards sunset. It is a garden for someone who likes to use it rather than simply look at it.

It is also a haven for wildlife. Deer, badgers, foxes and squirrels are regular visitors, alongside pheasants and a wide variety of garden birds. The owners have spent years tending and planting the garden, and it has become a genuinely peaceful place to potter, sit and watch what comes through.

There are four bedrooms upstairs, all benefiting from the quiet position of the house. The principal bedroom has an ensuite, while the main bathroom serves the remaining bedrooms. Downstairs there is also a useful WC.

The house has been extensively improved during the owners’ time here, including the kitchen relocation, dining room conversion, downstairs cloakroom, extended porch, new windows and doors, new roof with guttering, soffits and fascias, updated electrics and plumbing, engineered oak flooring and additional insulation beneath the downstairs floors. The driveway was widened to accommodate two cars comfortably, with space for three at a push, and an EV charging cable is already in place in the garage ready for connection.
Comfort has been considered too. There are three separate Nest connected heating zones covering upstairs, downstairs and the underfloor heating. A larger hot water cylinder was installed, and the Nest system also connects to the doorbell, smoke and carbon monoxide protection. Security lighting is provided to the front and rear.

At around 1,363 sq ft, there is enough space here for a family to grow into, while the layout also works particularly well for buyers looking to stay in the Bath area but wanting a quieter, more manageable home. The combination of four bedrooms, flexible downstairs space, parking and a garden gives plenty of options without the house feeling unnecessarily formal.

The location is another reason the owners have stayed so long. Moorland Road is within easy walking distance, with its independent shops, cafés and places to eat, including Velo Lounge. The Moorfields is a favourite local pub, while Bear Flat and The Bear provide another nearby focus. For walking and cycling, the Linear Park offers an easy route, while Englishcombe Lane opens up towards Englishcombe village, Inglesbatch, Priston, Wellow and Southstoke.

It is close enough to town and the station to remain convenient, but once home, the atmosphere changes. Quiet mornings, birds in the garden, neighbours stopping for a conversation and evenings in the porch watching the sun go down are what have made this house feel different to the owners.

They are now heading towards the coast and will rent first, but leaving will be difficult. More than anything, they will miss the peace, the wildlife, the garden and the people around them. After 15 years, that probably says more about the home than any list of features could.