Connecticut, Bloomfield, USA

Some properties are simply houses. Gun Mill Farm is a story still being written. Since 1772, this hilltop Colonial has stood behind its stone walls and picket fence, looking out over views that roll to the horizon, set on two parcels totaling 9.33 acres in Bloomfield. For anyone who has dreamed of horses outside the kitchen window, this is the place. A newly cleared paddock waits in the back acreage, and mown trails wind through rolling meadow and woods for morning rides and evening walks. A horse weathervane already crowns the carriage barn. Six garage bays and an arched carriage-way leave room to build the farm you've imagined. Inside, 250 years of character live in wide-plank floors, hand-hewn beams and five fireplaces. There are 5,500+ sq ft, five bedrooms and 4.5 baths, plus a beamed kitchen with a brick hearth, a primary suite with countryside views and a separate in-law apartment for family or guests. Then there is the library: a barrel-vaulted ceiling, rich wood paneling, floor-to-ceiling shelves and a fireplace made for long winter evenings with a good book. Arched windows and a bay window seat pull in the garden light, and French doors open to the terrace. It's a room people never forget. Terraced gardens step down past boxwood to a lily pool, an in-ground pool and broad lawns made for summer gatherings. Owned solar keeps it efficient. Minutes from West Hartford and Bradley Airport, yet a world of its own, waiting for someone who sees what it can become.