Orchards, Membury, Axminster

Guide Price: £950,000

Agent: Stags

Agent's Tel: 01404 45885

This stunning Grade II listed cottage occupies a gently elevated position in Membury within the Yarty Valley, in a designated area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The hamlet has a handful of charming properties and a close-knit community and creates a perfect environment to enjoy a peaceful rural lifestyle.

Midweek Herald: The property is rich in period features

The picturesque cottage, named Orchards, is thought to date from the 16th century and has been built of local stone and displays a wealth of historic character features including jointed cruck truss, inglenook fireplaces with wood burners and numerous chamfered beams. The property has been sympathetically refurbished and restored over the years which has retained its historic integrity.

Beyond the modern oak frame entrance, there is a cross-passage hall that leads to two principal reception rooms - an impressive sitting room with a parquet floor and double aspect, and a generous dining room with a Blue Lias stone floor. The kitchen has a traditional farmhouse-style look and is centred around an oil-fired Rayburn.

Midweek Herald: Inside, the property is presented to a high standard

On the first floor, there are three double bedrooms with the main bedroom showing the best of the cruck beams. The spacious family bathroom overlooks the farmland to the rear.

Outside, the pretty natural cottage gardens are a highlight of this home and feature well-established shrubs, perennial plants and fruit trees, surrounded by a mature hedge.

The property comes with two fields to the west and south, which are currently hay meadows plus a fruit orchard including apple, pear, plum and cherry trees.

Within the paddock, and with fabulous views up the Yarty Valley, is a timber frame open-sided barn.

There is also a large block-built garage/workshop, with a mezzanine storage floor.