Location

The village of Cann sits in a sought-after location, overlooking the National Trust’s famous Melbury Beacon and Compton Downs. It is surrounded by the beautiful rural landscape of the Melbury and Blackmore Vale, in the renowned Cranborne Chase. It is an area known for its stunning scenery and walks. Cann Mills hold popular breadmaking courses and nearby Melbury Vale Winery has a bakery on site and conducts vineyard tours. Cann shares a village hall and church and lies only 1.5 miles from the Saxon hilltop town of Shaftesbury, which has a number of independent shops, supermarkets, pubs, schools, a
museum and a swimming pool.

The historic Cathedral city of Salisbury, about 20 miles east, offers a wide selection of shops, restaurants, arts and recreational facilities.

Trains from Gillingham, about 6 miles north-west of Cann, to London Waterloo take approximately 2 hours. Trains from Salisbury to London Waterloo have a journey time of approximately 90 minutes.

Racing is available at Salisbury Racecourse and Wincanton and golf at Rushmore. This area is renowned for its fishing on the River Avon, Test and outlying chalk streams.

The A303 provides access to the south west and London, via the M3.

There is a wide selection of both state and private schools in the area, including Sandroyd, Port Regis, Bruton, Clayesmore, Sherborne, Bryanston, Salisbury Cathedral School, Chafyn Grove and Godolphin, as well as Bishop Wordsworth and South Wilts Grammar Schools.

Description

SUMMARY
Cann Farm stands in a wonderful elevated position on the southern fringes of Shaftesbury, with far-reaching views. The four bedroom farmhouse is complemented by a one bedroom cottage, superb party barn and extensive traditional outbuildings/garaging, all formed around a beautiful central courtyard with ample parking for 20 plus cars. The land extends to almost 13 acres of landscaped gardens, orchard, fenced paddocks and lakes.

CANN FARMHOUSE
Cann Farmhouse is Grade II listed and dates back to c.1840, built in the local Shaftesbury stone under a slate roof. The classical elegant façade is testament to the importance of the original farm, which retains much of its character throughout. Features include moulded cornicing, original sandstone fireplaces (some dating back to the 1840s) and original blue lias stone floors.

Whilst retaining the period features and provenance, it is a practical home with modern services. The balance of living rooms on the ground floor is superb; the south-facing formal dining room and drawing room are supported by the expansive garden room and ‘cosy’ family room with log-burner. The garden room opens out to the west-facing terrace and is flooded with natural light thanks to the roof lantern. At the heart of the house, and linking many of the rooms, the kitchen is fitted with ‘shaker’ style units and built-in appliances including a Rayburn cooker, gas hobs and an additional electric oven. A side door leads to the more practical rooms, including a boot room, utility room, pantry and a wet room with WC. A gate beneath the stairs offers access to stone steps leading down to the cellar.

Upstairs, there are four bedrooms, including an impressive principal bedroom suite with fitted wardrobes and en-suite bathroom and dressing area. The second bedroom also has an en-suite shower room. The remaining two bedrooms are serviced by a modern family bathroom. Each of the bedrooms enjoys stunning elevated views across the gardens, grounds and undulating Blackmore Vale countryside beyond.

It is perhaps worth noting that Cann Farm’s location allows maximum enjoyment from the principal rooms of the most beautiful sunsets, as the sun sinks over the Blackmore Vale.

COTTAGE
The beautiful detached cottage is adjacent to the home and provides a versatile space to complement the house. Features to note include a log burner, flag stone flooring and exposed beams. There is a large, open-plan living room with separate kitchen, whilst the first floor features a vaulted bedroom with en-suite bathroom.

The cottage was successfully used as a holiday cottage for many years before becoming private ancillary accommodation for the main farmhouse and has served as an excellent home office as well.

The cottage enjoys the privacy of its own secluded garden, which includes a canal water feature flanked by well stocked borders.

LONG BARN & PLANNING
The magnificent barn has been skillfully converted by the current owners and now offers a fantastic space set across two floors. The barn offers options for a variety of recreational or business uses with whitewashed walls, stage and a drinks bar set to the far end. The barn also enjoys expansive views across the neighbouring countryside. There is extant planning approval to convert this barn into additional accommodation for ancillary accommodation and holiday lets. See Dorset County Council Planning Ref No: 2/2008/0298 (08).

OUTBUILDING
Complementing the Long Barn and Cottage and with reference to the floor plans, additional outbuildings include a double garage, workshop, several store rooms and a large corner barn used as a store. The barns are constructed of traditional Shaftesbury green sandstone elevations under pitched slate roofs and arranged around a beautiful central courtyard offering uninterrupted views across to Melbury Beacon and Bulbarrow Hill beyond.

GARDENS AND GROUNDS
Over the years considerable thought and consideration has gone into the arrangement and presentation of the formal gardens. ‘Garden rooms’ have been created with abundant colourful floral beds and borders. There is a productive kitchen garden with raised beds and fruit cages as well as a well-stocked orchard. The hedged borders are lined with numerous spring bulbs and wild flowers ensuring there is colour and texture all year around. The grounds are interspersed by mature trees. There is a choice of seating areas extending from the formal terrace adjoining the home, to more intimate, quiet seating areas that are ideal for reading or capturing evening sunshine. The main terrace enjoys far-reaching views to the south west across the garden and rural vista beyond, an ideal area to entertain and dine al fresco. Sitting within a natural wetland and accessed over a small bridge walkway, is the newly created Scandinavian BBQ cabin, a fun and cosy entertaining area. The gardens are linked by flowing pathways.

The land extends to approximately 12.98 acres of well-maintained, established pastureland arranged into several paddocks. The lower paddocks are also host to two private spring fed lakes, which have been allowed to rewild to encourage diversity.

Directions

Postcode: SP7 0EF
What3words: ///occupations.shorten.defeated

Take the B3081 heading south from Shaftesbury, and after about 0.5 mile, the entrance to Cann Farm will be on the right hand side.