Location

Litchborough is a pretty, rural village situated in the undulating countryside of south Northamptonshire. A conservation village with a public house "The Old Red Lion", St Martin's parish church, there is a village hall and playing fields, as well as numerous rural footpaths. Nearby Blakesley has a primary school and there is a Montessori nursery school at Maidford.

Centrally located with motorway connections to M1 (J15) 6 miles, M40 (J11) at Banbury 14 miles and M40 (J10) at Ardley 24 miles. Train services to London from Northampton (Euston approx 56 mins), Milton Keynes (Euston approx 35 mins) and Banbury (Marylebone approx 56 mins).

The nearby market town of Towcester provides local amenities including Waitrose and Tesco supermarkets, schools, banks and restaurants with larger centres including Northampton and Milton Keynes.

Independent schools in the area include preparatory at Winchester House (Brackley), Beachborough (Westbury) and Quinton House (Northampton) with senior public schools at Rugby, Stowe, Northampton and Bloxham.   

Leisure activities include golf at Whittlebury Park; Towcester and Blakesley tennis clubs; Fawsley Hall Fitness & Leisure Spa; motor racing at Silverstone and walking from the village along the 'Knightly Way'.

Description

Orchard House is a stunning Grade II listed stone detached property which has been renovated and extended by the current owners. It was originally two cottages, dating back to 1650 and 1849.

The house has plenty of characteristics including exposed beams, wood burning stoves and stone mullion windows and has been upgraded with contemporary features such as bespoke double glazing fitted throughout and air source heating.

The front door leads through into the reception hall with stairs to the first floor and direct access to three of the four spacious reception rooms.

The kitchen is situated at the rear of the property and forms part of the more recent extension, it has under floor heating and three sets of bifold doors leading out onto the terrace and adjoining gardens offering fabulous views of the pond and paddocks beyond. The contemporary kitchen has an electric Everhot oven, combination /microwave oven, Fisher and Paykal Fridge/freezer and drawer dishwasher. There is a large island unit with a breakfast bar ideal for entertaining and food preparation.

This leads through into the garden room which could also be used as children's playroom or snug.

The sitting room has dual aspect views with exposed beams furnished with a wood burning stove. Adjacent to this is the study with stone mullion windows looking out over the front drive.

The dining/family room has a large inglenook fireplace complete with salt cupboard and wood burning stove.

There is a useful utility room with quarry tiled floor and plenty of storage which leads through to a further entrance hall with WC, perfect for taking off muddy boots. There is also internal access to the garage and to the cellar.

On the first floor are six bedrooms with two bathrooms. The principal bedroom with Juliet balcony and views overlooking the gardens and paddocks, is accessed via its own staircase leading up to a beautiful mezzanine landing. There is also an en suite shower room.

Outside, the house is surrounded by beautiful grounds, with front and back gardens, orchard and paddocks. Accessed via electric gates to the front with private drive and plenty of parking for several vehicles. There is a secondary entrance from the village road, to allow larger vehicles to access the paddocks.

The landscaped gardens sweep across the back of the property, to include a natural pond and mature orchard with an abundance of fruit trees. There is a large entertaining terrace accessed from the kitchen/breakfast room seamlessly linking the two together, with a BBQ area and log store and plenty of cosy seating areas to enjoy the sun from all angles.

There are several fenced paddocks with post and rail fencing all interconnected with wooden gates making it very easy to access. There is an area for chickens, with the paddocks currently being grazed by sheep. An ideal property to create a small holding and to enjoy a bit of the good life!

In all about 4.3 acres.