4 bedroom detached house for sale

Escape to Squirrel Cottage, a four bedroom, three bathroom Grade II Listed gem in St Mary Bourne, Hampshire. Enjoy modern comforts like underfloor heating and a spacious office, all wrapped in countryside charm. With a stream opposite and easy access to London, it's the perfect rural retreat.

Squirrel Cottage is the epitome of British countryside living, where you can cycle to school along a country lane, splash in the stream opposite on a hot summer’s day, start a roaring fire on a snowy night and kick through the leaves on the footpath up to the fields beyond the house.

If you are searching for an idyllic and peaceful lifestyle, with a pub, cafe and shop in a thriving village, and yet still be incredibly well connected to Winchester, Newbury and London (via Whitchurch), then this is your dream house.

With a huge main sitting room, four lovely bedrooms, three beautiful modern bathrooms, a superb kitchen with underfloor heating, a fab office with super useful storage loft above and a great garage, Squirrel Cottage has it all. In perfect condition and all ready to move in, and with the thatch reridging due in 2025 already paid for, you can focus on enjoying life.

This place truly does speak for itself so please do enjoy the video to get a true feeling of how magical, fun and unique Squirrel Cottage really is, and then contact us today to arrange your private tour.

As ever, for room sizes and travel times, please consult the floorplan, google maps, or contact Ryan directly who will be happy to assist with any questions.

What initially attracted you to Squirrel Cottage?
We knew the village was good, but the location within it is a rare find. Out of the main cluster of the village on a very quiet lane with the lovely stream running alongside it, but still just a short walk to the centre of the village and the excellent school.

Can you describe your favourite aspects of living in this home i.e. favourite spots or rooms that you particularly love?
I love the sitting room as it is just a fantastic room which is so light and spacious for a cottage and is brilliant for parties and at Christmas etc. The separate office is a really great size and I like its separation from the house and warm solid wood construction style.

What are some standout features of the house that make it unique and inviting?
The sitting room is unusually large for a cottage style house and the downstairs layout flows really well. The guest room and shower room up their own staircase are great for giving guests privacy and/or could be useful for an au pair or even as an Airbnb room. The underfloor heating in the kitchen is amazing, it gives it such a cosy “heart of the house” feel in winter and is a lovely cool floor in summer.

What can you tell us about the layout and design of the interior spaces including recent upgrades, renovations or improvements?
I love the kitchen as we completely changed it and re-designed it ourselves with a local company to make it much more modern and practical and I really enjoy using it now. The family room off the kitchen is a really useful room, it was previously a dining room and it could be a huge boot room, but we have used it as a playroom which has worked really well. The kitchen was re-done in 2017 including installation of electric underfloor heating. The carpets on the stairs and throughout the whole main upstairs were re-done in 2021.

How has this home supported your daily routines, lifestyle needs and values?
We have absolutely loved living in St Mary Bourne: it is a special village with a very good social scene and Squirrel Cottage’s place in it has been perfect for a young family: it has given our children a rural childhood without cutting us off from anything we valued. Watching the children run off down the lane to see the ponies or to float boats down the stream without worrying about them is priceless. When friends come to stay the spare room set up gives them a separation from us they probably appreciate! We also really like having the dining room and sitting room combined. It works really well for dinner parties and means you don’t have an unused separate dining room.

What do you enjoy about the outdoor spaces, like the garden or courtyard?
We love the fact that the garden wraps around the house and is completely private and very sheltered with the lovely beech hedge, but equally if you want to have a chat over the gate when you hear someone passing you can. We are very fortunate that the garden backs onto fields and our neighbour’s garden so there are no houses behind us. The lane! We know it isn’t part of the house but because it is so quiet children play in it and it links the houses on the lane to each other and to the footpaths and fields rather than separating them as the main road would. All the traffic, including the keen cyclists goes down the main road.

Have you hosted any notable events, gatherings, or memorable experiences in this home that you'd like to share?
We have hosted a wonderful summer 40th birthday party in the garden and large Christmas and birthday drinks parties in the sitting room.

Tell us about the neighbours and the sense of community here?
St Mary Bourne is a very active and caring community. There are lots of activities going on in the village for all ages from the weekly baby/toddler group, to kids cricket and martial arts, yoga, pilates, and exercise classes for the over 60s, film night in the village hall, the list goes on! We are fortunate enough to have very nice and quiet immediate neighbours and the whole of Gangbridge Lane itself is a lovely little community with a broad mix of ages.

What are some of the advantages of the location in terms of amenities, schools, access to essential services or specific sports or activities?
The George Inn and The Boundary Community Shop and Café are stand out features of the village. The area around them including the cricket ground and playground and village hall is the centre of the village and all are well used. There is also a Pick Your Own with play area, a garage and an excellent doctors surgery. You couldn’t have an easier school run with the primary school being at the end of the lane, and the school bus for the local secondary school also leaves from there. Buses for independent schools such as Farleigh, Thorngrove and Dauntseys are also available locally. There is a good pre-school in the cricket pavilion and other nursery options in Whitchurch, Hurstbourne Tarrant and Andover. Andover is within 15 minutes with an excellent leisure centre, including a swimming pool, as well as a range of other sports clubs such as football, hockey etc. For anyone with horses there is a livery yard on Gangbridge Lane and various others close by as well as pony paddocks available to rent. For commuting to London Whitchurch station is 12 minutes away with 2 trains an hour to London Waterloo (1 hour away) and Newbury station is 25 minutes away for trains to Paddington.

What valuable advice would you offer to the future owner to maximise their enjoyment of this home?
Take a walk up the footpath behind the house on a warm evening and look down on lovely Squirrel Cottage nestled in the Bourne Valley.

Freehold | EPC Rating D | Council Tax Band F

Services, Utilities & Property Information
Utilities – Mains electricity, water and drainage. Oil-fired central heating and underfloor heating.
Tenure - Freehold
Property Type – Grade II Listed detached cottage
Construction Type – Standard – brick and thatch
Council Tax – Basingstoke and Deane
Council Tax Band F
Parking – Basingstoke and Deane
Services - Fibre broadband (FTTC) and 4G mobile coverage available in the area – check with provider.
Property Information - A telephone cable runs along the front of the property with a single pole on the north boundary. A wayleave agreement exists for the telephone cable.