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A handsome early 20th Century country home with amazing
uninterrupted views of the Avon Valley west towards Cranborne
Chase.
The Merrie Thought was originally built around 1900 for Miss
Christine Hulse of Breamore on land belonging to the Breamore
family estate in an Arts and Crafts style. Since then, it has
undergone several refurbishments and significant modernisation, yet
retains all the elegant properties and features of a period home of
its era, including a number of working fireplaces, beautiful tall
ceilings, a cellar and attic rooms.
The house and the adjacent detached cottage offer extensive
accommodation amounting to over 9,000 square feet (837 square
metres) in total. The rooms in the main house are very well
proportioned, with ceiling heights of 10 feet to both ground and
first floors. The cottage has its own private garden and a useful
studio suite overhead. In addition, there are extensive
outbuildings, which include garaging for at least five cars,
various garden buildings and workshops.
The gardens and grounds surround the house and are laid out as
beautiful, landscaped gardens, as well as a swimming pool, a small
lake, terracing and lawns, woodland, and paddocks. The total area
of the house and grounds amounts to around 18 acres.
The current owners have lived there for almost 20 years, and it
has been a much-loved family house, suitable for multi-generational
living.
The Property:
- Traditional canopy entrance porch with stone detailing leading
into a formal dining room featuring a brick-built open fireplace
and tall windows with a glorious outlook over the rear gardens. Lit
display shelving and wall cupboard for snooker cues
- Hall with main staircase to first floor accommodation, door
with stairs leading down to the cellar, cloakroom with hanging
space, hand basin and separate WC
- The elegant drawing room with an impressive triple aspect
benefits from a beautiful fireplace with log burner on a tiled
hearth and brick cheeks and a period pentagonal turret with a
seating area
- South-facing conservatory with an impressive 10ft high ceiling
overlooking the terrace and swimming pool area. Ceiling fan.
- East facing sitting room, which centres upon an attractive
stone fireplace with brick cheeks and cast-iron log burner, double
doors leading out on to the extensive rear terrace. Glass display
shelves.
- West facing study to front aspect with built-in
bookshelves
- Kitchen, which has been recently refitted and modernised to a
high standard, including a blue four-door oil-fired Aga with
Fornair extractor fan over. Extensive range of high quality base
and eye-level cabinets and corian work surface. Breakfast
barpeninsula. Built-in coffeedrinks station with fold-back doors,
laundry cupboard, pull-out larder unit and built-in wine rack.
Plumbed-in American-style double fridge and freezer with water
dispenser. Washing machine, a dishwasher and space for a second
dishwasher or drier. Water-softening unit. Skylight. Attractive
views through three windows across the valley towards Cranborne
Chase. The comfortable adjoining breakfastfamily room, with views
towards the gardens, has a large Welsh dresser and television
point. A door leads from this area to the terrace.
- Summer kitchenboot room accessed through bifold doors from the
kitchen. This has a beech worktop with a double electric oven with
halogen hob. Back door leading to the terrace and garage block.
- Main and secondary staircases lead to a part-galleried landing
and five generous first floor bedrooms with three bathrooms. Four
of the bedrooms have air-conditioning.
- The principal bedroom has a triple aspect and features a
pentagonal turret boasting far-reaching views across the Avon
Valley. This fabulous room also has a door leading to a sun
terracebalcony. It also has a modern and stylish en-suite bathroom,
as well as a walk-in dressing room with dressing and hanging
space.
- Family bathroom with three-piece suite and separate shower
room.
- Shower room on the half landing with walk-in shower, vanity
basin and WC.
- Stairs from the landing lead to an impressive attic area,
ideally suited as a studywork room. The adjacent part -boarded loft
space (accessed through a door) houses the air-conditioning units
for the bedrooms.
- The garage block comprises three garages (one with an internal
workshop area), a large storeroom and cloakroom.
- The main garage has a laundry room plumbed and vented for a
washing machine and dryer, as well as a large safe used by the
previous owners to store their shotguns.
- At the back of the second garage is a room with a wall-mounted
air-conditioning unit currently used for wine storage.
The Cottage and Studio
- The cottage comprises three bedrooms, a bathroom, a downstairs
shower room with WC, a sunroom, sitting room and kitchen (with
electric cooker and dishwasher).
- An external spiral staircase by the side of the cottage leads
to a large studio suite with a triple aspect and rear balcony. This
room has fine views over the gardens and is served by its own
shower room and WC
Gardens and Grounds:
- The property is approached through pillared double electronic
gates along a sweeping drive (with lamps) which leads to generous
parking and turning areas adjacent to both the main house and
cottage.
- There are a number of outbuildings, including two greenhouses,
two summer houses, a large tractor shed, workshop, gardeners’
tea-room, log storage room and back-up generator shed.
- Heated swimming pool (recently re-lined) with large terrace
(with steps down to the lawn beyond), BBQ area and shed for pool
equipment (with WC). Bespoke wrought iron gates. The swimming pool
area and gardens benefit from external lighting making them ideal
for evening parties.
- Gardens and woodlands of about 7.26 acres. The attractive
landscaped gardens, which are a particular feature of the property,
include raised vegetable beds, a fruit cage, a large fishpondsmall
lake with a fountain and waterfall, and a smaller fishpond with
fountain and statuary. Part of paddock one is adjacent to the
existing lawned area and could easily be incorporated into the
garden if desired.
- The garden benefits from pergolas, paved walks and seating
areas and features many interesting mature trees, ornamental shrubs
and other plants, including a fine monkey-puzzle tree, a blue
cedar, flowering cherries, fruit trees, roses, rhododendrons,
magnolias and camellias, as well as snowdrops and bluebells in
spring. There are also some impressive trees and other attractive
planting along the main access drive to the house.
- Paddock one, which extends to 5.42 acres, is flat and
potentially suitable for horses or other animals.
- Paddock two has fine views across to Frogham Hill and is about
5.82 acres in area.
Situation:
Located in a wonderful, elevated position in the hamlet of
Stuckton within the New Forest National Park, about a mile to the
east of the Avon Valley town of Fordingbridge, which has a good
array of shops including a Co-op and a Tesco Express.
Nearby are the New Forest villages of Frogham, Hyde, Godshill
and Woodgreen, with local country pubs including The Three Lions,
The Foresters and The Fighting Cocks just a short distance away.
Other facilities include a local farm shop and primary school.
The New Forest National Park, which offers 140,000 acres of
unspoilt open heath, moors, and stunning woodlands, is perfect for
outdoor pursuits including horse riding, walking and cycling.
Water sports and yachting centres are within easy reach, in
particular, superb marinas at Lymington and Poole.
The New Forest market town of Ringwood is a short drive away
offering a superb range of shops, boutiques, cafes, and
restaurants, as well as good access via the A31 to both Bournemouth
(to the west) and Southampton (to the east).
The Cathedral City of Salisbury is about 8 miles to the north,
offering a mainline railway station with regular services direct to
London Waterloo in just under 90 minutes.
There are excellent schools in the vicinity, both State and
private, and two local airports, one at Hurn (Bournemouth) and one
at Eastleigh (Southampton).
Direction:
Exit Ringwood along the A338 Ringwood to Fordingbridge Road.
Come off at the signpost for Fordingbridge, turn right at the
T-junction signposted Godshill, B3078, continue along this road for
about 1½ miles. This will take you uphill until you reach a
left-hand bend where you then turn sharp right at the V-junction
before Blissford Road into Stuckton Hill (signposted Stuckton). A
pretty country lane will take you downhill and you will see the
entrance gates to The Merrie Thought, which is the first dwelling
on the left.
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