There are moments when reading J R R Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings where you sit and wonder just how one man can have such an inspiring imagination. Rings, and elves, and Nazgul and battles and so on. Truly inspiring stuff. And then there are moments where you see a cottage such as Eastside and you realise that, for Tolkien, perhaps the inspiration for the Shire came pretty easily.
Because just look at it. Can you not imagine a wisp of smoke rising from that chimney, through the thatch, in the low light of the evening? A hobbit could easily be tending that beautiful garden. Or you could be tending that beautiful garden, because it’s for sale for £875,000 with Hamptons.
Situated near the village of Clatford Bottom, which again sounds like something straight out of Tolkien, the property offers two bedrooms in a compact but endlessly charming setting on the fringes of Westwood.
Built of sarsen stone, the property has been in the care of its owners for the past 30 years and has been sensitively modernised in the right places (kitchen, bathroom) and period elegance remains elsewhere (triple-aspect sitting room, bedrooms). It is, of course, Grade II-listed.
Outside, the pastoral scene of tranquillity continues, as Eastside Cottage sits in 5.5 acres of gardens and ground in a valley in the North Wessex Downs.
Hummocks of lavender, spheres of box hedge and stocked borders are pierced by cut grass paths that meander through the space to various seating areas. There is also a garage with a studio that would work as a home office if needed (wi-fi, light, heating and power). The remaining acreage is paddock land lined with post and rail.
Marlborough is four miles away, for all your amenities, and the surrounding woodland is renowned for its bluebell display in April and May. Heaven.
Credit: John D Wood & Co
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