Country houses for sale

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A fairytale cottage comes up for sale in Berkshire with quaint gardens and a fantastic location

Mistletoe Cottage is picture-perfect, with lovely period features, a wonderful Home County location and a price tag many would find surprising.

Mistletoe Cottage, a quintessential thatched English cottage

Straight out of a fairytale, the appropriately-named Mistletoe Cottage sits in its surroundings as if grown from them. On the market through Knight Frank at £945,000, this idyllic property is set on almost an acre of land in rural Berkshire.

Surprisingly unlisted, Mistletoe Cottage is full of wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling character. The kitchen is a wonderfully inviting room with bespoke fittings, a classic country AGA and an eating space, with french doors opening up onto the garden.

Joining the kitchen on the lower floor are three further reception areas, including a dining room for more-formal dinners, a lovely snug and a large sitting room. The house has a further downstairs room, currently in use as a study.

Up the stairs lie five bedrooms – a master and four smaller (but still well-proportioned) rooms. There is only one upstairs bathroom, shared by the master suite and the other large room, but one of the lower floor bathrooms has a bath and the unlisted nature of the property leaves room for new owners to make improvements, should they find this arrangement unsuitable.

All of the rooms are charmingly decorated in a fashion which makes use of the wealth of natural wood which appears throughout the property in exposed beams and support columns.

The far-reaching views available on one side of the property (the other three sides are bordered by mature trees) make up for the relatively modest-sized garden, offering swathes of Berkshire countryside as far as the eye can see.

Encompassing the property on all sides, the humble garden is much like the cottage itself; full of surprises. Sporting a substantial vegetable garden as well as a fruit garden, charming lawn and both and orchard and a pond, there is little room to imagine anything better suited to the grounds than what already exists.

Several outbuildings are currently used as a pot house and a storage, but have the flexibility to be transformed into a study space or even a home gym. There is potential for the plot to be further developed on one side with the addition of another house, subject to permissions being obtained.

Positioned in the sought-after hamlet of Inkpen, a network of quiet country lanes connect the property to the M4 and A34 beyond. The nearby market towns of Newbury and Hungerford as well as the village of Kintbury all boast mainline stations.

Mistletoe Cottage is on the market with Knight Frank at a guide price of £945,000. For more information and pictures, click here.


Lindfield village pond in West Sussex.

Lindfield village pond in West Sussex.
(Image credit: Peter Vallance / Alamy)

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Alexandra Fraser
Ally is a writer, editor and social media superstar who has worked for the Royal Horticultural Society and British Rowing, but she kicked off her career at Country Life after graduating from University College London with a degree in Classics. In recent years she's split her time between Winchester and London, all while raising a cocker spaniel called Wilf. For questions, recommendations or to pass on dog training tips, find her at alexandralilyfraser@gmail.com.