Just a few minutes from Bath yet with its toes also in the Cotswolds, this Grade II*-listed home is the archetype of the liveable country house.
In a gloriously unspoilt and peaceful setting four miles north-east of Bath overlooking picturesque St Catherine’s Valley lies St Catherine’s End House, a beautiful country home that sits just within the Cotswolds AONB.
This imposing 17th-century building – for sale via Knight Frank at £2.325 million – is wonderfully private, approached from a country lane through high wooden gates that open onto a spacious gravel drive and extensive parking.
Terraced lawns sweep away to the east, where mature hedgerows protect the boundary without impinging on the splendid panoramic views across the valley.
Inside, the house boasts an array of fine, original architectural detail. There are steep gables and mullioned windows, beamed ceilings and stone fireplaces, and perhaps best of all an original 17th-century staircase.
The main house currently offers 3,831sq ft of accommodation, including a drawing room, library, family room, kitchen/breakfast room and four bedroom suites.
The sale also includes the Garden House – a converted former coach house – that offers a further 1,517sq ft of living space, including a kitchen/living room and two bedroom suites.
The owners have recently obtained planning consent to significantly extend the main house by linking it on one side with the separate home office to create a large kitchen/dining room and adding a new drawing room and loggia on the opposite side.
The proposed alterations, if implemented in their entirety, would increase the area of the main house to a total of 5,413sq ft and substantially enhance its overall appeal. Not that it needs much help in that regard, of course…
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