With its classic Georgian home and colourful Italianate garden, Watkins Farm is the epitome of rural tranquillity.
The property was acquired by make-up artist Amanda Jackson Sytner and her husband, artist James Wedge in the 1990s and has benefited from their good taste and keen eye for design. Amanda boasts a portfolio of high profile clients including Dame Helen Mirren, Jerry Hall, Dame Vivienne Westwood and Jane Seymour and has based in Dorset since she moved from London. Watkins Farm is now on the market with Humberts at a guide price of £1.45 million.
The five-bedroom main house has the symmetrical façade typical of Georgian properties. Inside, it is beautifully presented throughout with light and airy interiors, flagstone floors, good ceiling heights, double hung sash casement windows, picture rails, window seats and some exposed roof timbers.
In the well-proportioned drawing-room, there is a smart panelled window seat from which the garden can be admired, and there are doors from the dining-room leading directly out onto the terrace.
Beyond the private south-facing terrace and entertaining area lies the principal lawn, sweeping down to the duck pond complete with island and duck house. Beyond the pond there is an orchard, and the lawn breaks in to a more informal grassed area studded with trees, which in turn leads to a delightful area of young broadleaf woodland comprising of mostly oak and ash. To the south of the house is a colourful Italianate garden from which a gate opens through to an enclosed and well-screened kitchen garden complete with fruit cage, greenhouse and side access gates to the drive.
Among Watkins Farm's range of outbuildings is a cottage, which was converted in the 1990s from former farm buildings and is handsome in its own right. The planning permission allows it to be used for holiday letting purposes.
An exceptional Queen Anne-style house in the heart of the Blackmore Vale
Chetnole House at Chetnole has delightful grounds running down to the River Wiggle.
A rolling Dorset estate with a picturesque 'Arts-and-Crafts' farmhouse at its heart
Blackdown House Farm at Briantspuddle was part of the once-great Bladon estate.
Credit: Old Came Rectory - Thomas Hardy's friend's house
A sprawling Dorset cottage for sale where Thomas Hardy met his inspirational mentor
Old Came Rectory is a delightful thatched cottage just outside Dorchester where one of Britain's greatest writers was a regular
-
Why don't we know how long the UK coastline is?Welcome to the Coastline Paradox, where trying to find an accurate answer is more of a hindrance than a help.
-
The Country Life guide to Somerset: What to do, where to stay and how to eatSomerset is rich in natural beauty and history, but it is its wealth of small-scale food and drink producers, farmers and makers that really set it apart from the competition. Find out how to make the most of it all with our indispensable guide.
-
Classical style meets fun and flair in a seven-bedroom manor in CornwallAt Polstrong Manor, the current owners have combined period charm and elegant modern interiors to create a flamboyant country home 10-minutes from the beach.
-
Two halves make a sublime four-bedroom home in Kent's North DownsA contemporary extension to a traditional clapboard house brings light and life to Lavington House.
-
The week in property statistics: Service charges reach record highPlus, how first-time buyers prop up the mortgage market, why you need to move north if you want to live by yourself, and house-price growth slows
-
A seven-bedroom oast house for sale in East Sussex, where your dreams can run riotUnlisted, yet full of character, this property in the High Weald National Landscape is an eccentrically furnished family home that screams fun.
-
Character, history and comfort combine in a four-bedroom farmhouse in NorfolkWillow Farm near Southburgh is that rarest of things — a perfect combination of period charm and modern elegance in some of England's best countryside.
-
A Grade I-listed Georgian townhouse that's part of the fabric of Bath's historyWith 5,500sq ft set over six floors in the centre of Britain's most architecturally rich city, there is much to love here.
-
17 delightful homes for sale, as seen in Country LifeOur round-up of some of the best houses to come to the market via Country Life this week includes a wonderful Cotswolds home and a happily affordable cottage in the West Country.
-
'This is the most money you'll spend on anything ever': The things that really matter when buying your first home in LondonIt’s easy to dream of what the ideal first-home in London might be, but when the cost of living in the capital is this expensive, being near a Gail's isn't as important as you think it is.
