Cleveley, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, OX7

Bumblebee Cottage is a beautifully presented home in a quiet hamlet at the heart of the Cotswolds, thoughtfully extended and maintained to a high standard throughout, with charm and character in equal measure.

The sitting room features an inglenook fireplace with wood burner, parquet flooring and a window seat overlooking the gardens. The dining room, currently used as a second sitting room, has its own wood burner and floor-to-ceiling windows with French doors that fill the space with natural light.

The standout kitchen/breakfast room enjoys a triple aspect, including a west-facing oak-framed floor-to-ceiling window and French doors. A breakfast island with built-in oven, an AGA and Cotswold stone flooring complete this exceptional space. A utility room and storeroom complete the ground floor.

Upstairs, the principal bedroom has a modern en-suite bathroom. The second bedroom features floor-to-ceiling windows and French doors with a glass panel beyond, framing views over the garden. There is also a walk-in wardrobe, a family bathroom and a further bedroom.

The gardens have been transformed to offer a wonderful outdoor lifestyle, landscaped with Cotswold stone paths leading to a kitchen garden of twelve raised beds for organic fruit, vegetables and flowers.

The grounds extend to approximately two acres of adjoining private woodland. A particular highlight is the bespoke shepherd's hut, which serves as an enchanting double guest bedroom with log fire, en-suite bathroom and kitchen.

The oak-framed double garage is currently fitted out as a home gym with sauna, with off-street parking for three vehicles.

Situation

Cleveley is a small Cotswold hamlet on the banks of the River Glyme, set in the limestone uplands of West Oxfordshire between Chipping Norton and Charlbury, and just six miles from Soho Farmhouse at Great Tew. A handful of honey-coloured farmhouses and stone cottages sit either side of the river, their Stonesfield-slate roofs and walled gardens largely unaltered since the seventeenth century. One cottage still opens onto a fourteenth-century doorway, and the lane through the hamlet has followed the same course since the Middle Ages. It is one of those quiet, unspoilt corners of West Oxfordshire, reached via a single-track road.

The nearby villages of Enstone and Church Enstone provide a shop, public house and church. Woodstock, six miles away, offers further amenities including a range of public houses, shops and a post office, with Blenheim Palace on its doorstep. Chipping Norton supplies more extensive day-to-day requirements with its independent shops including a fishmonger and bookshop/cafe, alongside chemists, supermarkets, sports centre, lido and theatre. The picturesque town of Burford is nearby, with Witney, Oxford, Cheltenham, Stratford-upon-Avon and Banbury offering further cultural and retail attractions. The much-loved Daylesford Organic Farm Shop at Kingham is eleven miles away.

The area is served by prestigious schools including The Dragon, Summer Fields, Headington, Oxford High, St Edward's and Magdalen College School, together with Radley, Stowe, Bloxham, Tudor Hall and the primary schools at Great Tew and Enstone.

Directions

Charlbury, just four miles away, provides a useful mainline rail link to London Paddington via Oxford (approximately 65 minutes). Other excellent rail links can be found from Bicester to London Marylebone (50 minutes) and Banbury to London Marylebone (49 minutes). The A44 provides fast access to Oxford, and the M40 for London and Birmingham can be joined at J9 (Wendlebury).