Honington, Shipston on Stour, CV36

SITUATION

Magpie House is situated in the charming village of Honington, widely regarded as one of South Warwickshire’s most desirable villages. Designated as a Conservation Village, Honington is characterised by its attractive period stone cottages and houses, which front a broad village street and picturesque green, creating a quintessential English village setting. The village is approached via an exquisite 17th-century stone bridge crossing the River Stour, with the impressive Honington Hall and its surrounding parkland providing a striking backdrop. The combination of historic architecture, open countryside and a strong sense of community makes Honington a particularly sought-after location. The nearby market town of Shipston-on-Stour offers an excellent range of everyday amenities, including independent shops, cafés and restaurants. More extensive shopping, leisure and cultural facilities can be found in Stratford-upon-Avon, renowned as the home of the Royal Shakespeare Company and widely considered the cultural heart of the region.

For commuters, the M40 motorway is conveniently accessible at Junctions 11 and 12, providing direct links to London, Oxford and Birmingham.
Regular mainline rail services to London Paddington and London Marylebone are available from Moreton-in-Marsh and Banbury respectively.

The area is exceptionally well served by a range of highly regarded schools in both the state and independent sectors. These include Bloxham School,
Sibford School, Kitebrook Preparatory School, the Stratford Grammar Schools, Warwick Preparatory School, Warwick School and King’s High School for Girls.

A wealth of leisure opportunities can be enjoyed locally, including racing at Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwick and Cheltenham, together with a variety of golf courses and extensive walking and riding routes through the surrounding Warwickshire and Cotswold countryside.

THE PROPERTY

Magpie House is a beautiful Grade II listed house which has remained in the same family ownership since 1959 and was comprehensively renovated
and restored by the current owners in 2005/06. The result is an elegant and highly versatile country home that successfully combines period character with the comforts and practicality required for modern family living.

Beautifully arranged, the accommodation extends to generous proportions throughout and provides an excellent balance of formal reception rooms and excellent family spaces. The flexible layout is  ideally suited to a variety of lifestyles, with scope for multi-generational occupation, guest accommodation or extra income opportunities.

The house is approached through a welcoming reception hall, which forms the heart of the ground floor and provides access to the principal living accommodation. A magnificent drawing room offers a wonderful setting for formal entertaining, whilst the elegant dining room connects seamlessly with the impressive breakfast kitchen and family room, creating a superb open-plan living environment and the natural focal point of the home.

Further ground floor accommodation includes a study, ideal for home working, a comfortable snug, utility/laundry room, boot room, cloakroom and a range of useful storage areas, all contributing to the property’s practicality and everyday functionality. On the first floor, the bedroom accommodation is centred around an impressive principal suite, complete with a well-appointed en suite bathroom. Four further generously proportioned bedrooms are served by a combination of en suite and family bathroom facilities, providing excellent accommodation for both family and guests.

COTTAGE

A particular feature of Magpie House is the attached self-contained cottage, incorporating its own entrance dining hall, kitchen and sitting room together with three bedrooms and bathroom accommodation. The cottage offers outstanding flexibility and would be ideally suited for dependent relatives, guest accommodation, home-working requirements or potential extra income, subject to any necessary consents.

OUTBUILDINGS

Magpie House has an impressive range of outbuildings which significantly enhance the property’s versatility and appeal. These buildings offer outstanding flexibility for a variety of residential, leisure and home-working requirements. The property benefits from an excellent range of garaging, adjoining an impressive self-contained studio. Equipped with a kitchenette and cloakroom facilities, the studio provides highly adaptable space and is ideally suited as a home office, gymnasium, creative workspace, entertaining venue or ancillary accommodation, subject to any necessary consents. Please note, planning permission was previously granted for the conversion and extension of one of the outbuildings to create a separate dwelling. Whilst this consent has now lapsed, a fresh planning application has been submitted and a decision is anticipated imminently. Further information, together with the relevant application details, is available via the local planning authority’s planning portal. Further complementing the property are two traditional stables, together with separate log and coal stores, providing practical storage and facilities well suited to country living. A detached tennis pavilion overlooks the tennis court and serves as an attractive focal point for the property’s recreational amenities.

GARDENS

The gardens and grounds at Magpie House have been thoughtfully developed and carefully maintained to create a truly exceptional outdoor environment, perfectly complementing the house and its idyllic village setting. The property enjoys an outstanding range of recreational amenities, including a superb tennis court, cricket net and a natural swimming pool.

The natural pool forms a particularly attractive feature of the grounds, attracting an abundance of wildlife throughout the year, including kingfishers and a vibrant variety of dragonflies, creating a wonderful sense of tranquillity and connection with nature. Beautifully landscaped and rich in biodiversity, the grounds feature several heritage apple trees alongside a charming orchard planted with a variety of plum trees and a mature walnut tree. A delightful wild garden
provides year-round interest and seasonal colour, with carpets of wild daffodils, primroses, wood anemones and the highly prized snake’s head fritillary emerging in spring, followed later in the season by a spectacular display of Martagon lilies. A magnificent backdrop of mature native trees, including beech, yew, sycamore and hornbeam, surrounds the gardens and grounds, enhancing both privacy and seclusion while creating a wonderful sense of place.

PROPERTY INFORMATION

Services: Mains water, mains electricity and mains drainage. Oil fired central heating.

Grade II listed.

What3words: ///reclusive.crop.stealing

Postcode: CV36 5AA

Tenure: Freehold

Local Authority: Stratford-on-Avon District Council

Council Tax Band: House: F, Cottage: D

EPC: D

Viewing: By prior appointment only with the agents.