Culeaze, Wareham, Dorset, BH20

Built in 1887, Culeaze House stands in just over 44 acres in a peaceful and private setting that includes woodland, extensive grazing and water meadows alongside a lovely stretch of the River Piddle. The house is an impressive, three-storey country house built of mellow red brick under a Welsh slate roof.

It has tall, wide sash windows that allow natural light to fill the house creating a feeling of space and light throughout the interior, as well as providing wonderful views over the garden and the surrounding countryside. It has been the much-loved family home of the current owners for the past eight years and has proved to be a wonderful space for a growing family and is perfect for entertaining and having masses of friends to stay. Since the current owners bought the house, it has subsequently been completely renovated to a very high standard and today is beautifully presented.

The ground floor has three large reception rooms grouped around a magnificent reception hall plus a superb, combined kitchen, family room and orangery. The latter space has sufficient size for up to four separate reception areas and yet still feels cosy around its open fireplace on a cold winter's evening. The kitchen is very well equipped with painted timber units and a selection of fitted appliances including two dishwashers and a Wolf electric/gas range cooker with an adjacent pantry and separate office.

The first floor has five good-sized double bedrooms in total and four bath/shower rooms, of which three are en suite. The main bedroom and very large, en suite dressing room both have windows on two sides with fantastic views, an en suite bath and shower room. The attics are fully converted and contain a self-contained bedroom suite, a central seating area and four further double bedrooms and three bath/shower rooms, two of which are en suite.

Culeaze House is approached via a no-through lane and a 360-yard long drive line with mature oak trees, thought to date back to the reign of Henry VIII, with the house hidden from view by a substantial belt of mature native trees, as well as non-native trees, including an impressive giant redwood.

Immediately in front of the house is a generous gravelled parking area with space for several cars. Two spurs lead off the drive. One leads to the walled garden and the other to a concrete apron lined on two sides by 11 timber-clad loose boxes and an all-weather menège. On the north side of the house is a gravelled play/outside dining area alongside a recently built, fully insulated outbuilding containing a gym and indoor golf range.

Surrounding the house are about four acres of mature gardens and grounds containing a rich variety of trees including copper beech, horse chestnut and three statuesque walnut trees. Within the garden are level lawns fringed with a wide, deep terrace behind the house plus clipped yew and beech hedges and richly planted borders. In one corner is a walled garden that has now been lawned with a central avenue of clipped olive trees.

Beyond the garden to the south-east and south-west are two large paddocks each containing a field shelter. The paddocks slope gently down to an extensive area of water meadow bordering the River Piddle dotted with areas of mature woodland. The River Piddle is one of only 210 rivers classified as chalk streams globally
and provides Culeaze House with about 500 yards of fantastic river.

The stream offers excellent wild brown trout fishing with about 400 yards of double bank fishing and 100 yards of single bank. There is also a lake stocked with coarse fish. In all the garden, grounds and land amount to about 44.11 acres (17.85 hectares).

Culeaze House is situated amidst the beautiful, unspoilt countryside with its land bordering the River Piddle. The beautiful local countryside includes excellent riding country in Wareham Forest and the adjacent heaths to the east and south. Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door on the Jurassic Coast are just a 20-minute drive to the south.

The nearby village of Bere Regis is a thriving community with two pubs, a village shop, post office and parish church. For wider requirements the larger centres of Wareham, Dorchester, Weymouth, Poole and Bournemouth are all within easy driving distance.

For transport links, the A31 and A35 meet just north of Bere Regis. Wool has a railway station with regular, direct services to Poole, Southampton and Waterloo and the airports at Bournemouth and Southampton have flights to both national and international destinations.

Dorset is also blessed with a wide choice of popular independent schools such as Canford, Clayesmore, The Sherborne Schools, Milton Abbey, Leweston, Bryanston, Knighton House and Hanford.