Hinksey Hill, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX1

A substantial and handsome arts and crafts house set in magnificent grounds of just over 2.3 acres with a separate cottage and a tennis court. Placing significant emphasis on eco credentials.

The Firs retains a great deal of its original character with large rooms, high ceilings, original fireplaces and mouldings, original internal bell system, picture rails and elegant bay windows. It enjoys a conventional layout with the primary reception rooms flowing from a welcoming hallway. There is a sitting room at the front with a log burner and to the rear there is a large drawing room also with its own fireplace. On the other side of the hallway there is formal dining and a spacious kitchen breakfast room with a range of units and space for a dining table. Beyond the kitchen is a utility room leading to the double garage. At the rear of the garage is the boiler room and a morning room with a wonderful view over the gardens. Off the hall there is also a wc and a broad, well lit mahogany staircase rising to a large landing on the first floor with four generously proportioned bedrooms. The main bedroom is a superb space with an en suite bathroom, dressing room and a balcony looking to the front of the house towards the spires of Oxford. Two bedrooms at the rear have large balconies overlooking the rear garden. There is a family bathroom, and a shower room that can either serve in addition to the family bathroom or be used as an en suite to the second bedroom. The top floor of the house has been arranged as a large bedroom with an equally large landing affording extra space for study and play. The house has a significant amount of storage including three lofts and store rooms that and are directly accessed from the top bedroom and landing.

The gardens and grounds are most noteworthy extending to 2.3 acres and arranged as a series of rooms linked by natural archways interspersed by mature and well stocked borders, and an array of mature and magnificent trees including hazel, walnut, copper birch and a weeping willow on the main lawn. There is a fruit orchard with cooking and eating apple, quince, mulberry, pear, plum and cherry, and an area at the far boundary with a range of raised beds for growing your own vegetables and established soft fruit(raspberries, blackberries, gooseberries, black and red currants). There is an enclosed hard tennis court and a rose garden as a focal point. At the western most boundary “Little Firs”, a cottage that is semi-detached with a neighbours outbuilding and provides spacious ancillary accommodation with under floor heating, including a kitchenette and shower room and two spacious open plan areas arranged over two floors. Little Firs also has a balcony of the first floor with a wonderful view over the gardens and main house. Overlooking the main lawn there is also a large brick built summer house and at the rear there is a large brick built store for gardening equipment and tools. The house is approached through remote electric gates that lead though the trees to the front of the house.

There is a range of measures that have been taken to improve the efficiency and running cost of the house. There are several banks of solar panels with an original feed in tariff so during some periods the house makes a profit from electricity. There are solar thermal panels for the hot water. The house has also been double glazed and insulated culminating in a very impressive “B” rating on the EPC which is quite exceptional for a house of this scale. Planning permission has also been granted to separate Little Firs from the main dwelling should anyone desire.