Imagine family gatherings, great parties and relaxing days in this stunning historic four-bedroom cottage in Brundish, near Framlingham, which is on the market for offers over £750,000.
It features everything from a vaulted 16th century dining hall with space for a seriously large Christmas tree to a handmade kitchen, beautiful bedrooms, stables and gardens which feel like your own private park.
The oldest part of Yew Tree Cottage – now the sitting room and master bedroom – dates from 1500. An adjacent cottage was built later in the 16th century and now forms the stunning dining hall.
A century or so later, a third cottage was added and it now houses the third bedroom and the games room/snug.
It’s thought that the door from the sitting room to the kitchen may be the original door to the oldest part of the property. Just imagine the people who have stepped through that door over the years, the lives they have lived and the changes that have taken place since then.
Perhaps some of those people planted the mixture of trees that, now mature, create such a beautiful sense of peace in the garden.
That feeling of history and calm permates through this house, which at the same time has been thoughtfully updated to ensure comfortable living.
It’s believed that by the Victorian era, the three cottages had been unified and a Victorian extension created a kitchen that is now the second bedroom. You can still see the meat hooks in the ceiling, and another hearth was added.
In the 20th century, this kitchen was extended; and a new bathroom, the hall, porch and fourth bedroom added.
The handmade kitchen is the heart of the home with its granite worktops, a generous space for dining and cooking, a Rayburn as well as an electric cooker and hob, with a stable door giving views over gorgeous flower beds. A utility room provides useful storage and keeps appliances out of sight.
The 16th century dining hall, with its vaulted ceiling, is bathed in natural light which highlights the striking timber frame and emphasises its Tudor hall character.
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Alan Mann, from selling agents Yopa, said: “It is a wonderful space for entertaining, especially at Christmas, where it can accommodate a very impressive tree.”
The dining room and the sitting room both have inset wood-burners, with insulated flues, as well as leaded casement windows. The stunning mantelpiece in the sitting room is part of an earlier renovation of the inglenook fireplace. Look at the back to see original bricks, pointed in lime mortar. The monumental chimney breast, built from these same original bricks, can be admired whilst climbing the stairs.
The two rooms form a natural flow when entertaining, or can be separated by curtains for a more cosy feel.
At the front of the house, a beamed room has been used as a games room or snug.
Alan said: “It can be for the sole use of guests staying in the fourth bedroom, which has French doors on to the patio; as the stairs can be accessed independently.”
There is a modern bathroom downstairs with a deep double-ended bath and walk-in shower.
Upstairs, the characterful large main bedroom has a beautiful internal stained glass window, bringing additional light in from the dining room below. The built-in wardrobes provide ample storage and mitigate the sloping floor of the original oak floorboards, which date from 1500.
Behind two of the doors lies an elegant en suite shower room, with a bespoke shower cubicle, handmade to create a square space amongst the historic characterful.
The third bedroom is also part of the timber frame, with a window overlooking fields to the front of the house. The second bedroom was built in the Victorian era and has a pantiled roof and two pretty casement windows overlooking the willow tree garden.
Renovations have included uncovering the original Suffolk floor brick paving in the dining room and exposing the broad 15th century floorboards in the main bedroom. The majority of the cement render has been stripped out and replaced with traditional lime render.
The roof is thatched in water reed with a wheat straw ridge and the pattern work on the ridge finished with hazel wood.
Outside, the log cabin is part of a secluded patio garden with raised beds, surrounded by hazel fencing, willow trees and climbing roses.
The insulated cabin can accommodate a double bed and has a shower and WC as well as a wood burner making it not only useable, but comfortable, all year round.
“It is a delight to get changed in the cabin and jump into the hot tub, surrounded by flowers, listening to birds roosting and seeing the bats flitting overhead and the stars above,” said Alan.
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The old stable has been converted into a gym with insulated walls and ceiling and a suspended floor. The old haystore next to it is used as a garden shed.
There is a blockwork garage with old workshop surfaces and cupboards, which could be converted into additional accommodation, subject to planning consent. On one side of the garage is a haystore, with a lean-to roof, for storing forage and horse feed.
Cross the bridge to the stable block where there are two stables, a tack room and open bay plus a yard.
“This modest yard provides enough freedom for three horses/ponies to stretch their legs and socialise, without having to be confined to individual boxes,” said Alan.
The yard leads on to two post-and-rail paddocks totalling 1.5 acres.
The orchard meadow, within the main garden, can be reached from the horses’ paddocks for additional winter grazing, and can provide additional grazing in the winter.
The garden has a rather special feel with many majestic trees – ash, willow, stone-pine, walnut and cherry – as well as mature fruit trees such as apple, plum, pear and even a mulberry tree.
“The hedges are full of edible fruits: damsons, bullaces and sloes. The pond is a haven for wildlife: both common and great-crested newts, and myriad dragonflies and damsel flies,” said Alan.
Gardeners will delight in everything from the wisteria trained across the front to the many roses and plethora of other perennials in the mixed herbaceous borders. There is year-round interest, and – in the summer – the borders are bursting with colour.
“In the garden, the loudest thing you will hear is birdsong,” said Alan.
There is an orchard meadow which is a wonderfully informal place for children to play, dogs to roam or to pitch a bell tent or two.
At the front of the property is a five-bar gate and pull-in, with the drive conveniently accessed from the quiet lane leading to the church. This curved tree-lined approach turns into a circular in-and-out driveway around a vast flower bed, offering many parking spots.
The cottage is in the village of Brundish, with its 11th-century church. You can ride out to join bridle paths, straight from the stables, accessed via a very quiet lane; and there are similarly lovely walks on a network of footpaths.
Brundish is half an hour from Aldeburgh on Suffolk’s Heritage Coast, with Orford and Southwold within easy reach, as well as forest and heathland; yet only 25 minutes from mainline services to London. It’s ten minutes away from the delightful small town of Framlingham and its castle.
For more information, contact Yopa.
PROPERTY FACTS
The Thorofare, Brundish
Guide price: OIEO £750,000
Yopa, 01270 447764
yopa.co.uk
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