INTRODUCTION
This generously-proportioned family home is located within a private development of just four houses in the exclusive Harcourt Hill area of West Oxford. Cedar House was built in 2002, but with its unusual and distinctive thatched roof, and walls clad with terracotta hanging tiles, it combines contemporary elegance with the rustic charm of the traditional Arts and Crafts style usually seen in a much older building. The location too offers both a rural outlook yet has excellent transport links to the city centre and beyond. Truly the best of both worlds.
Key Features
• Spacious contemporary home in exclusive private enclave
• Feature Thatched roof
• Six double bedrooms (three en suite)
• Two double bedroom guest/staff accommodation with kitchen and bathroom
• Kitchen breakfast room with separate utility room
• Four reception rooms including Dining room, Sitting room, Family room and Study
• Downstairs cloakroom
• Integral double garage
• Workshop
• Greenhouse
• Generous plot of 0.4 acres with views over paddocks and open fields to rear
• Ample parking for several vehicles
• Excellent transport links
THE PROPERTY
The house is approached along a gravelled driveway that leads to a wide parking area in front of the property. The accommodation comprises:
On the Ground Floor -
Sheltered beneath the tiled verandah, the front door opens into a spacious central hallway that gives access to all of the ground floor rooms. Double doors directly ahead open into the double aspect Drawing room, with its magnificent inglenook fireplace, feature light oak floorboards, and two pairs of French doors that open to the left and the right onto the garden and the terrace, respectively. A perfect place to retreat on cold winter evenings, or a warm summer afternoon, it is a room for relaxing or entertaining, all year round.
Along the hall to the left is the Dining room also with fireplace, French doors that open on to the garden, and with paired internal doors that connect again with the Drawing room creating, if required, an extended entertaining space for larger gatherings. To the right of the entrance hall are a Family/Music room, also with French doors opening on to the garden, and Study which looks out to the front of the house.
At the end of the hall is the well-equipped kitchen, with range cooker, a central island and breakfast bar and full complement of integrated appliances including fridge/freezer, dishwasher and microwave. Paired glazed doors lead outside to the vegetable garden and workshop, while a second internal door leads to the utility room and on through to the integral double garage.
On the First Floor -
Taking the stairs to the first floor, a spacious landing gives access to each of the four main bedrooms, and the family bathroom. The Principal bedroom enjoys far-reaching views over open fields to the south east of the property and benefits both from an en suite bathroom with separate bath and shower cubicle, as well as a connection to a further bathroom that adjoins Bedroom 3. This arrangement therefore provides the principal bedroom with two en suite bathrooms. Bedroom 2 also has an en suite with both bath and shower, while Bedroom 3 has an en suite shower room. Each bedroom incorporates fitted wardrobes providing ample storage space.
On the Second Floor -
The second floor is currently configured as a fully equipped and self-contained annex comprising two bedrooms, or alternatively a living room and double bedroom, a bathroom and kitchen. Offering ideal accommodation for live-in staff or carers, for guests, or for family members seeking a degree of independence from the main body of the house, it could also serve as a superb base for home working, with the living room boasting stunning views towards Oxford’s famous ‘dreaming spires’.
OUTSIDE
At the front of the property is a broad gravelled parking area with space for several vehicles. The garden extends around the house on three sides, offering a pleasant outlook across the neighbouring paddock to the open fields beyond. The rear aspect is laid mainly to lawn with a delightful orchard of pear, cherry, plum, and damson trees, as well as seven different varieties of apple. The French doors from the house open on to paved terraces on either side to the north west and south east. There is a well-tended vegetable patch with several raised beds, as well as a greenhouse, and a sizeable timber workshop, equipped with light and power.
LOCATION
Harcourt Hill is an exclusive enclave in North Hinksey, to the west of Oxford, and one of Oxford’s most sought-after locations. The local services of Botley are only 1500m distant, and include a post office, ATM, library, supermarkets and convenience stores, florist, newsagent, doctors' surgery, dentist, optician, and vet, as well as a selection of pubs and restaurants.
There are regular bus services to the city centre and Oxford rail station, from which there are connections to London every 30 mins (journey time to Paddington 55 mins). The Botley Inter-change of the Oxford ring road, which gives immediate access to the A34, A420 and the wider road and motorway network, is close by. North Hinksey village boasts an excellent primary school, and the highly-rated Matthew Arnold secondary school is close by, while a range of independent schools both in Oxford and in Abingdon and Radley are also in easy reach.
Nearby leisure facilities include the Hinksey Heights Golf Club and adjacent Nature Park, and there are many further opportunities nearby to walk along local footpaths with views towards the famous Oxford skyline, and over the open fields to the south and west.