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10:44am Thursday 28th February 2008
When estate agent Susan Morgan bought a plot of land in a desirable South Oxfordshire village, she realised that the site created a rare opportunity for a self-build project. Nineteen years later, her home - Badgers Brook at Great Haseley, near Thame - is on the market at £1.25m, through her own estate agency, Morgan & Associates.
Susan said: "The plot was purchased with outline planning permission. A local architect produced designs to ensure the house blended into the local village scene and planning permission was obtained for a farmhouse-style property to be built in natural stone with brick quoins and a clay tiled roof. The house was completed within a year to a very high standard."
In the last two years, Badgers Brook has been updated inside to create a contemporary feel, with three new bathrooms, a cloakroom, and stone and solid oak floors. The kitchen/breakfast room is a central feature of family life and it has a hand-built painted kitchen with dresser and French windows overlooking the gardens.
The drawing room has an Inglenook fireplace with a reclaimed oak beam above. There is a also a traditional dining hall with solid oak floor, a further family room and a spacious study, from which you can view the garden while working from home.
On the first floor there are five double bedrooms, including a master bedroom suite with a roll-top bath and large shower.
The gardens were professionally landscaped last year, creating two terraced areas. A stream feeds a pond, which attracts wildlife.
There is planning permission for a double garage and potential for further extension, subject to any necessary regulations.
Susan said " The property will ideally suit a young family looking for a comfortable home in a peaceful location with excellent schools on the doorstep. The village has a good community spirit with many local events, including musical evenings, and there is a tennis club and day nursery. The house and gardens are perfect for entertaining and we have enjoyed many parties with marquees in the grounds."
To arrange a viewing, call Morgan & Associates on 01844 279990
Just the other week I drove to Stroud to help a fellow wine-writer taste her way though dozens of the UK’s top-selling wine brands.
Before last week, my one experience of Nando’s had been a rather nasty meal at its Cowley Road operation shortly after it opened six or seven years ago in what had previously been the Prince of Wales pub. The sweet taste of the glutinous coleslaw remains with me to this day. As can be imagined, then, I didn’t exactly rush to sample the second Oxford branch when it opened at the beginning of the year at the west end of George Street, where the Opium Den used to be.
Please mind the dragon, I was urged. I was grateful for the warning, even though the slinky green creature, which comes complete with a crimson mouth and the brightest of white teeth, was a bit difficult to miss. By chance, the dragon is resting on a piece of floor that is familiar with bright colours — a printing press sat there until recently, turning out brochures and book covers in all the colours of the rainbow.
This is a great show for children of all ages, even those drawing their pension! In the Village Hall at Wytham The Story Machine had the audience in stitches. Professor Ivor Bumm and his assistant Dr Willy Whee were there to present their new invention – a machine that could tell any story, with special brilliant effects and a cast of hundreds of androids.
JIM Smith will be instrumental in the appointment of Oxford United's new manager.
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