SemleyShaftesbury, Dorset, SP7 9AP

GROVE HOUSE
Surrounded by some exquisite gardens on all sides, Grove House is a beautiful country house of stone elevations under a slate roof. The house is not listed and thought to date back to the late 19th century, with later additions, including a brick-built wing from the 1970s. Whilst not ostentatious, the house has a wealth of features typical of its time, with tall ceilings on both floors, large sash windows, ornate plasterwork and generous proportions. The present owners have been here since 1990, making some notable improvements and extensions to the house in their time, to create a superb family house with plenty of versatility in the accommodation and layout of the rooms.

On the ground floor, the house offers the perfect balance of some elegant reception and living rooms, complemented by a superb open plan kitchen/breakfast/family room. The reception hall was added very early in their ownership, squaring off the back of the house and creating a wonderful sense of arrival, with double height ceilings and galleried landing above. With smaller improvements between, the second principal addition to Grove House was the wonderful triple aspect kitchen and family room, with large sash windows, two sets of French doors and a hexagonal cupola above ensuring the room is as light as one could hope. In addition, there is a lovely dual aspect study, with a French door and bay window overlooking a beautiful 'garden room' with ornamental fountain and parterre. The sitting room is just off, benefitting from the best views from Grove House, with an open fire place. The drawing room adjoins the dining room; both also benefit from the best southerly views from the house, whilst the original front door leads into the beautifully appointed drawing room from the croquet lawn to the front of the house. The dining room is perfectly placed just off the kitchen.

Supporting the main living rooms, the back door leads into a generous boot room, with utility room and stores just off, connecting to the kitchen. The boot room also inter-connects with the annexe via its kitchen. There is also a WC, whilst the cellar is accessed from a trap door in the reception hall and is ideal for the storage of fine wine.

Upstairs, the house is effectively made up of three 'wings' formed around the wonderful galleried landing. At the head of the stairs, there are three bedrooms, one with a dressing room, and a family bathroom; this was their 'children's wing'. On the far side of the galleried landing, the principal bedroom faces south, with plenty of storage and an adjoining bathroom. The two guest bedrooms adjoin each other, with a separate bathroom.

The annexe provides excellent versatility to the way one can live at Grove House. It has its own front door which leads into a small hallway. The kitchen/dining room and sitting room are on the ground floor, along with the bathroom, whilst the double bedroom is on the first floor. Although independent to the house, the annexe accommodation can be incorporated into the main house if needed.

OUTBUILDINGS
To the north of the house and just beyond the annexe wing, a brick-built stable yard provides three loose boxes with a hayloft above. A separate block provides a large stable, feed room and tack room. West of the stable yard, an area of hard standing provides useful parking for vehicles and there is a greenhouse too.

The main structure of the modern steel-framed portal span barn extends to 21m x 12m, with various stores and a full length single bay running along one side. Formerly a light-industrial unit and car workshop, the owners now use this for cars, logs, machinery and general storage ancillary to the house. There is also a wonderful log cabin; the perfect party barn with billiards table, which has hosted numerous large parties and lunches; it extends to just over 10m x 10m, with a bar area and WC.

GARDEN AND GROUNDS
The drive leads up from the lane, past the side of the house, to a parking area at the rear of the house, with extensive further parking beyond. Much of the landscaping and garden design has been undertaken by the owners who bought Grove House with its grounds very much a blank canvas. They set out about planting many of the trees, landscaping the gardens around the house and creating the beautiful 'rooms' around the property that create the exquisite setting for Grove House.

Beyond the barns, the walled garden has been landscaped to provide a hard tennis court, with heated swimming pool, stone-flagged terrace and pool house. Espaliered fruit trees adorn the walls to create a lovely tranquil ambience. A grove of Walnut trees was planted on the northern lawns, with deep herbaceous borders providing seasonal colours through the year. The garden rooms to the east of the house flank the study and sitting room, with ornamental rose gardens enclosed by mature Yew and topiary hedging. The principal lawns lie to the south of the house, bordered by a buttressed Yew hedge framing the stunning valley views beyond. To the west of the house and lying off the kitchen/family room, a deep stone-flagged terrace provides a lovely afternoon and evening setting from which to enjoy the views and immediate gardens around the house. Beyond this lies an area of meadow, with orchard
and raised kitchen garden beds.

Supporting the stabling, there is an outdoor arena with modern sand/rubber surface. The majority of land is down to pasture, with a large field to the front of the house, a further field to the west and finally, an open parkland-style field beyond, with a lake and some stands of newly planted trees. There are various belts of woodland providing amenity and natural diversity to Grove House, with a secluded duck pond enhancing this further.

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