Ollivers Farm, Toppesfield

An exceptional and rare opportunity to acquire this distinguished Grade II* listed country house, discreetly positioned along a country lane and surrounded by open fields. Dating back to circa 1360, the property has been sympathetically restored to offer elegant accommodation rich in period features and historic character.

The estate includes a range of outbuildings, as well as a substantial barn offering excellent potential for development, subject to the necessary planning permissions. While these additional structures would benefit from further investment, they present considerable scope for enhancement.

Set within mature, well-established gardens, the grounds provide a beautiful and tranquil setting, significantly enhancing the appeal of this remarkable country residence.

Toppesfield village is located just a short distance from Sible Hedingham, the village is well served offering a village shop and post office, the Green Man public house, St. Margaret's Church and St. Margaret's Church of England Primary School which filters into Hedingham School and Sixth Form.

For the commuter there are regular fast trains to London Liverpool Street from Witham, and a connecting service from Braintree.

Directions
From Braintree take the A131 to High Garrett, then the A1017 to Gosfield, Sible Hedingham, Great Yeldham. Turn left just past the White Hart into Toppesfield Road. After one and a half miles Ollivers is on the left just past Toppesfield Hall.

From Cambridge take A1307 to Haverhill, then the A1017 to Great Yeldham just after leaving Great Yeldham. Turn right before the White Hart into Toppesfield Road. After one and a half miles Ollivers is on the left just past Toppesfield Hall.

Full description

A tall Grade II* listed, timber-framed, seven double bedroom country house, the property has a wealth of period features set within mature gardens of about 1.2 acres including a small productive vineyard producing a pleasant white wine from Madeleine Augevine grapes. In addition there are a further 6 acres of paddocks and grassland, several outbuildings which could be converted STP which require further investment to realise their full potential. There are ponds and a substantial sized timber-framed barn, in need of restoring, with potential for further development STP. The property has a wonderful blend of privacy, but with stunning views over the surrounding countryside, open fields, hedges and woodland and across to neighbouring farms and the village church.

Ground floor: The entrance has a glazed front door opening into a light-filled hall, before leading you through to the pleasant drawing room. This is a very spacious entertaining area with views out across the gardens on both sides, and with exceptional ceiling height of 2.8m (over 9 feet), indicating its origin as a Hall house of some importance. It has exposed moulded oak beams that span the entire room, and an enormous Elizabethan brick-arched fireplace. The large Charnwood wood-burning stove in the fireplace is very capable of making this sizeable room feel warm and comfortable. To one side of the room, a panelled oak door leads to the dining room with another oak-beamed ceiling and windows on two sides providing light and views over the garden, which can be accessed through an arched glazed door onto a paved area and lawn. From here a door leads to the study/snug, the oldest part of the house dating back to 1360, a cosy, light-filled room with bespoke book shelves that line one side of the room and a small fireplace with a log-burner. The farmhouse-style kitchen is also accessed from the drawing room, which is another generous double aspect room with exposed beams and a large brick-arched fireplace housing an oil fired Redfyre oven. To one side there is a purpose-built, walk-in larder and a utility/rear entrance hall and back door. Most large windows have unobtrusive secondary glazing.

First floor: The first floor is accessed via an oak-framed stair tower extension, with a craftsman-built oak staircase and double-height leaded window offering views across the garden to the barn and fields beyond. The long landing leads to the principal bedroom at one end of the house, which has stunning views over neighbouring villages to the Castle at Castle Hedingham. This triple-aspect room has a dressing area to one side and an en-suite bathroom with a separate shower. Adjacent to the principal bedroom is the guest bedroom and en-suite shower room, another beautiful room with views to the south over the garden and a brick-arched fireplace. At the other end of the landing there are a further two south-facing bedrooms, one with a brick-arched fireplace and the family bathroom, currently fitted with a large walk-in shower and offering views up to the village church. Above the entrance hall to the front of the house is the purpose built home office.

Second floor: The top floor of the house is reached by an open wooden staircase and has windows to the front and back with far-reaching views and exposed oak timbers throughout. There is one large central bedroom with a further interconnecting bedroom giving access to a large loft space and separate bedroom with washroom on the other side.

Garden: The gardens are a real asset to this property with beautiful landscaped-designed borders and planting surround the house on all sides and include a white garden, rose borders, jewel garden, formal lily pond, woodland garden and walk, and a lavender path up to the front door. Beyond the woodland walk is a large vegetable garden with greenhouse and fruit cage, an orchard and other fruiting trees around the garden including apricot, morello cherry, cherry-plum, greengage and bullace. To the front of the house, the sweeping lawns are planted with mature trees either side of the driveway leading up to a parking area for four cars. At the back there is a large stone-paved patio facing south, that wraps around the house providing seating, dining and relaxing areas with stunning views across the neighbouring landscape. Adjoining the house to the south is a double-storey barn (which could be converted into an annexe, subject to planning). There are a further two single-storey barns housing garden machinery, wine making equipment and the wine store

Land
To the front of the house and beyond the existing driveway and formal gardens, is a fenced paddock of 1.8 acres, containing an old carriage drive and a double avenue of lime trees. To the rear of the house and gardens is the large timber-framed, listed, aisled barn and former stables, set in approximately 4 acres of land including wildlife ponds and a small woodland. This land with its beautiful timber-framed barn offers lots of potential to the buyer. It could become a fantastic equestrian facility with a separate dwelling or stables/carriage house (STP); or it could make a wonderful vineyard on the south-facing slope, to extend the already productive vineyard and make use of the barn as the winery or a visitor centre (STP). These buildings are in need of some repair to refresh them and bring them to life.

Services
Private drainage system. Please note under current legislation the private drainage system will need replacing with a compliant treatment plant and it will be the responsibility of the incoming purchaser to install this.