7 bedroom house

Built in 1880 for the 2nd Viscount Portman and unlisted, Hammoon House was one of three hunting lodges built on the Portman Estate to provide a lunch rest and opportunity for the family and guests to change horses midway through the day. The house was subsequently owned for many years by the distinguished ornithologist, Angela Hughes, who chose it because of its setting and the prolific local wildlife in the surrounding countryside. It was bought by the current owners 25 years ago when the property had become very tired.

They have since undertaken a comprehensive programme of renovation, which has included enlarging the house with a good-sized reception hall and a south-west facing orangery overlooking the garden and grounds. Designed for entertaining and built facing down the valley rather than into the village, the house is a lovely example of a country house of the period and is rendered with shuttered concrete inscribed to resemble cut stone, with tall sash windows and a Welsh slate roof. Internally the house has good ceiling height throughout, well-proportioned rooms and has retained many original architectural features such as extensive joinery and fine open fireplaces. Great care has been taken to blend the more recent changes sympathetically with the original, with limestone flagged flooring extending through the reception and inner halls and the orangery and refurbished timber floors in the reception rooms.

The ground floor has four reception rooms arranged in a square off the inner hall. Both the drawing and dining rooms have windows on two sides with views across the garden including a broad bay window in each room. On the first floor are a good size principal bedroom suite with a walk-through dressing room and large bathroom, five further bedrooms with two bathrooms and a shower room and on the second floor are two more bedrooms and a shower room, which could form a self-contained suite for a teenager or nanny.

Hammoon House is approached down a gravelled drive, which leads to a parking area beside the house. To one side is the coach house, which has been converted and now incorporates a single garage, ground-floor office with kitchenette, shower room and first floor billiard room. The garden and grounds extend out from the house and comprise extensive lawns with richly planted borders and a paved terrace beside the orangery. Beyond a fine Cedar of Lebanon is the heated swimming pool sited within a walled courtyard with pool house. On one side of the garden are an area of kitchen garden, the garden store and a covered seating area with views across the garden towards the house. Beyond the pool courtyard is an area of level lawn that would be an ideal site for a tennis court, subject to obtaining the necessary consent. To the south-east of the house is a ha-ha which separates the garden from a series of three meadows leading down to the River Stour, where the property has about 854 yards of single bank fishing. In all the garden and grounds extend to about 18.9 acres (7.65 hectares).

Hammoon House has an idyllic setting overlooking the water meadows bordering the River Stour on the edge of the tiny village of Hammoon, which is itself surrounded by the unspoilt countryside of the Blackmore Vale. Because of its small size the village only has a church but is close to the small market town of Sturminster Newton (3.4 miles), which has a selection of shops and local businesses to meet every day needs. The house is also within easy reach of the larger town of Gillingham (8.9 miles), which has a Waitrose supermarket and a railway station providing a regular service to Waterloo (2 hours). For other transport links the A303 (11.7 miles), Bournemouth International Airport (25.6 miles) and Castle Cary (20.5 miles), which has a fast rail service to Paddington (90 minutes), are all within a reasonable driving distance.

The local area is especially renowned for its wide choice of excellent schools from both the state and i

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