Winterbourne Manor

Winterbourne Manor is a magnificent country house set in beautiful gardens and grounds, surrounded by stunning undulating countryside and enjoying fabulous distant views. Winterbourne Manor is the former manor house of the village, and is situated in a peaceful spot close to the ancient 12th Century church, in an elevated position about a quarter of a mile from Winterbourne itself. This fabulous rural setting beautifully complements its convenient proximity to Newbury, and highly accessible location. The house is a classically attractive Georgian manor house which incorporated an older Tudor farmhouse, some of which is still evident at the rear of the property today. The house focuses around a fabulous reception hall with an impressive grand central staircase and galleried landing above, and the main reception rooms emanate from here. As one would expect of a house from this era, the reception rooms are large and well-proportioned with high ceilings and large sash windows creating a wonderfully light interior space. The drawing room and dining room are both dual-aspect and are filled with natural light, and both have attractive open fireplaces. The spacious kitchen/breakfast room adjoins the dining room and is well-fitted with bespoke cabinetry, a central island and an Aga range cooker. There is also a smaller, cosy sitting room/library centred around a pretty fireplace, as well as a more informal family room in the oldest part of the house, with original beams and a log burner. The utility room and laundry, pantry and cloakroom are all located off the rear hall, and there is also a large cellar currently housing a wine cellar and snooker room. The beautiful staircase with intricate wrought iron spindles leads to the first floor and the main bedrooms are centred around the galleried landing. The principal bedroom suite and main guest bedroom have fabulous far-reaching views from the huge sash windows. There is a balcony above the portico at the front, accessed from the landing, where one can sit and enjoy the distant expanse of stunning countryside. There are seven bedrooms and five bathrooms on the first floor, and a secondary staircase leads up to a further bedroom and bathroom on the top floor at the rear of the house. The adjacent courtyard of period outbuildings houses an office and a spacious one bedroom flat ideal for staff or overflow accommodation. A separate two bedroom cottage and a portfolio of attractive barn conversions is also available.

Winterbourne Manor is approached through smart wrought-iron gates down a gravel drive leading to the impressive portico and front entrance. The drive swings round giving access to the courtyard of outbuildings adjacent to the house. The impressive gardens and grounds extend to over 30 acres and off-set the house perfectly. Smartly clipped formal lawns surround the house, interspersed with mature planting, including beautiful mature yew trees and hedges, and to the west side the main lawns extend from the terrace across the ha-ha towards the paddocks and woodland beyond. There is an attractive, contemporary lily pond, and a wide herbaceous border, filled with mature plants and edged with formal yew topiary, borders the mellow brick wall that houses the swimming pool. The walled garden that encloses the pool is beautifully planted to create a wonderful Mediterranean feel and creates a secluded and sheltered spot. The pretty pool house provides a changing room, small kitchen area and WC. A large vegetable garden, greenhouse and tennis court lie beyond the formal gardens, well screened by mature hedging and out of sight of the house. There is also a fabulous timber framed, thatched party barn and small orchard to the north. To the east side of the house the courtyard of outbuildings contains a home office, as well as a number of stables, tack room, three garages and a workshop. There are four further stables in the field beside the house, and various other garden stores in the grounds.

Winterbourne is a delightful village just north of Newbury, surrounded by beautiful rolling countryside providing wonderful open space for walking, riding and cycling. There is an active local community in the village itself, and a beautiful 12th Century church. Nearby Newbury offers an extensive range of facilities including a variety of shops, pubs and restaurants, various supermarkets including Waitrose, and a variety of leisure activities including racing at Newbury racecourse, two nearby golf courses at Donnington and Speen, and the Watermill Theatre. There is a choice of well-regarded restaurants locally including The Woodspeen, with a Michelin Star, and The Vineyard at Stockcross, as well as a fabulous new country house hotel and spa, The Retreat. Communications are excellent with a direct train service from Newbury into London Paddington and fast access to the A34 and M4, London, Heathrow Airport, and the west country. There is a fantastic choice of highly regarded schools in the area including Elstree, Cheam, Horris Hill, Brockhurst and Marlston House, St Gabriel’s, Bradfield College, Downe House, Abingdon School and Radley College.

Marketed by: Strutt & Parker, Newbury