A COTTAGE retreat, surrounded by its own land in a lovely country setting, yet with all essential facilities within a mile, is full of character.

Higher Orchard Cottage, near Marldon, originally two homes, is now an extended and updated detached house in gardens of grounds of just over two acres, and including paddocks and stables.

It boasts thick stone walls, exposed timbers and stone fireplaces.

With double glazing and gas central heating via a gas tank in the grounds, the cottage offers a superb family home in delightful surroundings.

A stable door opens to a porch with a slate floor with a wooden inner door to the dining room. This has a deep slate window cill, and fitted shelves in alcoves either side of the former chimney breast.

This spacious sitting room has a solid fuel burning stone on a stone hearth in the stone fireplace with a hardwood mantel and shelving to the alcoves either side. There are two casement windows with deep slate cills, a door opening to the garden over a slate threshold, oak floorboards and exposed ceiling timbers.

The beamed breakfast kitchen, also with oak floorboards, has warm, country style hardwood wall and base units and roll edge worktops. There is space for a cooker and fridge and a cast iron grate with an oven inset in one wall. Off is a big utility room with plumbing for a washing machine and a tiled floor and another cast iron grate with oven inset. Off the first back porch is a downstairs wc and the second leads out to a store shed and the tack store.

Upstairs there are four double bedrooms, all with exposed floorboards, a box room and the main bathroom/wc this of good size with a roll top bath with claw and ball feet and an antique style basin. There is a separate shower room/wc, also with a basin.

The entrance to Higher Orchard Cottage from the council lane has a five bar gate and opens to a brick paved parking area to the front of the house.

The attractive, grassed front garden has flower and shrub borders, a number of trees and a paved sun terrace immediately in front of the sitting room.

Behind the house is a partly grassed and part paved rear garden with a triangular area of timber decking in one corner.

The property stands right in the centre of its own land, divided into three grass paddocks with a mains water supply to one and the stable block with three stables, a tack room and feed store in another.

Luscombe Maye (01803 869920) are quoting a price guide of £565,000.