4 bed detached house for sale

Love Lane, Ashburton, Newton Abbot, Devon TQ13

Once part of one of the oldest farms in Ashburton, Whistley Hall today is a characterful and well-presented two storey house with a detached, former coach house. Both buildings are built of the pale, local limestone under slate roofs and are unlisted. Whistley Hall is packed with characterful fittings including white-painted ceiling beams and joists, stone mullion windows, stone flagged and timber floors, a lovely fireplace fitted with a wood-burning stove along with a stone spiral staircase and other stone features reclaimed from various period buildings in Devon, including a fire-damaged church.

Overall, the property has a great feeling of light and space and is simply and very well presented. The main reception room on the ground floor has ample space for separate seating and dining areas with light coming in on all four sides and a beautiful flagstone floor with underfloor heating. Steps lead down to the adjacent sunroom, which has a slate-tiled floor, rooflights and floor to ceiling, south facing windows looking out onto the pretty walled courtyard garden. The kitchen/breakfast room has natural light flooding in through south and west facing windows, a timber floor and is fitted with a gas-fired, two-oven Rayburn inset in the original range fireplace and a separate gas-fired hob. Upstairs off the u-shaped landing are three good-sized double bedrooms with plenty of fitted wardrobes and a family bath and shower room.

A short distance across from the main house is the separate, former coach house, which was converted by the previous owners to a similar standard and does not impinge on the privacy of the main house. This delightful building also has two storeys and is now used either as a separate guest cottage or as holiday rental accommodation. It has produced a handsome second income since it was completed and has proved popular with paying guests throughout the year. The ground floor is taken up by the shower room and the south-facing kitchen/dining room, which has excellent ceiling height, is fitted with an electric range cooker and has a wide, south facing window looking out onto the passing lane. Upstairs the space is split between the sitting room and adjacent double bedroom. Both are generously sized and have timber floors and vaulted ceilings with exposed roof timbers.

The two properties joined by tall stone walling forming a delightful courtyard garden. The courtyard is accessed via a gated entranceway off the passing lane that opens onto a parking area with space for two cars. There is an ev charger. A wide cobbled path leads from the parking area, between the main house and the coach house, to the former's front door. The round stone outside the back door was a wheelwright's stone, used for making and repairing cartwheels. The coach house is accessed via a door opening onto the passing lane. The courtyard also contains an enchanting garden encompassing a small lawn fringed with shrubs and further cobbled and flagged areas for outside dining and seating..

Whistley Hall is situated in a prime residential area of the small town of Ashburton, in a pleasant setting opposite the local primary school and just a few minutes' walk from the centre of the town and open countryside. The town is within a conservation area and was formerly an administration centre to manage the collection of tin coinage for local tin-mining industry, known as a stannary. Today it remains the largest town within the Dartmoor National Park. It has a population of about 7,700 residents and consequently has a good selection of independent local shops and businesses. These include the popular Rafikis restaurant, Emilia's and The Old Library. The annual Ashburton Carnival is one of the oldest, possibly the oldest, surviving in Devon.

The nearby, larger towns of Totnes and Newton Abbott are both only about 20 minutes away by car and have a wider choice of shops including a choice of large supermarkets. For other requirements Ashburton is also roughly midway between the cities of Exeter and Plymouth. The position of the house also provides nearby access to a variety of transport links. It has very quick access onto the A38/Devon Expressway, which is the principal arterial road in the area linking the cities of Exeter and Plymouth. There are railway stations in both Totnes and Newton Abbott on the Exeter to Plymouth line, with connecting services from Exeter to Paddington and Waterloo. Exeter Airport is also less than half an hour away via the Devon Expressway providing flights to both UK and international destinations. The area has a wide choice of schools from both the state grammar and independent sectors including Ashburton Primary School opposite, which is well-regarded, Churston Grammar School, Stover School and a number of private schools in Exeter.