Country houses for sale

Is it too late to ask Santa for Christmas Cottage?

It'd be idyllic at any time of year, but the aptly-named Christmas Cottage seems particularly enticing at this time of year.

With cosy overhead beams and oak floors, Grade II listed Christmas Cottage is on the market via Savills for £575,000.

Built of Horton Stone under a Welsh-slate roof, this four-bedroom home is in the charming village of Chipping Warden, on the Northamptonshire-Oxfordshire border around seven miles from Banbury.

The whole place is full of charm with beamed ceilings and an original tiled floor in the kitchen – a space which has been beautifully re-done to make the most of the original features.

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Upstairs there is a particular treat in the form of a first floor landing so large as to act as a second sitting room, with space for a large sofa and armchair – the old stone fireplace, beams and delightful windows make this seem like the perfect snug space to curl up with a book.

There are four bedrooms in all, two on the first floor and two more on the second floor. The master bedroom has an unusual touch: an en-suite in the corner of the room, separated only by an Indian screen. It gives a little touch of the bath-in-the-bedroom look much favoured by hotels these days.

The cottage garden is delightfully private, with trees, hedges and shrubs creating a secluded little space with all sorts of nooks and crannies – we can imagine young children playing and exploring happily all summer long.

There is also a timber-framed summer house at the end of the garden; at the moment one of the bedrooms is used as a study but this could easily be converted as a garden office.

Christmas Cottage is for sale via Savills at £575,000 – see more pictures and details.