PROPERTY
TA L K
COUNTRY VS CITY
Both boast knock-'em-dead entrances but that’s where similarities end between this old rural pile in Whimple and this swish, new city home… Buy Georgian!
COUNTRY HOUSE In its current guise as a boutique B&B and holiday let, clotted cream-coloured Georgian villa Woodhayes has raked in five-star reviews from its happy guests – boy, will they be seething when you snap up their “perfect”, “wonderful” “home-from-home”. On the edge of Whimple – one of those increasingly rare ‘proper’ villages, with a primary school, village shop and post office, GP, two pubs, thriving folk scene and a railway station – Woodhayes perches primly in over two acres of green loveliness at the end of a long private drive. It’s actually three properties rolled into one. First, there’s the gorgeous main house which has six bedrooms, all with en-suites and swoonworthy views. Extensively refurbished, it nonetheless groans with characterful period features like cornicing, sash windows, open fires, and original flagstones. 82 I EXETER LIVING I www.mediaclash.co.uk
Oh, there’s also a Grade II-listed gatehouse at the start of the drive should you find yourselves bursting at the seams. Which we rather suspect you won’t. . .
Attached to this is an annexe with three further en-suite bedrooms, small kitchen and living space. Then there’s the charming Coach House, which in the 19th century housed the family carriage, horses and groomsmen, and today comprises a sitting room with double doors to a courtyard, kitchen and dining room, three bedrooms and a family bathroom.
MAKE AN OFFER IF: You seek hygge. We counted five woodburning stoves in the main house alone. AVOID IF: You don’t actually want your entire extended family descending every weekend... NEED TO KNOW: A two-acre paddock makes up part of your grounds. WOODHAYES Woodhayes Lane, Whimple, Exeter EX5 2TQ £1.35million Strutt & Parker, Exeter 24 Southernhay West, Exeter EX1 1PR 01392 215631 struttandparker.com