PROPERTY DESCRIPTION

Five minutes' walk from the centre of an attractive riverside market town but also only a few minutes' walk into the countryside, this property was built in about 1850. Formerly a farmhouse, it is now a townhouse facing directly onto the street. All the front windows are shuttered and double-glazed but the road is very quiet anyway. The front elevation gives no clue to the size of the property. There is ample car-parking in front of the house but there is also a two-storey garage with forecourt and tiny attached garden on the opposite side of the road.

The house is entered by a small vestibule off which is a loo and washbasin and a glazed door leading into the salon. The entire property is oil-fired centrally-heated but in the salon is a very efficient wood-burning stove (handy for cooking soups and casseroles in winter!). The salon has a large fitted cupboard and storage under the staircase which is oak and dog-legged. The floor is tiled. A glazed door leads into the dining-kitchen. This is not state-of-the-art but has a good range of oak fitments and a gas/electric cooker. The walls are half-tiled and the floor is tiled and there is a water-softener. A glazed and shuttered door gives onto the lane at the side of the house.

Another door leads into the large utility room which houses a cold-water sink and the central-heating boiler. From this room a door leads into a courtyard and spacious covered verandah with access to a two-storey workshop.

Upstairs is a square landing containing a large walk-in wardrobe and three double-bedrooms, one of which has a built-in cupboar. A fourth room (which could be a single bedroom) is currently used as a dressing-room and ironing room. It has loads of storage, a Velux window and a cupboard housing the immersion heater. Off the landing is a tiled shower-room with loo and washbasin. Apart from the shower-room the floors are all chestnut floorboards.

The pretty courtyard is very sunny and private and has a double gate with right-of-way onto the street. As well as various flowering bushes there is a small (very small!) fishpond.

Double French doors (with louvred shutters) open into the summer sitting-room. This pleasant room has oak floorboards, an open fire-place and a corner kitchen. A bathroom with bath and over-bath shower, washbasin and loo is off this room. An oak staircase takes you up to two double-bedrooms (one with large fitted cupboard) and another lavatory.

Outside, there is a path from the courtyard to the garden. This is not large by French standards but divided into two sections, both very well-stocked with fruit trees, a grape vine, raspberries, gooseberries, redcurrants, blackcurrants and strawberries. There is a stone potting shed with a pretty covered patio overlooking the countryside.

All commerce, including banks, restaurants and an English library may be found in the town with its twice weekly market and several large supermarkets and DIY stores are within five minutes' drive of the property.