A horsey haven: check out this 7-bedroom home with indoor and outdoor arenas and 22 stables, set in 42 acres
(Image credit: Strutt & Parker)
The Croft is in the hamlet of Padworth Common on the Hampshire/Berkshire borders. Amenities are available locally in the nearby village of Mortimer (two miles), which has a Post Office, village stores, pubs and a primary school. There is also a mainline train station serving London Paddington in under an hour.
Reading station (nine miles) offers fast commuter services to London Paddington in around 27 minutes, plus a comprehensive range of shops and services. There are also trains and shopping facilities in Newbury (13 miles).
The M4 and M3 can be easily accessed for travel towards London and its airports or the West Country. Mainline trains run from Newbury or Reading into London Paddington, while there is a regular service from Basingstoke to Waterloo.
Local equestrian centres include Wellington Riding (eight miles), Boomerang Stables (23 miles), Cherwell Competition Centre (37 miles), and Berkshire College of Agriculture (24 miles).
If hunting is more your thing, you could head out with either the Kimblewick or the Vine & Craven.
Need a vet? The experts at Donnington Grove Veterinary Group are on hand to help you just three miles away.
Tucked away and accessed from a split separate drive, the equestrian facilities have been run as a successful family business for the past 30 years.
The 72x30m indoor arena is in immaculate condition and includes a double viewing area as well as two offices, toilet facilities, kitchen and a utility room. The indoor arena can be accessed from two points and has full lighting, a sprinkler system and PA system.
The courtyard stables houses 22 boxes with wash rooms, tack room and feed rooms, plus a surfaced arena used for lungeing in the centre.
There is also a 55x35m outdoor school with lighting and PA system. There are two storage barns to house machinery, and a further storage shed to house jumps.
Between the indoor school and the stables is a large parking area that can fit more than 20 horseboxes comfortably and keeps the equestrian area separate from the main house. This area has full HGV access.
The land includes 25 acres of paddocks along the drive leading up to the house and equestrian facilities, which sit to the north of property. The paddocks have post and rail fencing and are nearly all fed by troughs. There is also 16 acres of woodland to the north of the house. This property has 42 acres of land in total.
The Croft is an unlisted family home with well-proportioned, light-filled rooms. The property is approached along a long tree-lined drive, which splits to give separate access to the main house from the equestrian facilities. All land on both sides of the drive are included in the ownership giving complete privacy to the property.
The entrance to The Croft House is via a reception hall, which provides access to all of the ground floor as well as the stairs to the first floor.
There is a sitting room with views of the garden and grounds. The ground floor also has a further sitting room, kitchen/diner, pantry and a reception room with a bar. There is also a utility room that provides access onto the paved enclosed back garden.
The principal bedroom is in the south eastern corner of the house.
There are six further good-sized bedrooms and four bathrooms.
This property also includes one single and two double garages, one of which has a studio flat above, plus a log cabin office with gym floor.
The Croft Cottage is a recently extended and modernised four-bedroom house, which works as ancillary accommodation for either further accommodation for the main house or nanny/staff accommodation.
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