5 bedroom detached house

A very rare opportunity to purchase an extremely pretty farmhouse thought to date back about 400 years which has been in one family for more than 85 years. With distant views of the Wolds, rooms are generous and full of character and surprisingly, but perhaps thankfully, the property is not listed. Standing in a lovely, tranquil, rural setting down a long, tree-lined drive, it is surrounded by a large garden. Attractive, large, adjoining barns are a substantial asset to the property which could be developed, subject to planning.

With a paddock and a stable and an option to buy more land, horse lovers will be attracted to this delightful place. For a family, there is plenty of space inside and out and some excellent state schools are within easy reach, so too the seaside with its endless stretches of sandy beaches.

*Offered with no chain
*Possibility of purchasing further adjoining land

• A charming, unlisted, former farmhouse, possibly 400 years old
• Very generously proportioned rooms with large sash windows
• Full of character with old beams, exposed brick and inglenooks
• 2 sets of stairs
• 5 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms upstairs
• 3 impressive reception rooms
• 2 sitting rooms, one triple aspect with door to garden
• Large, dual aspect dining room, door to second staircase
• 2 open fires and a log-burning stove
• Kitchen breakfast room with French doors to garden
• Aga: part oil-fired, part electric providing 4 ovens and 6 rings
• Sizeable utility room with sink
• Downstairs shower room
• Walk-in pantry and 2 further storage rooms to a back door
• Over an acre of garden with lawns, mature trees and hedges
• South and west facing paved terrace leading directly from house
• Attractive, brick outbuildings: adjoining single and two-storey barns
• Wagon sheds, barn with hay loft, and many storerooms
• Double garage with automatic roller door
• Separate brick-built stable
• Greenhouse, vegetable patch, orchard and small paddock
• Long, tree-lined drive with cattle grids to generous parking by house
• Possibility of purchasing further adjoining land
• Offered with no chain

Location

The property is in a very tranquil spot with no near neighbours apart from the cottages at the bottom of the drive and is conveniently close to the main road half a mile away. Great Steeping is located about 3.5 miles southeast of Spilsby, with other historic market towns such as Horncastle and Alford between a 15 and 20 minute drive all with excellent schools. There is a school and two churches (although one is redundant) in the village but for shopping, nearby Spilsby or Wainfleet All Saints provide essential needs. The beautiful Lincolnshire Wolds, designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, is only a few miles north and the Lincolnshire coast, with its miles of sandy beaches, is between a 15 and 20 minute drive east.

The medieval cathedral city of Lincoln is 30 miles away from which network rail commuting to London is available, as from Grantham and Newark. Boston is 20 miles south (about 30 minutes) and also has a train station.

As an equestrian property, a well-known dressage centre, Sheepgate Equestrian, is less than half an hour’s drive south, or permit-free beach riding can be enjoyed at Mablethorpe beach (subject to the time of day and year) about half an hour’s drive north. Local affiliated and unaffiliated competition venues include Lincolnshire Rural Activities Centre just south of Louth (30 minutes), Black Cat Equestrian Centre just south of Mablethorpe (30 minutes), Willow Banks Equestrian Centre (55 minutes), and Caistor Equestrian Centre (an hour), and Field Farm Equestrian for cross-country schooling (30 minutes). The South Wold and Brocklesby are the local Hunts and racing fans can enjoy a day out at Market Rasen (45 minutes).

As well as the Wolds and the coast, there is plenty to see and do in the area, for example, about 7 miles away is English Heritage’s Bolingbroke Castle, a ruined 13th-century castle and birthplace of Henry IV, with expansive grounds open to the public, whilst Snipe Dales, also 7 miles away, is a nature reserve and country park with wonderful views of the Wolds, a lovely place to walk along marked trails through woods and meadows. More attractions include the National Trust’s Gunby Hall (4 miles) and Tattershall Castle (16 miles), The Battle of Britain Memorial Museum in Coningsby (16 miles), not to mention the very attractive little town of Woodhall Spa (20 miles), an old Edwardian resort with two world renowned golf courses, being the home of England Golf.

Schools

Great Steeping has its own primary school with other options being in nearby Holeton Holegate and Spilsby. For secondary education there are various choices such as Spilsby Grammar, founded in 1550, now called King Edward VI Academy, a co-educational, bi-lateral school rated Good by Ofsted, in Spilsby, and in Horncastle, the Banovallum School is rated Good whilst the co-educational Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School is rated Outstanding. Other nearby selective grammar schools are Skegness Grammar and another called Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar in Alford, both with excellent reputations and rated Good by Ofsted.

Seller Insights

“It is a home adored by my mum who was born there in 1939 and, after moving away when she was married, she returned in the 1980s and died there, as she wished, in 2022. Her father, Frank Coupland, was born in a neighbouring village, Thorpe St Peter. He and his brother, Walter, farmed as 'Coupland Bros' with his brother living in Old Hall Farm in Thorpe St Peter and grandad, once married, living in this Old Hall Farm in Great Steeping. When mum was little, the shepherd and his family lived in half the house, and assorted farm workers lived in the cottages at the top of the road. It was a mixed farm with Lincoln Reds and sheep. After agricultural college, mum had her own herd of sheep at home.”

“Years later when she returned to live there, she renovated and restored it and was a big believer in doing things right. Style wise it looks a bit dated but it was her taste and it is all sound with the plumbing and electrics in good order. I expect a new owner will want to knock through a couple of rooms to make a kitchen diner and maybe add on an extension. The roof is slate but would have been thatched once.”

“It is ring fenced by 20 acres of grass fields or meadows, mostly ridge and furrow. There is evidence of a moat where there was once an old hall, plus what were Roman fish ponds, all indicated on the Ordnance Survey map. There is potential for the 20 acres to be purchase if desired, by seperate negotiation, and if wanting to create an equestrian property, there is the opportunity to use the existing barns and stable for accommodating horses or there is plenty of room to add your own purpose-built stables (stp) and arena.”

“There are a couple of very old chestnut trees at the bottom of the garden as well as a small orchard where there used to be a Dutch barn, now providing apples, pears, plums, greengages, cherries and walnuts. A front lawn fitted a tennis court when mum was little, and there are lots of mature trees and hedgerows. The driveway is lined by horse chestnuts that mum grew from conkers from the old trees. An aerial photograph from the 1960s shows the Dutch barn and the crew yard between this and the barns, the area now a small paddock.”

“Mum had such a happy childhood there it would be lovely to think of a family with children living there again.”

Services: Mains electricity and water; private septic tank; oil-fired and electric Aga; oil-fired central heating (log-burner also heats hot water)
Local Authority: East Lindsey District Council
Council Tax Band: D
Tenure: Freehold
EPC Rating: E