Barebones Farm is at the heart of Winchcombe, one of the Cotswolds most popular walking towns, also famed for Sudeley Castle. The house was originally built in 1685 as a two-up-two-down home, with additional bedrooms, bathrooms, the kitchen and conservatory added in 1900 and 2008. Originally a small dairy farm, this handsome Cotswold stone property is now a spacious, wonderfully welcoming holiday home, with a lovely landscaped garden, large patio and plenty of parking to the side of the house.
The front door of the property is on North Street, a principal but quiet Winchcombe street. Guests can enter the property through the front door, or walk round to the side, through the private parking area and across the patio and in via the conservatory's French doors. The width of the rear of the house looks over a large, beautifully planted and landscaped garden with fruit trees and herbaceous borders.
Barebones Farm is a 7-bedroom home with the perfect combination of character features - exposed beams and timbers, stone walls and an inglenook fireplace – and modern facilities, including a fully equipped kitchen, beautiful open-plan conservatory and en-suite bath and shower rooms.
Bought in 1995 by the current owners, the Stranks family, after it had lain empty for 15 years, extensive renovations were carried out, lasting almost two years. Most of the walls and floors were replaced, at one point standing in the cellar you could look up and see the sky! What is now the dining room was originally the kitchen and breakfast room - the original kitchen sink window was kept and now provides light through from the conservatory to the dining room. The 17th Century house was a 2-up-2-down home that is at the centre of today's property, consisting of what is now the snug, the ground floor bedroom and the staircase up to today's Bedroom 2 and Bedroom 4. The Victorian owners added the entrance hallway, what is now the TV room (this used to be the milking shed), Bedroom 3 and the Jack & Jill bathroom. In 2008, the Stranks added the conservatory, updated the kitchen, added the downstairs cloakroom and ground floor en-suite, Bedroom 1 and the family bathroom.
Ground Floor
Entrance Hallway:
Guests enter Barebones Farm through the front door, slightly to the left of the main house (an addition made during the Victorian era), and into the entrance hall. Here you'll find a handy hallway with original flagstone flooring and plenty of hooks to hang coats. It's the perfect place to shug off boots and shoes while sitting on the settle.
TV Room:
Immediately to the left is the TV Room, a room with wow factor, with its deep claret-coloured walls and minstrels' gallery. In Victorian times, this is where the farm's cows would come in to be milked. During the restoration work, the current owners found several milking stalls and had to dig down deep to get to the floor. This impressive room now features a sink-in corner sofa and two comfy armchairs, a wide-screen Smart TV with Blu-Ray surround-sound system, making an evening's cinema-style viewing complete. In addition, there is a large games cupboard with a huge selection of games, DVDs and dressing up clothes. (Please note: the minstrels' gallery is decorative and not for guests use).
Dining Room:
The beautiful dining room features a long, wooden dining table with seating for 14 (plus 2 highchairs), a striking exposed stone wall, exposed beam and terracotta floor tiles. The stone wall was the outer wall of the original 17th Century house before the addition of the dining room during the Victorian era. A window looking through to the Conservatory provides a pretty feature and throws light into this fantastic entertaining room.
Kitchen:
The large kitchen, overlooking the garden, is fully equipped to suit the most demanding of cooks, with a full complement of appliances and cookware. At the centre of the kitchen is a granite-top island with bar-style seating for three – the perfect place to sip a glass of wine and chat while the cooks prepare a meal. The kitchen features underfloor heating, a Rangemaster double oven and grill with a 6-ring hob, plenty of oak storage units housing a microwave, utensils, crockery, cutlery, glassware (champagne flutes, tumblers and wine and water glasses) a cafetière, bakeware, and food preparation equipment (saucepans, grater, jug, sieve, whisk, hand blender) and serving dishes. On the surrounding polished granite surfaces you'll find a toaster, kettle, Nespresso coffee machine (starter pods provided), knife set and bread bin. The kitchen has a Bosch dishwasher and large Samsung fridge-freezer. The owners leave a selection of store-cupboard items including salt, pepper, herbs, spices, oil and vinegar (please feel free to use them, contents may vary). Nespresso coffee pods, tea bags, instant coffee, sugar, kitchen roll and foil are all provided. Feel free to pick the fresh herbs growing in the garden, including chives, rosemary, bay leaves, thyme