Sansome House Cottage - 2 bedroom 2 bathroom Cotswold stone cottage

Sansome House Cottage at a glance (click on 'details' again for FAQ's)

Accommodation

Two bedrooms, one superking bed (American king with new mattresses for 2020), two single beds (now without the footboards which are in the photos). Sleeps 4.
Two bathrooms, one with bath and one with shower.
Hall, drawing room (with open log fire), kitchen and larder.
Washing machine, dryer, dishwasher, microwave, coffee makers, 4 ring hob, grill and oven.

Entertainment

WIFI, 3 TVs with freeview. DVD player, radios, Bluetooth music player.
Books, games, puzzles
BBQ and garden furniture.
Table tennis in the adjacent garage. Bike storage (bikes may be hired locally and delivered).

Area Features

Two village pubs with restaurants 3 minutes walk. Excellent village shop 5 minutes walk (fresh meat/vegetables/baked goods. Cafe. Further shops 5 minutes drive away.
Tennis, bowling green and playground in the village.
Many walkng and cycling routes pass through the village.
Hidcote Manor gardens 3 miles + many other National Trust houses nearby. Racing, golf, fishing all in a 10 mile radius.
Chipping Campden and Shipston on Stour both 4 miles. Stratford upon Avon (Theatres and historical houses) 7 miles.
Local railway station Moreton in Marsh.
Birmingham airport 45 mins by car. London Heathrow 90 minutes.

Notes

There is no smoking or vaping permitted in the cottage or environs so this not the place for smokers or vapers! We can no longer permit naked flames due to new fire regulations for holiday lets so have had to remove the candelabra.
The maximum occupancy is FOUR. Children over five are welcome. The cottage is unsuitable for under-fives.
The staircase is steeper than standard and has 14 treads. The last four just have a rope handrail on the left hand side (wall on the right but no rail) There is both a handrail and rope handrail for the first 10 steps. There are two shallow steps up from hall to kitchen.
You can find floor plans of the ground and first floors in the photos.
We do not take pets.

Cottage interior

This 18th Century former farm building was converted in the mid-twentieth Century and fully modernised a few years ago to become a thoughtfully equipped home from home for holiday lets. It is furnished in small country house style with a mix of antique and modern furniture. It is the only cottage in the grounds of the owners’ house on the edge of the North Cotswold village of Ilmington.

The kitchen has all the modern appliances you would expect plus ironing equipment, sharp knives and good pans etc. as well as several different ways of making coffee to suit all tastes (including a Nespresso machine). I provide basic supplies of kitchen things like oil, foil, tea, salt, herbs etc., also some shower gel, soap and loo paper (for your convenience to save you rushing straight out, off a plane perhaps - these are not intended to be enough for your stay!). We ask you replace at least some of these things as you finish them, for the next people. I leave adequate cleaning materials for the duration of your stay. We have a new worktop in the kitchen which I have yet to photograph so a small change there.

The entrance hall can double as a small dining room although most people take their meals at the big kitchen table which seats six or go out through the French windows to eat at the table in the garden if it is sunny (or cook outside on the BBQ).

There is a cloakroom/bathroom downstairs with shower cubicle plus wash hand basin and WC.

The drawing room has a fireplace with a starter supply of logs provided (more available locally). This is laid ready for your arrival, just requiring a match but the cottage is cosily centrally heated so it is unlikely you will need a fire. There are two big sofas and an armchair in which to curl up on with a good book (loads of them on the shelves to borrow), listen to music (there are classical CDs but you can stream from your phone through Bluetooth) or to watch (41inch HD) TV or a DVD or just to have a convivial chat over a game of Monopoly, Cluedo or one of the many other games provided. There are jigsaws too for staying-in days.

Up quite a steep staircase (with a rope handle on the wall - I am told I overstate the steepness/danger but I want to be sure that you know it is a bit steeper than average) are two good sized bedrooms. A twin-bedded room where the morning sun streams in, and a double room with a new super king-sized bed (made up as Austrian twins - separate mattresses on one frame - twin duvets) and a small dressing room off with a hand basin. In between the bedrooms lies the bathroom with a full-sized bath, basin and WC. Both bedrooms have hairdryers. Linen and towels are provided. Duvets are either down and feather or a synthetic down. Pillows are also down and feather or synthetic. If you have a feather allergy, I will make sure you get no feathers or down as long as you let me know in advance. Note though that the drawing room soft furnishings are stuffed with feathers. I have adjusted the twin beds so they no longer have raised footboards to bother tall people!

Although there is no landline in the cottage for everyday use, there is an access plug (and easily accessed handset) to our shared line available for emergencies so you need not feel cut off in this unlikely event. Note that the mobile signal in Ilmington is very poor but it varies according to provider (and your particular position in the village!) and it is good if you have a provider who can boost the signal through wifi.

Cottage exterior

The entrance gate from the road to Sansome House and Sansome House Cottage is shared. A gravelled driveway sweeps around a raised roundabout with a tree in the middle (natural screening!) with the owner's house on one side of this large courtyard and the cottage on the other. There is parking right outside your front door for one car. A second car may be parked also with due attention to space. the House, Garages and Cottage, all in the courtyard in the courtyard are all protected by CCTV. The cottage is completely separate to the house and private and has its own small secluded garden leading off from the kitchen. The small garden has a BBQ and garden furniture including a large umbrella for overly sunny days. And in summer, you have your own supply of fresh herbs growing there amongst the flowers or in pots.

The garage next to the cottage houses a table tennis table.

The cottage has received excellent reviews on VRBO as has my apartment in Dublin which is now not listed on there but on this alternative site. More details on the click through at the bottom of this page Dublin Let for 2.