You’ll have seen Bridge House before. We can pretty much guarantee it.
If you Google the Cotswolds, it’s usually the first picture that comes up. Take a look at the Wikipedia page for The Cotswolds, and it’s their lead image. And if Lonely Planet ever publish The Cotswolds on a Shoestring, it’ll almost certainly be the picture on the front cover. We say this with some certainty since it’s the featured photo on their things to see in the Cotswolds story online.
The reason for this is that it’s the house right in the middle of Castle Combe, the village that’s repeatedly been called The Prettiest Village in England. Set amid the gently rolling hills of Wiltshire, this is the undisputed gem of the south Cotswolds, an impossibly charming place of 17th century cottages, meandering streams and charming bridges built from honey-hued stone. It’s been used for the filming of countless films and TV shows: everything from Dr Dolittle to War Horse has been shot here.
In short, Castle Combe is the Platonic ideal of the Cotswolds village — and Bridge House is right at the very heart of the place. And now it’s come up for sale, with an asking price of £1.395 million.
Bridge House, on the right-hand side of all those pictures, is unarguably the most photographed house in what is arguably the prettiest village in Britain — but you can’t live in a photograph. The good news, then, is that it’s just as charming inside as it is out.
At its heart this isn’t actually one cottage, but several that have been brought together as one home over the years (its Grade II listing at Historic England details those changes). That’s very much a good thing: a cottage that’s four centuries old isn’t necessarily a good family house if there’s no room to swing the proverbial cat, but Bridge House as it stands today has over 2,700 sq ft of space. There’s a huge drawing room as you enter the house, with a vaulted ceiling and mezzanine gallery, plus a family room just beyond.
The period features are everything you’d hope to find: a striking oak staircase, an inglenook fireplace, stone mullion windows, exposed stonework, delightfully gnarled beams and more.
Move through the house into the newer rear section, though, and you’ll find a different kind of charm and grandeur: the dining room, kitchen (complete with bottle green Aga) and garden room are beautifully done.
Upstairs, there are three bedrooms, one of which is en-suite, plus a family bathroom. It’s currently set out as a lovely family home. The twin beds in one of the rooms give a clue as to why the current vendors are moving on — the search for a bit more space comes to us all — but so long as this set-up meets your needs, the rooms themselves are delightful.
And while the key to the house’s appeal lies in the honey-coloured village outside the front door, there’s a huge amount of good news outside the back door as well. There are gardens of almost half an acre, plus workshop, studio, loggia and garage, plus more parking. You’ll never have to battle with the day trippers over a place to leave your car.
All in all, then, every box is ticked here. ‘Bridge House is a quintessential Cotswold home in one of my favourite villages,’ says the agent, Matthew Pegler of Savills. ‘The property blends refined contemporary comforts with an abundance of 17th-century charm.’ But if you take the plunge, just don’t be surprised if you one day find your home on the front cover of the latest Lonely Planet… or maybe the occasional copy of Country Life.
Bridge House is for sale via Savills — see more details.
