South Chailey, Lewes, East Sussex, BN8

With red-brick and tile-hung elevations, Platts Cottage offers over 3,000 sq. ft of versatile accommodation arranged over three floors, with a layout ideally suited to both a modern family lifestyle and visiting guests. Inside, exposed beams and brick walls feature alongside contemporary styling with a relaxed sitting room being centred around a fireplace with wood-burning stove and having glazed doors opening to a south-facing terrace.

The adjacent dining rooms offers a formal setting for entertaining with a wall of bi-folding doors leading out to the rear garden and just beyond there is an impressive, farmhouse-style kitchen/breakfast room. Fitted with wall and base level cabinetry, topped with wood work surfaces and featuring a Belfast sink and Range cooker, the kitchen has an island unit with wine storage and an adjoining breakfast area which is filled with light courtesy of a lantern skylight with a freestanding wood-burning stove. A utility room provides a secondary practical space for units and domestic appliances, with access through to a drawing room, which in turn has a stairway to reach two of the first floor bedrooms and a shower room, this currently being used as a self contained annexe. A ground floor flexible-use family room along with a cloakroom complete the lower level rooms.

A central main staircase rises from the reception hall to the floor above, where there are four double bedrooms, one with en suite facilities, along with the shower room and a well-appointed family bathroom. Stairs from the landing rise to the principal en suite bedroom and one further bedroom, both situated on the second floor with skylight windows.

Situated on the northern fringes of this semi-rural village, local amenities include a convenience store, with a public house and parish church just outside the village. Surrounded by open countryside, which is interspersed with footpaths and bridleways, South Chailey has links to the neighbouring districts for access to Chailey Common Nature Reserve and the banks of the River Ouse. The towns of Lewes and Burgess Hill are in close proximity offering comprehensive shopping, leisure, and cultural facilities, with nearby Plumpton providing a train station.

By road, access to the surrounding areas can be gained via the A275 which runs through the village with the A272 to the north and the A27 at Lewes to the south. The regional centre of Haywards Heath is about 7 miles away offering a further range of shops and recreational facilities, together with a mainline train service to London (London Bridge/Victoria about 47 minutes). The area offers a range of highly regarded independent schooling, including Hurstpierpoint College, Burgess Hill Girls School, Lewes Old Grammar School and Northease Manor School.

The property is approached via two five-bar gates opening onto a gravelled driveway providing parking and leading to the double garage. The front garden is attractively designed with an area of lawn edged by hedging, shrubs and specimen trees, along with a pathway, which leads through an archway adorned by climbing roses in a length of trellis to reach an entrance door. Settings to enjoy the outdoors are well-provided with a zoned garden offering a paved patio adjoining the drawing room taking advantage of the sunny southerly aspect, along with a further terrace beyond the trellis offering a sitting space to relax. To the side of the house a secluded terrace gives access via a gate into the rear garden which has mature planting to the boundaries which frame a lawn.