A mid-17th barn conversion in a small village with views over unspoilt countryside and Kimmeridge Bay.
Situated at the end of a short, no-through lane, The Stone Barn has a sheltered, south-facing position looking out across unspoilt countryside towards Kimmeridge Bay. In addition to being in an AONB fringing the World Heritage accredited Jurassic Coast, much of the village is still part of the beautiful 1,800-acre Smedmore Estate that surrounds it and has been in the same family for the past six centuries. Bought by its current owners in 1987, The Stone Barn was converted over three years from a period stone barn and adjoining stable block. It is believed that the barn was originally built in the late 17th century (the chamfered tie-beams are possibly timbers taken from Corfe Castle after the castle was slighted at the end of the Civil War). The newly converted property, which has a beautiful stone slate roof, was then used as a family holiday home for seventeen years before being used commercially as holiday accommodation until the present day. Arranged in an L-shape around a concrete yard, the former stable block houses a good-sized sitting room and large, adjacent, farmhouse-style kitchen plus two double bedrooms and a shower room on the ground floor, with four further bedrooms and three bathrooms within the roof space. The barn adjoins one end of the stable block and is currently used as a large family-use/entertainment space and has a split level floor, exposed roof timbers and a minstrel's gallery at one end. The barn has double doors on one side that open to the yard and a further set of glazed doors that look out to sea and open out to the garden. The size of the barn/party room, sitting room and kitchen/dining room along with the number of bedrooms (including one very large bedroom, which is ideal as a children's dormitory) make The Stone Barn ideal for multi-family holidays and it has proved to be extremely popular over the years.The Stone Barn has ample parking space on the yard in front of the barn, where the walls in summer are clad in roses and honeysuckle. There is an additional, single parking space off the passing lane just beyond the barn. At one end of the former stable block is an integral, single garage that opens onto the yard. Close to the barn and just off the edge of the concrete yard is a gravelled outside dining area. Beyond it opens out into the garden, which amounts to about a third of an acre and extends out on the western and southern sides of the barn. To the south is a gently sloping lawn with fantastic views out over the surrounding countryside and out over Kimmeridge Bay. The lawn is flanked on one side by an attractive stream set within a steep-sided gully, whose sides are dotted with several mature, native trees including willow, ash and dogwood along with several fruit trees. On the western side of the barn is a sheltered lawn bound on three sides by tall, stone walling and easily maintained, raised borders.
The Stone Barn has an idyllic setting on the edge of the small village of Kimmeridge, which is situated within the Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and is just a mile from Kimmeridge Bay. The village has a parish church and village hall and for most day-to-day needs there is an excellent range of local shops, services and amenities in the small town of Wareham, which has a Sainsbury's, the popular Salt Pig farm shop and a farmer's market every Saturday (see www.wareham-tc.gov.uk and www.thesaltpig.co.uk). In addition, the sizeable towns of Dorchester, Poole and Bournemouth are all within easy driving distance. For travel links the A351 running through Corfe Castle is just 2 miles away, there is a direct rail service from Wareham train station to Waterloo (2.5 hours) and the airports at Bournemouth and Southampton are both relatively close by. The local area is also blessed with a wide choice of schools from both the state and independent sectors including