Valley Lane Cottage

Buxhall sits in the farmland four miles southwest of Stowmarket, a small Mid Suffolk village built around the 14th-century St Mary's church, a windmill on the hill, and the Buxhall Crown for when you fancy a pint without getting in the car.

Valley Lane Cottage stands down one of the village's quieter lanes, its pink-washed walls beneath a heavy thatch are particularly lovely, charming you before you get to the gate. Inside, it's the beams that stand out: thick, dark oak ceiling beams and timber framing, unusually deep and distinctive, run through the ground floor, gathering the dining room and sitting room around them, with a woodburner set into a brick fireplace for the winter months. Upstairs, two bedrooms carry the same period character, the principal room looking out over open fields. A detached garage and a driveway with room for several cars sit alongside.

Outside, the gardens and paddock run to well over an acre, lawns bordered by mature trees giving way to a stable block and a timber barn, the whole plot backing onto woodland with barely a neighbour in sight. Stowmarket station is a few minutes' drive, with direct trains to London Liverpool Street in around an hour and a quarter. Offered freehold.

Between the beams inside, the grounds outside, and Buxhall's quiet pace on the doorstep, Valley Lane Cottage brings a rare combination together.