Gardens

The outdoors of Pitcombe Barn – because of its elevated hilltop location - is, of course, characterised by spectacular countryside views on all sides. The house is positioned centrally within an acre of gardens, with twin lawns (large enough for croquet, family football or cricket), two sheltered outdoor dining areas, a couple of shaded retreats bounded by hedges, and a hard-standing car parking area. A furnished spa terrace, next to the building, is home to a six-person top-of-the-range cedar hot tub, with underwater mood lighting and a bubble massage jet system, for ultimate relaxation after playing garden games all day or walking the lanes – and it faces west, so as to maximize a full appreciation of Pitcombe Barn’s legendary summer evening sunsets. Close to the hot tub is an outhouse that contains a good-sized, twin level, electric-fired sauna – one of the great bonus points of spending a cold winter break at Pitcombe.

The house garden is bounded by traditional estate railings and boasts a number of mature, spreading deciduous trees, which offer copse-like shade on one side of the large lawn, deliciously tempting for a nap on hot summer afternoons.

There is a choice of two furnished outdoor dining areas: one, on a paved terrace right beside the oak-framed Dining Room, with its multiple French windows, has a large gas barbecue; the other, on the opposite side of the house, within the gravelled and hedged Mediterranean garden, is set beside climbing vines and can enjoy the shade of two spreading olive trees.

After dark, when the mood melts into one of nocturnal wonder, the outside spaces at Pitcombe Barn are untouched by light pollution. Our isolated, hilltop position affords uninterrupted, unblemished star-gazing nightscapes.