The new year is always the time to look forward, and whether it is to get fit, start a new business or move home, the Cotswolds is a great place to do it.

“With interest rates starting to show signs of softening, people will be thinking about what they can achieve in the year ahead,” says Sam Butler - full comment below.

Tollgate, Park Street, Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire, GL54 1AJ - £1million

Tollgate is a Grade II Listed family townhouse named after the hexagonal tollhouse at one end of the property built in the early 19th century to collect road tolls from coaches, wagons and riders passing east/west through the market town of Stow-on-the-Wold.

A gate would formerly have extended across the road so that travellers would have to stop and pay their tolls which were collected to fund road repairs and improvements as authorised by parliament since the 17th century.

The rear of the property dates back to a 17th century house once used as a bakery and two centuries later as a school, while the building now housing the garage and workshop is an old coach house built in the 19th century.

With period features including a number of fireplaces, impressive sash windows and exposed beams, there is an entrance hall and lobby, sitting room with a fireplace and wood burner.  The dining room has a feature fireplace and links to the study in the hexagonal tower and has a hatch to the kitchen.  The kitchen itself is in the old bakehouse and features a large traditional fireplace.  There is a utility area with plumbing for a washing machine and a drier and a cellar with old Cotswold stone steps and floor to make a perfect wine cellar.  On the first floor there are two large bedrooms, a landing, two bathrooms and a dressing room, while on the second floor there are two generous sized bedrooms with exposed beams and views over Stow-on-the-Wold.

Outside, the building is clad in pretty climbing roses, hydrangea, pyracantha and fuchsias.  Bordered by an elevated wall, the private garden of 0.2 acres is ideal for a family with the lawn interspersed with fruit and ornamental trees. The outbuilding with garaging and workshop space could offer further living accommodation or a large home office, subject to planning consent.

Just a short walk to the Market Square and all the town’s facilities of pubs, restaurants and shops, Stow-on-the-Wold sits on the edge of the Cotswolds and within a Conservation Area and an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.  There are good schools locally, and the nearest spa is at Daylesford, three miles away.

https://www.butlersherborn.co.uk/stow-wold/park-street/nid3463

Guide price: £1million

Butler Sherborn - Stow-on-the-Wold - 01451 830731

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Jasmine Cottage, Arlington Green, Bibury, Gloucestershire, GL7 5NE - £1.1million

If ceiling beams are your thing, you’ll love Jasmine Cottage.  Beautifully presented and easy to move straight in to, this attractive Grade II Listed Cotswold stone village house is full of character and packed with original features.

Set back from the Green, it has a classic façade with accommodation over three floors and with more than one staircase.  The sitting room features an impressive Inglenook fireplace with a large beam over and bare Cotswold stonework, while the separate dining room has a wood burner.  The newly re-modelled farmhouse kitchen has a pale blue Aga, cream units including an island and a Belfast sink.  There is a separate utility room, downstairs shower room and WC.

Upstairs there are two double bedrooms served by a family bathroom and separate cloakroom, two further bedrooms on the third floor and a study/fifth bedroom above the kitchen.

Outside, the property is fronted by a walled garden with a single garage and useful studio to one side.  The rear garden is mainly laid to lawn with a terrace and seating area.

Arlington Green is set within the parish of Bibury with the River Coln flowing through it, and described by William Morris as ‘the most beautiful village in England’.  This vibrant community comprises a parish church, primary school, The Swan hotel, a trout farm with shop, post office/shop and The Twig, a coffee shop and deli.  The Catherine Wheel pub is just a short walk away, while the Pilates Barn at Quenington and The Spa at Barnsley House are within easy reach.

Cirencester is 7 miles away and provides an excellent range of independent shops, boutiques, restaurants, farmers market, a large Waitrose and four other supermarkets.  Good transport links give easy access to the M4, M40 and M5, while London Paddington can be reached via Kemble or Swindon stations in around an hour.

https://www.butlersherborn.co.uk/arlington-green/arlington-green/nid3443

Guide price: £1.1million

Butler Sherborn - Cirencester - 01285 883740

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Coln St. Dennis House, Coln St. Dennis, Gloucestershire, GL54 3JU - £3.5million

The main façade of this honey-hued Grade II listed house is early-mid 17th century and features casement mullioned windows with moulded surrounds, an 18th century gabled open-sided timber porch and wisteria.  The house has been adapted and added to over the centuries and features a 19th century extension to one side of the main house in the same weathered stone.

Inside there is a panelled hallway leading to an elegant morning room and a sitting room with open fire, original shutters and panelling.  The kitchen/breakfast room features a four oven Aga and a useful larder, and there is a utility room with space for laundry equipment as well as coats, boots and muddy dogs.

Upstairs comprises a light and airy principal bedroom suite with dressing room and two bathrooms (one with sauna), and another double bedroom with en-suite.  Three further double bedrooms and a family bathroom are located on the second floor.

A sensitively restored 18th century barn has been incorporated into the house by linking it with a smart glazed extension to provide a light-filled, generous sized drawing room complete with open fire and French windows leading into the garden.  The barn also contains an impressive double height dining room with built-in bar area and wine fridge leading up to a comfortable guest suite with its own staircase.

There are two large home offices housed in a stone extension forming a courtyard at the back of the house and useful for working from home.

Outside there is a self-contained and separately accessible 1-bedroom annexe with its own kitchen, sitting room and bathroom.  There is also half an acre of walled garden comprising a gently sloping lawn with fruit trees and flower beds, a stone courtyard/terrace that is ideal for lazy lunches, and a swimming pool flanked by pleached trees that catches the sun throughout the day.  There is also a walled gravelled side courtyard for parking.

Exuding quintessential Englishness, Coln St Dennis is discreetly positioned in this beautiful corner of the Coln valley and within the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The area is packed with history evidenced by nearby sites including the Neolithic Colnpen Long Barrow with Roman Foss Way and Salt Way passing nearby, while the village and surrounding land were once owned by the Abbey of St Denis in Paris at the time of the Domesday book and into the Middle Ages.

https://www.butlersherborn.co.uk/coln-st-dennis/nid3428

Guide price: £3.5million

Butler Sherborn - Cirencester - 01285 883740

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The Old School House, Main Street, Clanfield, OX18 2SP - £850,000

The Old School House is a delightful Victorian property attached to Clanfield primary school and at one time would have served as the schoolmaster’s house.  Positioned at the end of a no-through lane and set back from Main Street, the house has been in the same ownership for 40 years and has been sympathetically extended and tastefully presented to create a charming and versatile family home.  Period details include fireplaces, picture rails, an antique free-standing radiator, exposed beams, original cupboards and stripped pine joinery.

Ground floor accommodation begins with the entrance hall leading to a sitting room and on to the dining room, both with period fireplaces.  The adjacent kitchen has exposed beams and equipped with a range of fitted washed oak units incorporating an electric oven, ceramic hob with extractor over and an integrated fridge.  There is an airy garden room with limed ‘A’ frame beams flooded with light from the overhead lantern, French doors and windows overlooking the garden.  Beyond is a utility room with a fridge-freezer and washing machine, a sleek shower room, a generous sized studio/bedroom with a large storeroom beyond.

On the first floor there is a galleried landing leading to three bedrooms, all with period fireplaces, plus a family bathroom equipped with a free standing slipper-bath, separate shower and finished with heritage style fittings.

Outside, a pedestrian gate leads from the no-through lane to the mature garden, which is generously planted with a variety of shrubs, trees and flowering plants.  There is a lawned area adjacent to the front of the house, a gravel courtyard by the garden room, various seating areas, a duck enclosure, an arbour planted with a grapevine and an apple tree creating a serene and private retreat.  There is also a carport, a workshop and two timber storage sheds.

The small but close community of Clanfield benefits from Blake’s Kitchen for great cakes, The Tavern pub and Double Red Duke hotel and restaurant, while The Spa By Yoo is a few miles drive away.

https://www.butlersherborn.co.uk/clanfield/main-street/nid3433

Guide price: £850,000

Butler Sherborn - Burford - 01993 822325

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Market Comment - Sam Butler, founding partner, Butler Sherborn

‘2023 was a mixed bag when it came to property market trends.  The fallout from the mini budget extended into the start of the year.  However, as inflation began to steadily fall, mortgage products improved, and the year ended in a positive fashion.

In the last quarter of the year there was a significant uplift in the volume of requests from clients wishing to launch their property on the market in the spring.  This increased level of stock should improve transaction levels, together with a large number of buyers still in rental properties following the surge of sales during the pandemic.

We anticipate that sale prices will strengthen as the market reactivates.  There will be a pause at some point in the year when the date of the General Election is announced.  Traditionally, this pause does not affect the values, but until the outcome, the decision making of buyers weakens.  Hopefully, inflation will continue to fall, and perhaps interest rates also, and this will help to alleviate some of the financial burden on buyers.

Properties needing renovation should become more desirable again if the cost of building products reacts to the fall in inflation.  The strongest performers will continue to be the immaculate, blight free properties, as has been the case for much of 2023.’

* - Cirencester has been voted the 5th happiest place to live in Great Britain by The Times, December 2023

10 top Cotswold spas, fitness & wellness centres

Getting and staying fit in the Cotswolds is easy, and with so many great places to get the burn - gyms, yoga and Pilates studios, swimming pools and some amazing spas - here is the Butler Sherborn selection of the best across the region:

Bamford Wellness at Daylesford - https://www.bamford.com/cotswolds-daylesford-farm

Calcot Manor Spa - https://calcot.co/calcot-spa/

Cotswold House & Spa -  https://www.cotswoldhouse.com/spa/spa-days/

Cotswold Iyengar Yoga Centre - http://cotswoldiyengar.co.uk/

Cowley Manor - https://www.cowleymanorexperimental.com/spa

Dormy House Spa - https://www.dormyhouse.co.uk/spa/

The Lygon Arms - https://www.lygonarmshotel.co.uk/spa-wellness/

Pilates Barn, Quenington - https://www.thepilatesbarn.co.uk/

The Spa at Barnsley House - https://www.barnsleyhouse.com/barnsley-spa/

The Spa By Yoo - https://www.thelakesbyyoo.com/spa-and-wellness