59 HALSTEAD ROAD, CO13 0LR

SELLER'S INSIGHT I've lived in this fantastic part of Essex since leaving university many years ago.

In those days my only criteria, as an avid water skier, was to live close to a convenient beach to launch the boat from, and Frinton fit the bill perfectly!

Since then, despite a job which has taken me all over the country, I've never felt the need to move away from this beautiful area and our next home will undoubtedly be in the local vicinity.

Eight years ago, our children had grown up and moved away from home, and we decided to start providing foster care and supported living for teenagers.

This change of direction would mean a larger house with enough facilities to accommodate our new extended family, and our own children when they came to visit.

We came across Willow Farm House and realised it would be the ideal setting for teenagers with its large garden and swimming pool, plenty of bedrooms for all the family, and most importantly, the third floor was designed to be completely self-contained with three bedrooms, a bathroom and kitchen, which would give our foster children an element of privacy if they wanted it.

Sadly, the house wasn't on the market but, on a whim, my wife put a note through the door and asked the family to call us if they ever wanted to consider a house swap.

Unbelievably they did contact us and we made the move to Willow Farm House in 2015.

We have loved living here and the location has proved to be ideal for family living - a safe and peaceful area with everything we could need on our doorstep.

We have Frinton a short distance away, with its cafés and restaurants, wonderful beach, cricket club, tennis club and golf course; the village has its own football and tennis clubs a short walk from the house; bus routes from the village into Frinton and Walton; and Kirby Cross station is only a 7-minute walk away, with its links to Colchester for schools and shopping, and then onto London Liverpool Street.

The large garden and swimming pool have proved to be one of the many highlights of the house and we've hosted numerous summer garden parties and pool parties, with up to twenty kids in the pool at one time!

Our daughter was married last year and her reception was held in the garden, so we have some wonderful memories of our time here.

Over the years we've done a considerable amount of work to the property to make it our own; the entire roof and almost all the windows have been replaced, new bathrooms with digital showers have been installed and outside we've added a couple of patios, a tiled lean-to and various sheds.

We've also built an indoor Koi pond.

We will miss this house terribly, it has so much character and we've made it into our ideal home, but we've decided to change down a gear to concentrate more on our grandchildren, so sadly the time has come to move to something a little smaller THE PROPERTY Willow Farm House is a charming eight-bedroom property, located on the edge of the delightful village of Kirby Cross with views across open countryside towards the neighbouring village of Kirby-le-Soken.

Built in c1870, the traditional farmhouse facade, with Dutch-style roof, belies the contemporary décor hidden within.

Over the past few years, the farmhouse has been maintained and tastefully refurbished throughout in a 'French Country' style and is presented to the market in immaculate 'turnkey' condition.

Set slightly back from the road, and enclosed by a low, traditional cobbled stone wall, the pedestrian approach to the front of the property is via the gravel stoned front garden, planted with mature shrubs and dwarf trees.

The driveway to the side of the property affords parking for a number of vehicles and acts as the main entrance to the house.

Passing under the generous porch, with integrated log store, the entrance hall-cum-snug opens out into the heart of the home.

To the left is a fabulous light filled garden room, complete with indoor Koi pond, and double doors leading out onto the south facing terrace.

To the right of the entrance hall, past the guest cloakroom, is the large family sitting room with original beamed ceiling, oak flooring and an impressive inglenook fireplace with log burner.

A wide walkway from the sitting room organically flows into a traditional shaker-style kitchen and on into the breakfast room, giving the entire layout a spacious and open plan feel.

The kitchen, with its smart tiled floor, granite worksurfaces and gas range, looks out across the sunny rear garden and benefits from an adjacent well-equipped utility room.

The double aspect breakfast room, with access to the garden is generous in size and ideal for family life and informal suppers.

The dining room, to the front of the property, is currently used as an additional sitting room, but would make the ideal formal dining room for more grand occasions.

Ascending to the first floor are four good-sized bedrooms, with the smaller fifth bedroom currently used as a study.

The bright, triple aspect master suite has sweeping countryside views, a walk-in wardrobe and ensuite shower room.

The remaining rooms all lead off the spacious landing and benefit from a sizeable family bathroom with large walk-in shower and freestanding traditional roll top bath.

The second-floor houses three further bedrooms, kitchenette and shower room, making this floor a potential self-contained annexe.

Situated in approximately half an acre of grounds, the south facing garden is enclosed by wood panelled fencing with mature borders and trees; various outbuildings, including a workshop; a covered veranda and open 'sun trap' terrace for seating; plus a full sized heated swimming pool.

LOCATION Willow Farm House is equidistant between the town of Frinton-on-Sea and the popular village of Thorpe-le-Soken - both are within the Tendring District of Essex and are located to the east of Colchester.

The village offers a Tesco Express offering goods for day to day needs, three public houses, wine bar, restaurant, Chinese restaurant and takeaway, dispensing chemist, doctors surgery, popular Church of England primary school and Tendring Technology College and TLG Secondary School, both of which have extremely good OFSTED reports.There are also very good nursery schools in and near Thorpe-le-Soken (Margery's private day nursery being the one of them).

Another further attraction is the transport available locally to the grammar and private schools in Colchester and Ipswich.

The village also offers a mainline railway station giving links to London Liverpool Street.Thorpe-le-Soken station is 1.7 miles away which is about a 4 minute drive from the property.

The average journey to London Liverpool Street is approximately 1 hour 24 minutes. On an average weekday, there are 25 trains travelling from London Liverpool Street to Thorpe-le-Soken.

If you prefer to use road transport, the A120 is a short drive away leading to the A12, M25 and beyond.

To the east is Frinton on Sea, a small tranquil seaside town which is home to beautiful sandy beaches and vast 'Greensward'.

Many celebrities are known to have either visited Frinton or enjoyed living there, household names such as Sir Cliff Richard, Mike Reid, Gary Oldman, Vanessa Redgrave and Sir Winston Churchill amongst many others.

Frinton boasts boutique shopping and some wonderful restaurants and eateries along its main street.

There are excellent walks which can be undertaken nearby offering views over the Walton Backwaters and Hamford Water. For those who enjoy boats, Titchmarsh Marina is only a 10 minute drive away.

If you prefer to pamper yourself, the Lifehouse Spa, an exclusive boutique style hotel that offers luxurious beauty treatments, fine dining and retreat days is very close to the property.

AGENTS NOTES Mains Gas, Electricity, Water and Drainage. Please note that the above services have not been tested by the agent. Pictures taken in 2023, new pictures coming mid January 2026