I'm genuinely perplexed as to who decided to name this place Little Thatch. Maybe it was someone who's lived in Blenheim Palace, or perhaps it was the Queen because unless you're accustom to living somewhere with its own postcode, there's nothing little about Little Thatch.

In between making my way through the electronic gates and parking up outside the garage there was plenty to keep me from looking where I was going.

Within the acre of grounds I spotted a carp pond, passed enough varieties of tree to get Alan Titchmarsh worked up and a big enough pool to give most of Wimborne wet swim shorts.

Before I'd even reached the cottage itself I noticed a self-contained thatched bungalow; a property in its own right to some, but one that I would later learn was for when guests pop around.

All very impressive but what about the so-called Little Thatch itself? Well initial impressions of this generously sized cottage were good, very good. It's dormer windows, protruding chimneys and of course its new thatched roof give the house oodles of character.

Its origins have been traced back to around 1750, when it was the residence of Reverend William Bartlet. Unsurprisingly, since the Reverend owned it there have been some changes - an extension here and there, the occasional new roof and the odd facelift.

However, all of this has been tastefully done to the point where the untrained eye probably wouldn't think much had changed in its 250-year history.

It isn't a listed building, so that gives future owners scope to make some alterations of their own.

Now ordinarily at this point I'd gloss over the garage and step inside the house. However Little Thatch's garage isn't your typical garage. Any man who has ever been known to spend his Sunday under a classic car in a pool of oil and spanners will love it. As will anyone who likes to do impressions of Jimi Hendrix or Phil Collins in their spare time. That's because this quadruple garage is huge, there's enough room for Kwik-Fit to service your car whilst The Who play their entire back catalogue.

It could be a unique selling point. That's of course if it wasn't overshadowed by everything else Little Thatch has to offer.

As soon as you go through the front door you're lambasted with reasons why it'd be great to live here.

For starters it's got a living room for each season. There's the snug - a cosy lounge with a huge working fireplace, ideal to hide away from the cold winter. Next door there's a slightly larger living room, which protrudes out into the garden - an ideal place to watch the trees shed their leaves and the nights roll in.

On the other side of the cottage there's the main lounge, a fabulous place to sit in during spring if you like wildlife; "I was ironing here once and I saw a deer run through the garden," explains owner, Anita Harman. "You get lots of wildlife here." And as if just to prove Anita right a rabbit ran across the lawn as she finished talking.

Whilst this cottage would be great all year round, Little Thatch will come into its own during summer. The living room of choice for these months is at the back of the house. It's light, has a granite floor and a set of French doors leading out to the garden.

"This is a real suntrap in the summer" explains Anita as we walk out onto the patio. "It's sheltered from the wind, so its still nice and warm here when there's a breeze."

In the unlikely event that Little Thatch needed a unique selling point then, as we wandered around the back of the house, there it was; a 30x15 ft heated outdoor pool, with pool house and poolside bar.

If ever there were an ideal location for a summer shindig then this was it. The bar is kitted out with a cooker and a fridge freezer, so there's no need to traipse all the way over to the house for beers. The pool house meanwhile is spacious enough for a pool table, whilst poolside there's bags of room for an outdoor dining set to entertain al fresco.

As for the garden, well short of room it is not. "We had a big party here in the summer", says Anita. "There was a 60x40 ft marquee, a band and a pig roast. It is a great house for a party."

She then showed me an aerial photo of the party, which looked more like a small festival.

With these kind of novel features it's easy to forget the rest of the house, but you'll be glad you didn't. The kitchen has a Rangemaster cooker, Belfast sink, island breakfast bar and granite surfaces it is contemporary yet fits in well.

Then there are the five bedrooms. The smallest makes for a comfortable sized study (although a single bed could easily fit) whilst the other four easily accommodate a king sized bed each. The two largest rooms have en suites, with all the modern fixtures and fittings, although why you wouldn't want to use the main bathroom is beyond me; the large power shower also doubles up as a steam room and has a built in radio and CD player. Surely a recipe for being late for work every morning?

  • Reluctantly the owners of this extraordinary property in rural Canford Magna are looking to downsize to something smaller, meaning Little Thatch is now on the market for £1,250,000 - Goadsby, Broadstone: 01202 692145