This beautiful equestrian property that was created by Stan Mellor as a self-contained racehorse training establishment, before eventing legend turned racehorse trainer Sir Mark Todd acquired it in 2002 and developed it further, is now on the market. It is a diverse equestrian training establishment that provides three separate income streams; from the arable land, the gallops, the stables and other training facilities.
Badgerstown is on the northern slopes of the Wessex Downs, about six miles from Lambourn. Swindon and junction 15 of the M4 Junction are both within easy reach. The property is equidistant between Swindon and Marlborough, both about a 15-minute drive away. In the vicinity is the Barbury Castle Estate, with its premier training establishment, point-to-point and eventing courses, and the Lambourn Valley, home to over 2,000 horses in training with over 50 racing yards.
For more comprehensive shopping beyond Lambourn and other recreational needs, Marlborough, Oxford, Abingdon, Newbury, Swindon and Hungerford are all within striking distance.
Local equestrian centres include Rectory Farm Arena (40 minutes), West Wilts Equestrian Centre (40 minutes) and Wickstead Farm (30 minutes).
Lambourn Equine Equine Vets (nine miles) are just 20 minutes from the front door.
Keep an eye on the diary of the Vine & Craven and VWH hunts if you want to head out with hounds.
This property is on the market with The Country House Department with a guide price of £3.95m. Let’s take a look around…
The training facilities include a five-furlong all-weather hill gallop, four-furlong grass gallop, one-mile all-weather round gallop, coupled with an eight-stall horse walker, 60x30m arena, lunge pen and cross-country training course, plus 38 stables, with various tack rooms, feed rooms and wash areas.
The entire property covers 135 acres in a ring fence with road frontage, of which approximately 45 acres is laid to arable. There is a grassland track opposite Badgerstown and across the road giving access for horses to extensive off-road hacking on the Ridgeway and the extensive bridleways on the Marlborough and Lambourn Downs.
The main house has been significantly extended and improved in recent years.
The ground floor includes an open plan kitchen/family room, a sitting room, study, downstairs loo, a bedroom with an en-suite, plus a studio.
In addition, there is a self-contained two-bed annexe on the ground floor, which includes a kitchen/living room and utility room.
On the first floor of the main house, there is the en-suite principal bedroom with a dressing room, plus two further bedrooms, which are both en-suite, with plenty of storage.
The self-contained annexe and two flats provide useful accommodation to allow a 36-stable equestrian business to run effectively.
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