About 15 minutes of strolling through woodland and down country paths from this character home gets you to the simply stunning Oxwich Bay beach on Gower Peninsula and it's a property that can rightly claim to be stunning too.
Driving down to south Gower through the country lanes the anticipation is building to hopefully find a dream home near the sea that can offer location and scenery, character and history, and Western Farm near the village of Nicholaston can lay a good claim to all four.
According to the estate agent Western Farm was once part of the Penrice estate dating back to before 1780 and has been the current owner's family home for the past 17 years during which time it has been loved, cherished, and been the centre of creating precious family memories.
READ MORE: Empty Georgian house up for auction in UK town named best place to live
So that's the history of the home nailed down but what about the location and the lifestyle?
From the main Gower coastal road there's a long drive way that leads you up to the complex of pretty buildings, nestled within about 1.3 acres of land that surrounds it.
If you steer you gaze away from the pretty properties in front of you Gower coast and sea views are your mesmerising reward, ticking the location box both on country and coast.
If you live just minutes from one of Gower's most beautiful award-winning beaches you are going to get many, many visitors, both invited guests and spontaneous callers, and luckily there is ample parking space and a double garage too.
And once they do arrive, aside from lolling about in the beautiful garden and enjoying a barbecue, there's plenty to entertain in the local area.
According to Visit Wales, Oxwich Bay is "one of Gower's most popular beaches with good access, plenty of parking, shops, and two and half miles of golden sand backed by sand dunes, salt marshes, and woodland".
This coastal area oozes with wildlife for nature lovers, has lots of family activities to keep the small ones happy all day at the beach, and is one of the area's centres for water sports including sailing.
If exploring slightly further tempts you Tor Bay and Three Cliffs Bay can be found at one end of the expanse of sand and at low tide you can stroll as far as the brilliantly-named Pobbles Bay.
It's all available from your door step in 15 minutes or from the car park at the beach if you have lots of family gear or sports equipment to take to the seaside with you.
If the next sunny day is to be spent at the house that's hardly a hardship.
The garden terrace outside the breakfast room is one of many perfect places to park yourself and soak in the sea views, coastal landscape, and garden aspects as you enjoy a light lunch or relaxing on a lounger. Location and lifestyle sorted, how about the home itself?
It will be very hard once inside not to get distracted by the sensational sea views at the front and rural vistas at the rear but it would be a shame not to give the inside of this much-loved family home your full attention as there is much to admire.
The attractive stone facade greets you with a visually-pleasing hello and guides you to the main entrance at one end of the abode.
Find your next perfect property, dream home, or renovation project here:
From this porch area, handy for flinging off the flip-flops and de-sanding the feet, the first charming space to discover is the generous lounge that runs from the front to the back of the house and includes a space currently being utilised as a music space, easily welcoming a piano.
This lounge has oodles of charm to offer – exposed stone walls, a huge fireplace with log burner, and a double-height ceiling with attractive exposed beams.
There's the bonus of a partial mezzanine space above which is currently being used as a gallery but this versatile space could be a future study or bedroom. Whatever its future function this bonus space-creating feature can also benefit from views of the striking ceiling.
From the living room there are two doors – one to the dining room with sea views and one to the rear kitchen with country views.
The dining room is an inviting space with its own ceiling beams, exposed stone walls, and log burner. It may not have the grand scale of its neighbouring room but everything is proportionate to the more intimate space that makes it perfect for lively dinner parties.
Into the kitchen and the beams and stone walls continue, framing the pretty pastel-toned country-style kitchen that has the appropriate classic feel for a home of this vintage but is packed with modern appliances and eye-catching black granite work surfaces.
Of course there's an Aga and in a striking, nature-inspired green it can easily compete with the period features on show in the space.
Just off the kitchen there's a bonus room that arguably has the best sea views as it has the biggest expanse of glass via a substantial glass sliding door out to a sun terrace with sea views that will surely render many people momentarily speechless.
This extra room has the title of breakfast room but it is versatile enough to become whatever a new owner desires from office to snug or playroom to staying as an informal dining space.
Whatever its future it has the best connection to the garden and so will surely be one of the most popular spots inside the home.
Another bonus and distinctive space is the first-floor mezzanine level first glimpsed in the lounge.
Up the stairs in the corner of the lounge reveals a fabulous extra open-plan room that has fabulous sea views and the perfect place for the current owner to use as an artist studio and gallery space.
Some dream homes start their tour with wonderful downstairs rooms but the bedrooms are the lesser of the two floors when it comes to character and 'wow' factor – but not this pad.
On the first floor the bedrooms can all boast the high ceilings up into the roof space and charming exposed beams as well the best sea views for the front rooms from this elevated position.
Two of the three bedrooms have an en suite shower room as well as either white-washed stone walls giving a fresh and light ambience to the rooms or exposed stone to create a cosy feeling.
On the ground floor there's a handy utility room and cloakroom and there's also a family bathroom on the first floor which completes the rooms to be found in the main house.
The gallery mezzanine or the breakfast room could be used as a fourth bedroom if needed although there is extra space to find outside to cater for those unexpected visitors to stay the night or paying guests to earn income.
The annexe at the side of the house is a separate stone building that also incorporates the double garage. It might be smaller than the main home but it is still big on distinctive features and welcoming atmosphere.
There are chunky beams, exposed wooden ceilings, and farmhouse-style internal doors in the heart of this annexe in the central, open-plan living, dining, and cooking zone.
The space has views from windows on three sides and a robust log burner at one end to ensure that even in the coldest of winters this space provides a cosy welcome.
The bathroom is found via a door off the living space and on either side of this open-plan space is a double bedroom – one with a delightful door to the garden that on summer mornings can be flung open to accompany breakfast in bed.
This home offers all that someone could desire from a dream home by the coast.
This includes the large garden of more an acre that could easily accommodate a swimming pool or hot tub (or both). It's likely those visitors or guests won't want to leave and be very hard to get rid of and who could blame them for wanting to stay?
Western Farm is on the market with Fine & Country Swansea for £1,299,950. Call them on 01792 367301 to find out more.
To get the latest email updates from WalesOnline click here.
