Location

Surrounded by rolling open countryside, Old Toll is situated in a wonderful rural, yet accessible location. The house sits close to a lovely hamlet of properties, just outside the village of Blyth Bridge, and has easily accessible routes into Peebles and Edinburgh. The Edinburgh City Bypass is less than 20 miles away and provides access to all the services Edinburgh has to offer, including the railway network and international airport.

7 miles to the north of Old Toll is the conservation village of West Linton, providing a good range of local shops and services. Peebles, 10 miles to the east, complements this offering with a greater range of services including secondary schooling, supermarkets and a range of sport facilities. Local primary schooling is available at Newlands Primary and a school bus operates in the area stopping close to the property. Biggar also provides a wide variety of shops and services. The town of Biggar offers further services and shops as well as hosting a number of theatre and music clubs. All three towns are in close proximity and are easily accessible.

The surrounding area provides a wide range of outdoor activities, including hill walking in the Pentland Hills Regional Park, local golf courses including Glencorse and West Linton, and renowned mountain biking trails at Glentress Forest in Innerleithen.

Description

Old Toll has a fascinating history. Constructed in the early 1900s as two cottages, the house sits on what was once a busy drovers road between Peebles and Moffat. This route was heavily trafficked during the height of the droving trade in the 18th century, with thousands of cattle and sheep passing through annually. Tolls collected at this point contributed to the maintenance of roads and bridges, hence the property's name. Travellers who paid the toll received a ticket exempting them from further tolls within Peeblesshire for that day.

Today the property offers comfortable accommodation across two floors with bright and light interiors throughout. On the west side of the property is a welcoming entrance vestibule and hallway, which has a coat cupboard and door into the main sitting room. The main sitting room has a staircase to the first floor and is a flexible space with open fire to one end and a wood burner to the other. At the garden end of the property is a large kitchen with views to the hills and space for a dining table. The dual aspect kitchen is fitted with a range of traditionally styled units arranged along two walls. Adjacent is a further reception room with French doors to the garden / patio. At the other end of the building is a cosy sitting room with views to the hills and a wood burning stove. The ground floor accommodation is completed by a home office, bedroom / office 2 and utility room with shower room located off.

On the first floor there are five bedrooms. The principal bedroom has a large walk in wardrobe and en suite bathroom. A family bathroom services the other four bedrooms which all have a rural outlook over the surrounding landscape.

Old Toll sits in a generous plot of about 0.55 acres. The gardens have been well thought out and are a haven for wildlife. As well as a spacious gravel driveway there is a double garage / workshop / garden store set behind gates. A path leads from here to the front door and there is an area of paving which continues around to a south and west facing patio next to the kitchen. Beyond this there is an area of lawn and well kept colourful flowerbeds with a huge variety of plants and shrubs. Beyond the more formal garden is a wilder area with fruit trees which is bound by a mature hedge which gives shelter to the garden. There is a variety of mature trees which also sit on the boundary. The local area is rich in history and this continues into the garden of Old Toll where there is a Neolithic (Bronze Age) stone circle.