Just when you thought Creech Barrow couldn’t get any more enchanting, it does. First of all there’s the outside, as the electric gates open to reveal a sweet cottage façade, set behind plenty of off-street parking, with a gorgeous garden wrapped around. Then there’s the thatch, a golden halo thickly covering the roof.

Inside, the house maintains its adorability with a cosy parlour room warmed in winter by an open fire, which leads onto a dining room where darker rafters lend a country pub feel.

Then it’s through to a bright contemporary country-style kitchen.

Behind this is a patio with a cleverly planted herb garden and water feature, ensuring the herbs give off maximum aromatics all summer long.

To the left of the parlour room, double doors open to a bright double-height living room, which was a later addition, the owners say.

With triple aspect and a large bay window – one of the owners’ favourite spots to sit and read, it’s also ideal for parties and family gatherings.

There are three bedrooms downstairs, and upstairs has a large master suite with his-and-hers dressing rooms.

The owners turned a further bedroom up here into a rather glorious bathroom. Overall there’s 190sq m (2,045sq ft) of living space.

Grants

Looking out of the bedroom window, you’re nestling under the thatch – which the owners say needs to be maintained every seven to eight years. Kyran O’Grady of Co Wicklow’s reed.thatching.com has kept it well for them so far. Were they anxious at the prospect of looking after a thatched house? “No, I loved it immediately, and there are grants to help with the upkeep.”

Outside is a sweet one-bedroom mews, open-plan downstairs, with a loft bedroom. The name “Creech Barrow” comes from a hill which is one of Dorset’s most distinctive landscapes. The house was built in the 1950s, based on the design of a Cotswolds cottage that the first owner had loved.

The owners, who are downsizing, clearly love the house too. Walking around the garden, they point to plantings, and – as with all passionate gardeners – things planned, things to tweak, things to move, though it all looks pretty perfect to me.

If you fancy postcard-perfect living in picturesque Delgany, Lisney is handling the private treaty sale for €850,000.