It’s not a state secret of MI5 importance but it is a real estate secret that will genuinely draw the curiosity of those seeking a hideaway village home.

And if you speak nicely to Colin Shairp at Fine and Country Southern Hampshire he might just be persuaded to let you in on this home that has been hidden away since it was created through a barn conversion in the 1960s.

So after half a century of concealment, is The Barn’s cover about to be blown? Probably, but only on a need-to-know basis so if you become the successful buyer it’s still very likely that those with whom you choose not to share your address will find you!

There’s just a small sign at the top of the driveway in Whichers Gate Road at Rowlands Castle that gives away it’s the access to the property and a handful of others and, when you arrive, you’ll step into the south-facing garden and disappear from the world.

Not that you are entirely cut off because the station in Rowlands Castle has direct trains to Waterloo while the A3M close by can whisk you north or south. An escape into the rolling hills of the South Downs National Park is a possibility or you could just relax in your new home, where all the living rooms look out over the southerly aspect garden planted to give a constantly changing backdrop.

The entrance hall is close to the driveway end of the property, with the kitchen / breakfast room to its left and the dining and drawing rooms opening in sequence and continuing through to the study and a storage room beyond.

Upstairs four bedrooms, three with built-in wardrobes, are served by a family bathroom. Planning permission exists to install an en-suite for the master bedroom and there is already a ground floor shower room opening off the entrance hall.

A mature Acer stands proud on the lawn of the enclosed garden, offering shade when desired, while a paved patio, with small water feature, adjoins the rear of the house where a fine specimen of a Kiwi vine clambers up the wall adding seasonal colour and fruit in abundance.

Guide price is £565,000 (EPC Band C). For more information, contact Fine and Country Southern Hampshire on 023 93 277 277 or email drayton@fineandcountry.com