5 bedroom detached house

A beautifully presented and superbly located moated farmhouse occupying a glorious private setting enjoying gardens, grounds and woodland of over 9 acres, yet lies only 15 minutes from Bury St Edmunds.

Entrance Hall, Drawing Room, Dining Room, Sitting Room, Kitchen/Breakfast Room, Family Room, Utility/Boot Room & Cloakroom.

Large Landing, Five Bedrooms and Two Bath/Shower Rooms

Carriage Driveway, Cartlodge Garaging & Parking for Several Vehicles, Outbuildings, Terraced Area, Formal and Informal Gardens, Paddocks, Meadow and Woodland.

In All About 9.2 Acres (sts).

THE PROPERTY
Barfords is a beautifully presented and most appealing Grade II listed period house steeped in history with part of the house once a Roman Catholic chapel and later a Roman Catholic girls school. It is thought to have origins dating back to the late 15th or early 16th century with several later additions and alterations. Presenting colour washed rendered elevations under double roman pantile roofs with gabled casement dormers, the property offers substantial accommodation of nearly 3,500 sq ft arranged over two floors. The gabled entrance porch features oak stairs leading to the first floor and to the west is the kitchen/breakfast room, which features an inglenook fireplace with bressummer beam housing a four oven Aga with work tops and cupboards to the side and there is a double butler sink with cupboards under and solid wood work surfaces with cupboards under. There is a further built-in cupboard, mullion window, a tiled floor and in turn leads into a utility/boot room, which has a vaulted ceiling displaying exposed timbers and has a large butler sink, solid wood worksurfaces with space for appliances under, a brick floor, a window to the rear aspect and a door to the garden. Also leading off the kitchen is a dual aspect sitting room, currently used as a library/study, which has a brick open fireplace. The dining room, which has windows to the front and rear aspects, including a mullion window, also has French doors leading to the garden and features an inglenook fireplace with a carved bressummer beam housing a woodburning stove with bi-folding doors. The staircase hall features a red brick fireplace housing a log burning stove and a second oak staircase leads to the first floor. There are windows to the front and rear aspects and a solid wood block floor. Continuing on the ground floor there is a cloakroom and a large triple aspect drawing room in the east cross wing, which features an inglenook fireplace with carved bressummer, oak floorboards and a door to the garden. On the first floor there is a large landing area with ash floorboards, windows to the front and rear aspects and leads to five bedrooms with a vaulted master bedroom with a window to the front aspect, ash floorboards and adjoining shower room and a further vaulted bedroom with ash floorboards and a window to the rear aspect. A front landing area leads through to a double bedroom with a rear aspect, further bathroom and a small vaulted landing area located over the porch, which is used as a hobby/sewing area. A further dual aspect bedroom features an original fireplace with bressummer beam, airing cupboard and leads into a further bedroom on the west side with windows to the front and side aspects.

OUTSIDE
The gardens and grounds surrounding the house are particularly stunning with front and formal rear gardens, boasting large areas of grass and lawns with well stocked flower and shrub beds, numerous mature trees, a rear terraced area and to the front a carriage driveway leads to a four bay cart lodge. The house, front and rear gardens are enclosed on three sides by the original medieval moat and beyond the moat there are areas of paddocks with a former poultry shed and a path leads to a picturesque and tranquil one acre woodland, planted with an abundance of specimen trees, including oaks and sycamore. On the east side is a large enclosed meadow of five acres and in keeping with all the grounds at Barfords, enjoys an abundance of mature trees to its boundaries. To the side of the house there is a garden workshop and store, a lean-to greenhouse (which needs attention) and there is also a well. In all the most picturesque gardens and grounds extend to around 9.2 acres (subject to survey).

LOCATION
Barfords occupies a most idyllic and private setting rarely seen, located via its private drive 550ft (165 meters) off a country lane, enjoying a stunning, mature location. The picturesque village of Lawshall provides a good range of local facilities including a well-regarded primary school, public house and fine parish church. The village is equidistant between Long Melford and the very well served historic town of Bury St Edmunds. Long Melford offers a good range of antique shops, restaurants and village inns and the historic cathedral town of Bury St Edmunds offers an excellent range of amenities with schooling in the public and private sectors, shopping facilities and a good range of leisure facilities including health clubs, swimming pools and golf clubs. Cultural amenities include the beautiful Georgian Theatre Royal and The Abbey Gardens both of which are home to the annual festival. For the rail commuter there is a mainline station at Stowmarket to London’s Liverpool Street taking approximately 80 Minutes. The international airport at Stansted is about 37 miles away and in addition to air services, there is an express train to London.

Schooling: There are excellent local schools in both the public and private sectors including South Lee, Old Buckenham Hall, Culford, Ipswich School and St Joseph’s College.
There is easy access to the A134 linking Colchester, Sudbury and Bury St Edmunds and the A14 leads to Newmarket and Cambridge to the west and the Suffolk coastal regions to the east.

PRE-SALE BUILDING SURVEY
The vendor has arranged a building survey by one of a panel of local surveyors and a copy of this survey will be made available to serious applicants. The availability of this report will mean that interested parties can negotiate knowing the condition of the property. The original copy will be assigned to the purchaser and in some cases the surveyor may recommend an inspection prior to exchange for a modest additional fee.