Guide Price £925,000 - £950,000

Fine & Country Cambridge are delighted to bring to market this excellent 4 bedroom extended semi detached house in the extremely popular CB2 postcode.

Fine & Country Cambridge are delighted to bring to market this excellent 4 bedroom extended semi detached house in the extremely popular CB2 postcode.

Before we get onto the property, we feel we must tell you all you need to know about living in CB2. Houses like this in this area seldom come on the market.
Geographically it couldn't be more ideally placed.

1. Schools (in no particular order)

Hills Road Sixth Form College (outstanding)
The Perse School (Prep. and High - outstanding)
The Ley’s School (High School)
St. Faith’s Prep School
Millington Road Nursery School (outstanding)
Rainbow Day Nursery (outstanding)
St Albans Catholic Primary School (outstanding)
These are all within walking / cycling distance or a short drive away, as are several State schools in the area.

2. Location

This property is a stone’s throw away from Addenbrookes & The Royal Papworth hospitals. It is only a 7 minute-drive south to The Babraham Research Institute of Life Sciences, and just a short bicycle ride (everyone in Cambridge rides bikes) to the famous university and its colleges, many other educational institutions, and indeed Cambridge City Centre. In under ten minutes’ drive is the railway station. From there you have direct rail routes into London Liverpool St & Kings Cross.

Within 7 mins by car, you are on the A11 with great links to the new A14 & of course the M11. Stansted Airport is a 20 min journey by rail or road.

The City Centre of Cambridge, as you would expect, is lively with a wide variety of amenities and entertainments. Its nightlife is vibrant, its daytime activity is varied with a huge array of shops, a plethora of coffee bars, bistros and restaurants, as well as its legendary River Cam where you can take a boat and be "punted" up the river (simply idyllic).

Crossing the main road at the conveniently placed Pelican crossing, you are immediately in the countryside with fields as far as the eyes can see. The footpath/cycleway leads all the way to the fabulous "Nine Wells Nature Reserve", a leisurely 30-minute walk away.

Not only is the reserve extremely beautiful (4 of the 9 wells still exist), it is the source of some crystal-clear chalk-streams that feed into the Hobsons Conduit, a man-made water course that fed drinking water to the population of Cambridge and to the University’s colleges, named after Thomas Hobson (of the phrase ‘Hobson’s Choice’) who was one of those involved in its construction in 1614.

The property itself.

Coming to the property itself, we want to point out one thing first..

If you do not want to live in a property that is on a main road, then this is not the property for you. Babraham Road isn't the busiest of roads, and for most of the day & indeed the night, the road is relatively quiet. However, it is a main road. The noise from the traffic though is not loud and in fact while we were there, we were not aware of it whatsoever.

The house is set well back from the road with a 16 feet deep pavement and a 26 feet deep garden, pleasantly gravelled with flowerbeds of roses and bushes. At present the space is arranged to park just one car, but the present owners used to park two cars until they took more enthusiastically to cycling, putting in a locked shed for cycle-storage to one side. This can easily be reversed if necessary. There’s also a row of screened areas to house the dustbins.

There is a small porch and as you enter through the front door you are greeted by a lovely entrance hall. This in turn leads to the downstairs Cloakroom / shower room, the Lounge, the Kitchen / Breakfast Room, and of course the stairs.

In no particular order, I am going to start with the downstairs cloakroom / bathroom. When this property was extended, the current owners were extremely clever and made this so much more than just a "downstairs loo". The bathroom area has a shower, WC, and handbasin. It has a heated towel rail, tiled flooring and a frosted window. The cloakroom area has been made large enough to take a single bed and indeed has been used as a small guest room on many an occasion. The space is therefore big enough for a small home office if required.

Originally this property had the mandatory living room and dining room appointed separately. Knocked through into a large through lounge, this space now is a spacious reception/dining area. There is a simply gorgeous large bay window overlooking the front of the property. There is a feature working fireplace, and the room benefits from still having the original picture rail which is back in fashion! There is fitted carpet throughout. What would have once been the dining room is in fact still the dining room area. Large enough to house the current 8 seater dining table, there is room for a larger one if required.

Originally this property had a small to medium size "galley kitchen" but when the current owners extended to the rear of the property they created a fabulous kitchen / breakfast room that has more than a nod to a farmhouse style room.

Fully fitted with a 5 ring gas hob (professionally vented), and a lovely double oven, the kitchen boasts more than enough cupboards and drawers, and there is an immense amount of worktop space. It has a stainless-steel sink & draining board. There is a dishwasher, and the flooring is tiled.

The kitchen is large enough for a 6-seater table & chairs which stands in the middle of the room and yet there is more than ample space to move around all sides easily. An extra-large pantry leads off the kitchen, with plenty of deep shelving for food storage. The current owners have an extra fridge & freezer in there, and it also serves as a broom cupboard. Off to the opposite side of the kitchen is the utility room. This space has the usual washing machine which slots into a space nicely surrounded by cupboards and worktop and a window to the back. There is enough space for an erected ironing board. The boiler also lives here.

Off of the kitchen and also the through lounge is the remainder of the extension. Although on the floorplan we have called it a dining room / family room, it currently is home to a fabulous grand piano (which gives you some idea of how big the space is).
Here a large window overlooks the beautiful garden, and there are French style double doors to the side, allowing access to the garden.

The current owners have large curtains that can be drawn to separate this room from the Lounge, however, when the curtains are open, we have this absolutely wonderful space from front to back of the property which is some 13.13m (43'1") long!

The Garden

The garden is splendid and measures approx. 21m (70') long. (when viewing please ask us about the potential of making the garden bigger). Immediately as you enter the garden, there is a sense of peace and tranquillity. It is not overlooked, and the view out is only of magnificent trees, both within and those in neighbouring gardens.

This is totally the wrong time of the year to take images of this lovely garden and so we have added a couple of images taken last summer that gives you an idea of it at its best!

Thoughtfully landscaped with established trees, shrubs, climbers, and raised vegetable beds, the garden has three seating areas, a lawn area, and is visited by an abundance of wildlife. We know the current owners spend a lot of time in "their" garden, and that they will miss it as much as they are going to miss the house! There are also two garden sheds, one at either end, and a log store.

First floor rooms

Back inside the house and up the stairs, you are greeted by a lovely half gallery landing.

What's been quite clever when the current owners extended this property is that whilst it is all open, the half gallery landing gives the feel that the upstairs is split into two wings. This was intentional as the owners’ parents often stayed and one side of the upstairs was theirs! (clever).

As you reach the top of the stairs you have Bedrooms 1 & 2 immediately in front of you. Bedroom 1 (the master bedroom) is a large double bedroom with lovely views of the rear garden. There is fitted carpet and the original picture rail. Bedroom 2 (to the front of the property), has a beautiful large bay window with wonderful views of the countryside. This large double bedroom has fitted carpet and the original picture rail. It is an excellent space.

On this side of the upstairs, you have the first of two family bathrooms.

This bathroom has a bathtub & overhead shower. There is a WC, a Bidet, a wash basin, and it has a laminated flooring. There is the usual frosted window.

If you turn left at the top of the stairs you enter what feels like another "wing". Indeed, you could easily fit another door to complete the feel.

Bedroom 3 is yet another very large double with lovely views of the garden. It has fitted carpet & of course the picture rail.

Bedroom 4 is really a single room, although we have seen properties with a bedroom this size described as a small double. The current owners use this as a study jammed with floor to ceiling bookcases. It is a tranquil space with great views across the Cambridgeshire countryside.

This side of the upstairs has its own shower room consisting of WC, walk in shower, washbasin and a heated towel rail. It also has a tiled floor.

A bit of history

It is well worth mentioning a little about the history of the current owners’ time living here, and indeed the local community spirit that they have been instrumental in creating.

When they first moved in some 30 years ago, the first thing they did was to seek out the local priest and asked him to "bless" the home. This he did (every room). Still feeling that it was not a home and feeling somewhat isolated, they then took it upon themselves to invite all of the local neighbours to a gathering at their new home. To their surprise, everybody came and amazingly, none of them knew one another. A great time was had by all and at the end of the evening they made a pact. They agreed that they should get together more often which they still do to this day. Out of this was born the Babraham Rd Neighbourhood Watch. Twice a year everyone meets at one of the larger neighbouring abodes, for a BBQ in the Summer & and for a dinner in the Winter. The community is strong, and everyone looks out for one another. Rest assured, whoever is lucky enough to end up buying this lovely family home will become part of a welcoming and pleasant community.

Summary

So in conclusion, what do we have?

We have a larger than average 4-bedroom, 3-bathroom home with large living space, a super large family kitchen area, a lovely garden, and a community spirit that is so often missing today! The property is well placed and well-appointed for an easy but busy lifestyle. It is beautifully decorated in pleasing and practical colour schemes. The present owners got the whole property painted inside and out in the recent past in preparation for a celebration. All this PLUS, it sits in the catchment area of amazing schools, colleges & universities. It is a stone’s throw away from Hospitals and science parks. It is close to the City Centre and to the train station with direct links to London and Stanstead airport, and close to major road routes making access to many major towns quite simple! Taking the cycle path from across the road, you can cycle all the way into the city centre without going on the main roads at all or enjoy weekend outings along excellent cycle paths all the way to neighbouring villages. The property is best placed for safely walking to a lovely recreation ground / children’s play area, and being on the edge of the city, for several excellent walks in the countryside, (the Nine Wells, Beachwoods) or a short drive to nice pubs and cafes in nearby picturesque villages. It is for these reasons that houses in this area seldom come up for sale.