3 bedroom semi-detached house for sale

COMPLETELY REFURBISHED COTTAGE, WITH A MODERN FEEL, IN ONE OF BEDFORDSHIRE'S BEST VILLAGES

A 3-bedroom, red brick and slate cottage in the historic North Bedfordshire village of Carlton, with lovely countryside views, garden, driveway parking, and with everything on your wish list done for you – new kitchen and bathroom, new electrics and plumbing, new oil boiler and woodburner – all wrapped up in energy-efficient quilt insulation. Move into your cosy cottage and put your feet up.

Not only does your cottage home have what many would deem the best of both worlds – early C20th character outside with up-to-the-minute C21st century interior – but Carlton is in the heart of beautiful countryside, yet with every amenity on the doorstep, and within 15 minutes of the County town.

Bedford, with its fast trains to London in under 40 minutes, its supermarkets, music venues and eateries, and its world-renowned private schools, is a very good bus service or short drive away. Yet Carlton, which lies, peacefully, a couple of miles from any major road, has its own outstanding pre and primary school, its own lovely little shop and post office, and not one, but two great pubs, each offering something different. Moreover, you can wander across the beautiful River Great Ouse to the surgery in the neighbouring village of Harrold, and to the country park, with its lakes and café. The catchment secondary school is in nearby Sharnbrook, with its community sports centre and gym.

Play cricket and tennis in Harrold and squash in Carlton. Grow your own veg in the superb allotments. Adults have a village hall which hosts all manner of events and societies. Children have a super playing field and play park a couple of hundred yards from the cottage. And your dog has the most wonderful walks in countryside that you can see across the lane from your bedroom window. A lovely place to live.

ABOUT THE PROPERTY

Each side of your cottage tells a story. At the time it was built, it was known as No. 2, The Green, adjoining, with its attached, wisteria-clad neighbour, the village green and its magnificent, birdsong-filled trees. To the other side, a lovely, low, old brick wall separates the cottage lawn from the former Baptist Chapel’s early 19th century churchyard, which is now managed for wildflowers. The manor house, with its old clay roofs, and the row of gardens and C18th cottages which once housed its staff, form the backdrop to your new home. At the front, you look over miles of countryside beyond the The Causeway country lane.

In the courtyard, you can relax in summertime, eat, drink and be merry in perfect privacy. Green fingers can get to work in the beds and borders at the front and side of the cottage, tending the roses, salvia and other pretty, bee-friendly flowers, watched over by a young Photinia Red Robin in one corner and an elegant Flamingo tree in another.

In the barn, an earth closet was prized by the tenants of No. 2, The Green. How things have changed.

Today, you not only have a cloakroom downstairs, but a stylish bathroom upstairs, with its freestanding bath and separate shower. You have three bedrooms, the largest currently with a 7’x7’ bed and a view that will make you spring out of bed delighted to begin the day.

And following a long, winter walk in the countryside or, perhaps, along the river, it’s a joy to come home and slump in front of the sitting room’s roaring log fire, hidden LED lighting above your head, porcelain wood planks beneath your feet, your dog towelled off first in the boot room.

Amazingly high ceilings throughout add to the feeling of versatile space. The study could be a playroom, for instance. The striking kitchen, with its contemporary, contrastingly-finished furniture, top quality appliances and gorgeous granite, is large enough for a central table – you could even decide to remove the section of units with the bespoke dog bed if you’d prefer more table space (you have oodles of kitchen storage after all). The thing is, though, there’s nothing you need to do to your new home. Just enjoy it.