Glebe Rise, Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire, MK44

GOOD LOOKING 25-YEAR-OLD FAMILY HOME IN PEACEFUL SPOT OF PRIME RIVERSIDE VILLAGE

An attractive four/five-bedroom, detached home on a quiet, village lane, in Sharnbrook, North Bedfordshire, with outside office cum studio in its lovely, large garden, and driveway parking for numerous cars. Built in the late ‘90s for Unilever executives, this has been a happy home for just one family since.

Limes and silver poplars look across to your new home from a little copse across the quiet road. At the top of the road, a quintessential, English village scene unfolds. Birdsong is replaced by the sound of leather on willow from the central strip of the playing field, young children ride the roundabout in the play park, the rhythm of racquet and ball emanates from courts near the village hall, bells peal from the magnificent 13th century Church of St Peter.

Cross the playing fields to a site where once a medieval, moated hall stood, now devoted to woodland and wildlife. A little further on, is Sharnbrook’s Academy & 6th Form (the village has schools for all ages) and the Community Sports Centre named after its alumna, the world’s greatest female marathon runner, Paula Radcliffe. In the other direction, the popular Swan with Two Nicks, where you can have a pint and a bite to eat before the latest production at the Mill Theatre.

Wander along the historic High Street to find everything from Deli Café to Co-op, independent shops to surgery, pharmacy to farm shop. Sharnbrook is roughly 8 miles equidistant of Rushden, with its Lakes Shopping Centre, and the county town of Bedford, with its world-renowned private schools and fast trains to London. The village is surrounded by the most delightful countryside through which the beautiful River Great Ouse wends, and which was a source of inspiration for the illustrious writer, H. E. Bates, whose ‘Uncle Silas’ was based on a relative who lived in Sharnbrook. A great place to raise a family.

ABOUT THE PROPERTY

A raised bed of sweet-scented lavender borders the extensive, gravelled drive, the two trunks of the Field Maple intertwining in the form of ‘a marriage tree’. Weatherboarding on what was once a garage - though you can tell only by glancing next door - contrasts perfectly with the attractive red bricks of the house, which are also unusually bonded. And you realise that this is not just any modern family home.

Whilst you may wish to put your stamp on your new home, it’s soon clear that it has all the ingredients for a family to grow and thrive, with plenty of light-filled space, enhanced by tall ceilings. A room that has played host to extended family has since been a super media room, and can be, well, anything you want it to be, even by extending it up or out. With access to the garden on both sides, not to mention more outside space at the back than you might need, there’s scope for increasing the size of the house if you wish.

Yet it’s unlikely that you will get under each other’s feet just as it is, with room for each member of the family, whether of two legs or four.

As well as the smallest bedroom being equally suited to work from, all the bedrooms are large enough for studying too, the main bedroom has its own shower room, and all have a nice outlook to wake up to.

The main living space stretches from front to back and then some, the sitting room opening through two glazed doors to the dining room, which in turn extends to the peaceful conservatory and, like the kitchen, through French doors onto the terrace. This is a home as made for family living as for year-round entertaining. And with outside access to the utility too, perfect for scrubbing up after that muddy river walk.

Whether you’re a keen gardener yearning for a canvas to work on, a budding footballer, a child who can lose themselves for hours creating a wooded den, a sun worshipper or one who prefers the shade of the magnificent, protected, bird-filled trees, there’s something for everyone in the lovely, peaceful garden. Not to mention an insulated, outside office. Or is it a games room, a gym, or studio? A super choice to have to complete a super family home.