The Bury, Pavenham, Bedfordshire, MK43

LOVELY MODERN FAMILY HOME WATCHED OVER BY MEDIEVAL CHURCH IN RIVERSIDE VILLAGE

A super 4-bedroom family home, which has been extended and beautifully updated from its late-60s beginnings, set in the quietest of quiet spots, with no passing traffic. With lovely gardens, double garage and plenty of driveway parking, Russetts stands, peacefully, under the watchful eye of the Church of St Peter at the end of a cul-de-sac in Bedfordshire’s historic, riverside village of Pavenham.

Pavenham could hardly be better placed; quietly rural with no less than eight farms managing the surrounding countryside, one from which you can collect the Sunday joint, eggs and other fresh produce, yet within easy reach of the County town, with its world-renowned Harpur Trust private schools and fast trains to London and elsewhere.

Catchment schools, surgery and shops are all close by in the adjoining villages. Become involved with the various activities at the village hall, the playing fields and play park, not to mention the tennis, cricket and golf clubs in the village, and you soon realise that Pavenham’s friendly community atmosphere is alive and well.

The Grade I-listed, 13th century church, with its tower and octagonal broach spire a fine example of Early English architecture, plays a big part in village life. How lovely to be able to wander to Sunday service on the other side of your garden wall. And how fascinating to see a gate in the garden wall of the property neighbouring Russetts, said to have once been the private gateway to the church of Berrystead Manor (later named The Bury), suggesting your new home lies within the footprint of that former great house.

Surrounded by beautiful countryside, through which the River Great Ouse wends its peaceful way, Pavenham must have some of the most wonderful walks in the Country, not least the John Bunyan trail along the River Great Ouse to Stevington, taking in the holy well and the ancient cross hinted at in ‘Pilgrims Progress’. You and your dog will be perfectly at home in Pavenham.

ABOUT THE PROPERTY

It’s impossible not to feel a sense of well-being as you near your new home, turning into your drive at the end of a cul-de-sac shared with just a handful of others, a beautiful silver birch welcoming you at the front, the church forming the perfect backdrop - ancient and modern together in total harmony.

That sense never leaves you as you step into the hall, natural light streaming through glazed oak doors from the open porch and other rooms, the glass balustraded wide staircase, not to mention immaculate decoration, adding to a feeling of space, light and style prevalent throughout the home. Occasionally, a room decides to boldly express its personality, such as in the dining room, with its woodland wall reminding you of the copse beyond your garden.

And upstairs you can look forward to springing out of bed each morning and flinging open the curtains to that bird-filled copse, with the church alongside, beyond your gorgeous, stone garden wall. And to getting ready before breakfast in your dressing room following a bracing shower.

Oodles of space upstairs – even before you venture into a loft that stirs the imagination (a games room, perhaps - or more?) – and all the space downstairs that you could need. Study, read or just relax in a snug that exudes peaceful calm. Gather in the sitting room around a stylish woodburner built into the wall, which sends warmth around the home such that you might often find your central heating redundant.

Breakfast in the kitchen next to the quartz-topped island, bacon and eggs cooked on the Neff induction hob, relax with the morning papers in the coffee area or come summertime on the terrace through super, sliding/folding doors (the same unusual door system cleverly opens the sitting room to the garden too).

A peacefully private garden, with lovely, blossoming apple tree gracing that beautiful stone wall, raised borders surrounding the lawn full of unusual and more familiar bee-friendly planting. Relax with early evening glass of wine, catching the last of the day’s sunshine in the corner sitting area, white roses and clematis climbing the stone – and delight in your good fortune.