Bedford Road, Milton Ernest, Bedfordshire, MK44

IMPRESSIVE AND BEAUTIFUL EARLY VICTORIAN HOME, WITH WALLED GARDEN AND PADDOCK

A gorgeous, 4-double bedroom, 3-bathroom, mid-19th century home, with Georgian-inspired symmetry, space and light, horseshoe driveway with separate, gated parking space, and a wonderful walled garden leading to your own paddock, with fields beyond.

With nearly 3500 square feet of renovated space and new heating, wiring and plumbing, Mulberry House, in the North Bedfordshire village of Milton Ernest, has everything the modern family could want, from superb, open-plan kitchen and dining room to air-conditioned gym and basement, both of which could be used in many different ways. In fact, for multi-generational living, it would be relatively easy to create a self-contained annexe in the extension to the side of the house.

Milton Ernest lies on the east side of the wonderful River Great Ouse, just over 4 miles from the County Town of Bedford and all its amenities, the world-renowned Harpur Trust private schools, and fast trains to London and elsewhere making commuting a breeze. A choice of supermarkets is just 3.5 miles away, with Rushden Lakes Shopping Centre 10 miles in the other direction.

The village itself has both a popular 17th century country inn and garden centre, which is also home to independent outlets, a post office and coffee shop. The award-winning primary school feeds the Academy in nearby Sharnbrook and is just a couple of hundred yards away, along with the Grade I-listed, Norman Church of All Saints that is open every day.

How lovely to wander straight from your garden gate and through your own paddock to both school and church, without ever touching the road at the front, and for your dog to take you the same way into the fields that you see from your balcony. And how fitting that your paddock is planted with a young Mulberry tree in tribute to your special family home.

MORE ABOUT THE PROPERTY 

Step under the portico, through the original front door complete with bell pull and beautiful, reclaimed stained glass, into a hallway stretching through its central arch, past the elegant staircase, to the garden terrace, and instantly fall in love with your new home.

Although probably built soon after Victoria came to the throne, late Georgian influence is palpable. As is the care and attention to detail, as well as the expense, that has been lovingly lavished on Mulberrry House to ensure it’s lost none of its sumptuous character, whilst becoming every inch a comfortable home for the modern family, oozing style and good taste.

Original doors, panelling, skirting, window shutters, ceiling roses and cornices remain, beneath impressively tall ceilings. Open fireplaces are surrounded by opulent marble in your dining and sitting rooms, as well as in your lovely study. But now you also have underfloor heating downstairs and high performance, sliding sash windows throughout. And a snug in which to chill out in front of a film, as well as a gym in which to work out in air-conditioned comfort.

Any child will love the size of their bedrooms. Any guest will be difficult to persuade to go home. It’s impossible to decide whether it’s the guest or family bathroom, or the main bedroom’s wet room that is the most gorgeous, all with fabulous Fired Earth suites and all dripping in beautiful granite and limestone. After waking up to such luxury, perhaps take coffee on the balcony, looking over your paddock to fields on one side, church to the other.

Everyone can come together in the oak-floored hub of the home, to breakfast, dine, socialise over a glass of wine, and cook with every high-end appliance, including boiling hot tap, American and integrated refrigeration, and a range of pull-out fittings to make life easy (the perfect pantry is a bonus). Two rooms now opened as one, roaring log fire in winter, French doors flung open to the garden come summertime.

What a garden! Beautiful old walls, peaceful pond, sweet-scented lavender and pretty flower beds, your own fruit and veg, magnificent trees, various spots to relax and eat al fresco, not to mention a lawn for play. A lovely, private outdoor space for nature and family to enjoy.