Chaucer Road, Bedford, Bedfordshire, MK40

A BASIL CHAMPNEY'S MASTERPIECE, WITH 7 BEAUTIFUL BEDROOMS AND EASY-TO-MAINTAIN WALLED GARDEN 

An amazing, 7-bedroom, late-19th century home, designed by the celebrated, Victorian architect, Basil Champneys, gracing a tree-lined street within the conservation area of the County town’s Poets area. Over 3000 square feet of stylish space with a treasure trove of beautiful, original detail and with walled gardens and driveway parking for 2 cars. Surprisingly unlisted, Polam House is truly one of a kind.

The house is not just a beautiful and inspirational home. It’s within strolling distance of the railway station, with its fast trains reaching London in under 40 minutes. You can walk to everything from shops, pubs, restaurants, music venues, gyms, theatres and cinema. Supermarkets are little more than half a mile away, as is the lovely little Priory Primary School, recently rated ‘Good’ by Ofsted. The world-renowned Harpur Trust private schools and Bedford Free Schools are all easy to walk to. Surgery, dentist and opticians are yards away. One of the finest river embankments in the Country, alongside the Great Ouse, competes for weekend walkers and nature lovers with beautiful parks and nearby countryside.

Beginning life standing alone with its attached neighbour in 1886, Polam House has since been joined by an eclectic mix of substantial properties within this vibrant and interesting area. Built for a Boer War British Army captain, it became the original Polam School, within the home of its delightfully named founder, Miss Crump.

Coincidentally, Basil Champneys is particularly renowned for educational buildings across the Country, from Oxford and Cambridge colleges to Manchester’s John Rylands library, and the same Gothic Revival detail that he incorporated into Bedford High School for Girls can be seen here – finials, hood moulds and decorative panels setting off the lovely red brick walls. He considered architecture to be “an art not a science.” And inside and out, Polam House is a work of art.

MORE ABOUT THE PROPERTY

A young wisteria begins its climb of the beautiful red brick and looks forward to competing for attention with the exotic Callistemon in the lovely, little front garden. Sunlight dances through the stained glass of the front door onto the gorgeous Minton tiles of the hall. Between strikingly tall skirtings and intricate cornicing high above your head, Farrow and Ball provides the perfect finish. And you’re always happy to be home.

Even without listing constraints, the care and attention that has been lavished on Polam House, and the preservation throughout of wonderful original detail, is remarkable. Yet it is timeless. This is every inch a home for the 21st century family, as loved by the boisterous child as the dedicated dinner party host.

Natural light pours in through tall, sliding sash windows and French doors of the sitting room, onto beautifully restored, original floorboards, the marble fireplace, with its pretty tiles, a sign of things to come. But this is not a home with one special room; every room is special. The breathtakingly beautiful marble fireplace of the snug warms the room even before the logs are lit.

The elegant staircase takes you to seven bedrooms over two floors (hopeful teenagers might suggest the top floor as an adult-free zone), each oozing character and original detail, whether it be a cute Victorian wardrobe, a Scotia fireplace, a beautiful, draped bay or a lovely wood floor. The bathroom, with its restored French, claw-foot bath, twin-basin washstand and space for an easy chair must be the perfect place to wash the cares of the day away.

In the kitchen, open to the garden room and with its gorgeous, quarry tiles and quartz-topped Shaker furniture built around a Belfast sink and range cooker, the lovely, exposed brick chimney, which separates the working area from your table and sofa, would happily take a cosy winter woodburner, if you so wish.

And in summertime, it all extends, through superb bifold doors, to your easy-to-maintain garden. Two outdoor rooms, amazing fig tree watching over children at play in one, water feature in the other, bee-friendly raised beds in both. The perfect place for al fresco dining with friends, surrounded by beautiful red brick walls - as inside, style, beauty and history coming together in perfect harmony.