Main Road, Grendon, Northamptonshire, NN7

STONE BARN CONVERSION, RECENTLY EXTENDED AND WITH NEW KITCHEN AND BATHROOMS

An early-19th century, unlisted, 4-bedroom, stone and slate barn, converted in the ‘90s and recently updated with a super, zinc-roofed extension and new bathrooms, and a kitchen complete with gas AGA. With a double garage, gravelled driveway parking and wonderfully private, southeast-facing garden beyond its 5-bar wooden gate, Church View Barn sits happily in an historic street scene within the conservation area of the lovely, Northamptonshire village of Grendon.

Set on the borders of Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire, Grendon is a rural village roughly 16 miles equidistant of Milton Keynes and Bedford, and less than 10 from Northampton. Well-placed for travelling by road or rail, the village is just 10 minutes from Wellingborough Station, from where fast trains reach London in 55 minutes.

Wellingborough is also home to a choice of supermarkets and a highly thought of private school. Other top private schools are nearby in Bedford, Kimbolton and Oundle. The catchment secondary is at Wollaston, just 3 miles away and rated ‘Good’ by Ofsted.

But how lovely to walk the children the few yards along the street to their little primary, which was named in 2019 the Primary School of the Year at the National TES Awards; in 2023 it was ranked in the top 1% nationally for academic performance and Ofsted has recently described the school as ‘a very special place’ – not bad to have on your doorstep, as well as the glorious 12th century church opposite. The church remains open during the day, and holds a monthly service, as well as one outdoors at the Pocket Park next to the brook at the end of the lane.

On the doorstep, too, are playing fields and play park, as well as a village hall that hosts all manner of events for the friendly community. Grendon Hall, with its restaurant and afternoon teas is popular with villagers and Grendon Lakes provide fabulous fishing and watersport facilities, as well as Alpine bar and restaurant. Castle Ashby Rural Shopping Yard, with its deli and café, is just a few minutes along the country lane. It’s impossible not to feel extremely fortunate to live in such peaceful surroundings, yet close to so many facilities.

MORE ABOUT THE PROPERTY

There could be no other name for your new home. From almost every window, even from your garden, you catch the inspiring sight of the beautiful Church of St Mary. Opposite, too, is ‘The Old Postings’, with its outside lamp still in place. The Old Bakehouse is a couple of doors away and the number of listed buildings in your street is in double figures. Church View Barn has escaped a listing, but as the stone barn from where generations of villagers collected their coal, it’s part of the historic fabric and life of the village.

It's now, of course, a super family home. No less than four double bedrooms, one with shower room, one currently used as a study, and all with that view, as well as oak timbers peeping through walls and ceilings high above your head.

This is not a home where you need to worry about height. Nor natural light, which pours through the huge, double-glazed window onto the newly carpeted staircase and landing, as well as onto the oak floor of the spacious hall and through into the snug, where you can study, read or play music to your heart’s content.

As with the bathroom upstairs, with its lovely freestanding bath, and the main bedroom’s shower room, the downstairs cloakroom has also recently been re-designed – and boldly, yet beautifully, finished.

With the AGA in the kitchen and the log burning stove in the sitting room, Church View Barn is nothing if not cosy in wintertime. But with Bosch cooking appliances housed in the oak-topped, painted wood furniture, and the lovely limestone floor extending out to the terrace through both the kitchen’s stable door and the bifold doors of the superb, zinc-roofed dining room, your new home is designed to take full advantage of warmer weather, too.

Enjoy the morning sunshine with coffee on the southeast-facing terrace, taking in the sweet scent of lavender and cherry blossom, and the glorious colours of Ceanothus, roses and Philadelphus bordering the lawn. Entertain and eat al fresco in perfect privacy on the decking, the church steeple towering above the roofs, drinks being passed out from a garage currently set up as a gym and games room. Both home and garden are made for entertaining, as well as for everyday family life.