School Lane, High Street, Podington, Bedfordshire, NN29

BEAUTIFULLY REFURBISHED FORMER VICTORIAN SCHOOL, OVERLOOKING THE CHURCH

An inspiring, Grade II-listed, stone, brick and slate, 3-double bedroom, detached home, with not one but two pretty courtyard gardens. Overlooking the magnificent Church of St Mary in the lovely, North Bedfordshire village of Podington, Old School House oozes character, style and good taste. In a no through lane off the High Street, its datestone tells us that it was built in 1848. The children who were taught here could not have imagined the beautiful, peaceful home, inside and out, it is today.

While Old School House is a wonderful, beautifully finished and deceptively spacious home already, you have planning and listed permission in place, if you ever want to use it, to convert the loft space into an additional two, en suite, bedrooms – or perhaps, just fabulous, additional space for working or for teenage quarters. Open your wet room mirror and be prepared to be amazed.

Belying its address, Old School House, is, fittingly, actually in School Lane, which leads to just a handful of other lovely homes. Visitors can take advantage of plenty of dedicated parking spaces alongside the High Street, just a few yards from your new home. In a lovely, rural setting on the border of Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire, with miles of circular walks through beautiful surrounding countryside, Podington is nevertheless within easy reach of great road and rail links. The closest railway station is just 6 miles away in Wellingborough, from where fast trains reach London in 45 minutes. The village is well placed for many A-roads, making trips to Cambridge and Milton Keynes, and access to motorways, a breeze, yet far enough away to escape constant traffic noise.

Rushden Lakes shopping centre is only about 5 miles away, with supermarkets in Wellingborough and Rushden a similar distance. Just over 2 miles from your front door is the famous Nags Head in Wollaston, a lovely Freehouse and restaurant, where such luminaries as Rod Stewart played in days of old.

Just minutes along the tree and field-lined country lanes, is Harrold & Odell Country Park, so popular with sociable dogs and their owners. Cricketers will be very welcome at Podington’s thriving club. And the green-fingered, and those who love coffee and cake, might consider the village’s garden centre to be their second home. But there’s nothing to compare with their first.

MORE ABOUT THE PROPERTY

Wow! Step through beautiful, original, arched doors into a porch where you can kick off your muddy boots, then a further glazed, arched door into the entrance hall, and be prepared to instantly fall in love with your new home.

What a room in which to receive guests. What a space to showcase beautiful furniture. What a place to come home to. Walls with their lime plaster left beautifully bare, painted beams high above your head, tall Victorian skirtings meeting refurbished, original wood floors beneath your feet, huge oak frame to the square arch leading to original chequered quarry tiles at the bottom of the staircase.

A seagrass-carpeted staircase that leads to a bedroom suite that is nothing short of gorgeous. Windows set between sloping ceilings to both sides with views to wake up to across the courtyards to Podington’s wonderful, thatched roofs. And, notwithstanding your stylish wet room, your hugely expensive, freestanding copper bath sits romantically beneath the original, porthole window. Pure indulgence, yes, but Old Schoolhouse is for living, not just about impressing guests.

Though every room does that in abundance. Including two lovely bedrooms downstairs, with their beautiful, original arched windows and restored wood floors. A lovely sitting room, with those wonderful windows at each end, and re-claimed marble framing a fireplace that’s looking forward to welcoming you back from that winter walk with a roaring log fire, antique bottles, unearthed outside, atop its mantlepiece. And a kitchen with superb, solid oak furniture, complete with dovetailed, deep drawers, housing a double Belfast sink and range cooker.

Natural light pours through gorgeous, slim-profile, double glazed, Crittall-style windows and French doors that lead to the walled courtyards, one gravelled, one with flagstones, one with outhouse, the other with cute little storage hatch - and one perfect for morning coffee, the other for evening glass of wine and eating al fresco. Both beautifully planted, with hydrangea, and climbing roses, red jasmine and pretty, white, Himalayan clematis – making creative use of re-purposed containers. For your new home is a magical mix of creativity, style and beauty, of history and comfortable modern living. It’s a special home.