High Street, Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire, MK44

STONE BARN CONVERSION IN PRIME VILLAGE, WITH OUTDOOR OFFICE AND DELIGHTFUL GARDEN

A remarkable, split-level, single-storey, 2-double bedroom, stone and slate barn conversion with a wonderful vaulted-ceilinged room at each end and both a workshop and office in its pretty garden. At the end of the historic High Street of the lovely riverside village of Sharnbrook, Moat Cottage has its own gravelled parking for 4 cars and is within a stone’s throw of fabulous countryside and all the facilities you could want.

The home of HE Bates’ Uncle Silas, Sharnbrook is unusual for its combination of rural tranquility, local facilities and proximity to road and rail networks. Less than 15 minutes from the County town of Bedford, its fast trains to London in 40 minutes and its world-renowned private schools, and a similar distance to Rushden Lakes Shopping Centre in the other direction, the village is sought-after by retirees, young families and commuters alike.

Children can walk to schools for all ages. A Community Sports Centre, complete with a gym, is on the same site as the secondary school and sixth form and is named after Paula Radcliffe, the school’s famous alumna. A friendly village club and bar operates at the playing fields, which are also home to tennis, football and cricket clubs. And you can play golf on a super 9-hole course owned by Unilever, which has a research facility here.

A popular pub, restaurant, surgery and shops, including a Co-op and farm shop, not to mention a deli and coffee shop, are a short stroll away. The magnificent, 13th century Church of St Peter is just over 500 yards from your new home in one direction, with The Mill Theatre little more than 1000 yards in the other.

Moreover, you only need to pop across the street to wander through the glorious surrounding countryside and nature reserve, and along the river where you might even bump into a major Hollywood star walking his dog here. A national newspaper recently mentioned Sharnbrook in an article lauding the North Bedfordshire villages as “the new Cotswolds.” The price tag hasn’t caught up – yet!

MORE ABOUT THE PROPERTY 

Once a stable block belonging to the rather grand C17th Moat House next door, hence its name, your new home, and its neighbour on the other side of the gated passageway, shares its history with other lovely barn conversions nearby.

A 5-bar wooden gate opens onto an unexpectedly large, gravelled parking area. It’s not the only aspect that’s unexpected about Moat Cottage. As attractive as its stone, slate and arched windows are, you do not get a sense outside of the space and height inside.

Though as you turn into the drive, with a beautiful Oakleaf Hydrangea blooming against the stone wall and pretty, white roses and Exochorda ‘The Bride’ arching over the garden gate, no matter how challenging the day has been your spirits soar.

As you step through the garden room into the wonderful wood-floored living space, the cottage itself has such an inviting feel to it, too, the vaulted ceiling high above your head, exposed stone and beautiful beams and wall timbers all around you, a roaring log fire in the stove in wintertime - it’s difficult to imagine a more gorgeous room in which to relax or welcome friends to dinner.

And through ledged and braced, wooden latch doors, on a slightly higher level along with the other lovely double bedroom and a wet room complete with both bath and shower, there can be few more romantically beautiful main bedrooms, with its display ledge stretching the entire depth of the house below its high vaulted ceiling and wonderful timbers.

A dream bedroom in more ways than one, yet lovely to wake up in, too. Throw open your bedroom’s French doors to morning coffee on an elevated deck wrapped in sweet-scented honeysuckle and magnolia and overlooking the delightful garden.

Birdsong fills the air from flowering cherry trees at each end of your outdoor, weatherboarded, stone office and workshop. Bees buzz around Weigelia and Deutzia blossom, pretty peonies and woodland flowers. And you can eat al fresco on the sandstone terrace and sit in various spots to enjoy it all. The barns have scope for other uses, and you can add value, perhaps, by extending the kitchen - though your new home is completely charming just as it is.