Radwell Road, Milton Ernest, Bedfordshire, MK44

REFURBISHED 19TH CENTURY FAMILY HOME WITH FABULOUS KITCHEN AND LARGER THAN EXPECTED GARDEN - IN VILLAGE CLOSE TO COUNTY TOWN

Formerly 2 Victorian cottages, now a 4-bedroom, brick, stone and slate home, with wonderful family and entertaining space inside and out. There’s even an outdoor bar in the large, southwest-facing garden and a double garage that could be anything you want it to be. With new kitchen and bathrooms already installed, all you need to do is move in and enjoy living amongst the friendly community in this historic, riverside village of Milton Ernest.

The village lies 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. Luton Airport is just over 25 miles. A choice of supermarkets is just 3.5 miles away, with Rushden Lakes Shopping Centre 10 miles in the other direction.

Milton Ernest itself has both a popular 17th century country inn and a 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 lies alongside the Grade I-listed, Norman Church of All Saints. Milton Ernest Hall where the famous bandleader, Glen Miller stayed and performed during the war, is the only complete country house designed by the celebrated Victorian architect, William Butterfield, who also built a cottage a few doors from your new home, both of which are featured on Milton Ernest’s Heritage Trail, along with numerous others in the historic street.

How lovely to not only have such history and so many facilities on the doorstep, but within minutes to be up in the fields with your dog or down on the river, where once punting was a favourite village pastime. Your new home was once owned by a prominent local businessman who, amongst all manner of contributions to the area, owned the village’s first petrol station. It’s a fortunate family indeed who follows in his footsteps.

MORE ABOUT THE PROPERTY 

With its striking brick and its carriage entrance, your new home, with its attached neighbour, catches the eye even in a street that has its fair share of interesting, historic houses. Its thick stone walls at the back are far from the only surprise. The porcelain mosaic pathway through the front garden leads you into a house that has, since it was built in 1870, seen generations come and go but which has now become a superb family home for the 21st century family.

The old pine floorboards and doors of the lovely bedrooms remind you of its Victorian heritage but fitted wardrobes (with one room completely fitted out as a dressing room) and stylish bathrooms, the main one with lovely, freestanding bath, add that touch of luxury that you’re looking for today.

Laura Ashley adds interest upstairs, Graham & Brown expensively clads walls downstairs, where a total transformation sees a distinct industrial vibe in the Crittall-style internal doors, exposed brick, designer radiators, light fittings and exposed steel beams. Even the cloakroom has been beautifully finished.

Come home from that winter walk in the surrounding countryside to wood-burning stoves ablaze in both the cosy, oak-floored, painted-panelled sitting room and in the kitchen, where one entire end effortlessly opens to the porcelain terrace (spare a thought for the builders who had to lift the incredibly long rsj into its place above the amazing, Schüco aluminium bifolds). This is so much more than a kitchen, beautiful and practical though the quartz-topped, Shaker furniture is, with its pull-out interiors making storage more accessible.

This is a fabulous family space, where you can breakfast, dine, watch television, as well as study or play music, natural light pouring in from the garden as well as through overhead windows which automatically close when it rains and open when it’s hot. Made for entertaining, friends spill outside in summertime, food laid out on the kitchen island, drinks from the garden bar. Children play on the lawn; the green-fingered can plan new beds and borders, watched over by beautiful, bird-filled trees; you can contemplate an annexe, gym or office in the garage. And an exciting future beckons