High Street, Barkway, Nr Royston, Hertfordshire, SG8

BARKWAY COTTAGE enjoys an attractive location at the southern edge of the village of Barkway. The origins of the property are believed to date back to the late 16th/early 17th century, but there have been extensions and alterations in the 19th and 20th centuries which include the construction of four projecting bay windows (there is a more thorough note of the building in the Listed building records, as the building is Grade II Listed). The construction of the property is traditional with a timber frame, probably local Elm, with rendered and boarded elevations set under a thatched roof.

The accommodation is set over two floors and comprises a drawing room with exposed timbers and a central brick fireplace and a stairs to the first floor. A door leads through to a morning room, a bright room with a pair of glazed doors to the garden and a bay window. The sitting room, again is timbered, with an inglenook fireplace and a modern wood burning stove and a bread oven. This room has a pretty period door with a small leaded light panel. The dining room has French doors out to the terrace and leads to a well equipped farmhouse style kitchen with an excellent period dresser, a professional cooker, Lacanche gas and electric oven and a 5-ring gas hob, water softener and a double ceramic sink, integrated dishwasher and a recessed upright fridge and some Iroko (hardwood) work surfaces. There is a lobby which has space for a freezer and tumble-dryer.

On the first floor there is a total of 5 bedrooms; the main bedroom is in the middle of the house and adjoins a bathroom - (there are two bathrooms in total).

OUTSIDE, there is a generous parking area with an "in-and-out" driveway and a garage which has a ground floor cloakroom and a first floor area which would make an excellent studio/office or potential annexe. In this room there is a modern wood burning stove.

There is a terrace both beside and behind the house and well stocked herbaceous borders. The remainder of the grounds are laid to lawn with a vegetable patch and a thatched summerhouse. In the far corner of the garden is a timber shed and compost area.

Barkway is a well regarded North Hertfordshire village with a range of predominantly period houses, and has a primary school with nursery class and a playgroup in the village hall. The larger centres of Royston (4.2 miles) and Buntingford (5.7 miles) provide a range of shopping, recreational and educational facilities, and the market town of Bishops Stortford (16 miles) offers further amenities. There is a mainline railway station at Royston providing trains to London Kings Cross. Further stations at Audley End, Bishop's Stortford and Ware all have services to London (Liverpool Street). The A10 lies approximately 2 miles to the west, with links to the City and M25 London Orbital Motorway.