High Street, Turvey, Bedfordshire, MK43

EXCEPTIONAL FAMILY HOME, WITH ENTERTAINMENT BARN AND POOL, 1.7 ACRES, COUNTRYSIDE VIEWS, SCOPE FOR ANNEXE, AND MUCH MORE BESIDES

On the open market for the first time in over half a century, a wonderful, 5-double bedroom, Grade II-listed, Victorian home within the conservation area of the North Bedfordshire, riverside village of Turvey. Set well back from the High Street behind electric gates, and with nearly 3500 square feet in the main house alone, The Grange stands in the heart of the village yet is surrounded by nearly one and three-quarter acres of lovely, walled gardens, orchard and paddock, and backs onto beautiful countryside.

Much time, money and love has been lavished on The Grange to preserve its special 19th century character while creating the perfect home for the 21st century family. A multitude of modern home amenities, including a heated and enclosed pool, a beautifully beamed entertainment barn with bar and cinema and games space, a gym and an outdoor office, a secure garage and a driveway that circles the house, with parking space for numerous cars. If you have horses, you still have two stables, with their original gates. Just as you think you have everything you could possibly want, you find a brick and pantiled barn that could, perhaps, be turned into a super annexe.

And it’s located in an historic village only 7 miles from the county town of Bedford, with its world-renowned Harpur Trust private schools and its fast trains to London in just 40 minutes. Not only that, but the village itself has an unusual number of facilities of its own. Not one but two freehouse pubs, two shops, the Saxon Church of All Saints and the Catholic chapel at Turvey Abbey, a post office and a butcher. The playing fields are a few hundred yards away, close to the little primary school, rated ‘Good’ in all areas by Ofsted. The village has both a thriving village hall and ‘The Reading Room’, where the little pre-school meets. And you are just 3.5 miles from the supermarkets, antique shops and numerous eateries of the market town of Olney.

And, of course, you have the wonderful River Great Ouse and the beautiful countryside that surrounds the village, part of which you look over from your new home. The Grange and its location are both quite something.

MORE ABOUT THE PROERTY 

Wandering along Turvey High Street, you’re treated to a most interesting history lesson. Names of magnificent houses and more humble cottages, all beautiful, give a sense of their former use - of the many trades and general self-sufficiency of the village in days of old.

At one end is the early 17th century Turvey Abbey, now a Benedictine, Catholic monastery and chapel; at the other, the Saxon Church of All Saints alongside the late 18th century Turvey House; The Grange, built as a cottage in 1860 and subsequently growing to the fine house it is today, stands proudly in the middle.

Both Turvey Abbey and House were once owned by the Higgins family, who did so much for the village, rebuilding much of it and, like other wealthy Bedfordshire estate owners, demonstrated a care and duty to the health, education and wellbeing of their workers and families.

The Grange has also been home to philanthropic owners. Captain Charles Thomas Lindsell lived here having moved to Turvey in 1909. A JP in Bedford, Captain Lindsell was a trustee of the Barton Charity, which administered the almshouses at Station End. He restored the beautiful lych gate at the entrance to the church. And with the lovely neighbouring house having been a cottage hospital, the village doctor once lived at The Grange, too, setting up his surgery in what is now your kitchen, with his waiting room in the barns opposite, where now your outdoor office, gym and utility are.

Pause for a moment on the High Street and you can see that your brick and pantiled barn, which seems ripe to be converted into an annexe, still has the original door and shutters of what was, until at least the ‘60s, a haberdashery, with villagers also recalling it selling baby clothes. Your entertainment barn, complete with changing room for the pool, is a highly spec’d conversion of a former cow byre. Both village and home have many fascinating stories to tell.

It’s not just the gardens and gravelled driveway that wrap themselves around this gorgeous country home, with its wonderful, peaked, sash windows, slate roof and decorative barge boards and finials. It’s the most glorious wisteria, too, the main trunk of which twists its gnarled way through your kitchen verandah – and still there’s space for eight around the outdoor table for undercover breakfasts.

With al fresco dining on the terrace at the back, looking over your south-facing land, which is hard to believe is in the centre of the village and which has it all – from gardens with extensive lawns to a meandering stream at the bottom of the paddock, complete with a bridge into the fields; from bee-friendly beds and borders to magnificent, bird-filled oak, walnut and flowering cherry trees. Harvest your own sumac spice, figs, apples, pears and plums – a wonderful outdoor haven for children, adults and nature alike.

And inside, the most beautiful rooms, which somehow seem as suited to the boisterous child as to the dinner party guest. From the arched front door into the entrance hall, with its bellpull and peaked and shuttered side windows, there’s something of interest wherever you look. – whether it be new and in keeping or here since Victorian days.

Original doors, dado and picture rails are pleasingly still in place. Floors, from tiles, wood, slate and red brick, are a delight. The canted bay window, shutters and window seat of the dining room, not to mention the open fireplaces here and in the lovely sitting room, are simply beautiful. Slump in front of the stove in the family room, and come together in the super kitchen, with its bespoke, granite topped, Pippy Oak furniture, and both island and table seating.

The character, as well as oodles of space for both guests and family, continues upstairs on split-level floors, one of which could become a complete suite, with one of the superb bathrooms, with its huge, double-ended bath, between the main bedroom and its dressing room, perhaps. Either way, the views will have you springing out of bed each morning.

Work in your study inside or in your office outside. Work out in your gym or pound the pool, in the open air or fully enclosed. Play snooker and darts in your entertainment barn or relax in reclining cinema seats to watch the latest blockbuster. You might well see a lot of your children’s friends. An enviable lifestyle awaits. Select a bottle from the wine cellar and toast your good fortune.