St Leonards, Buckinghamshire HP23

Nestled quietly within a sheltered courtyard of just three homes, this former Victorian barn was reimagined in the 1990s with a generosity of spirit that feels entirely its own. Set just inside the Buckinghamshire border and wrapped in the soft folds of the Chilterns National Landscape, the house occupies a third of an acre; a plot that gives it both presence and privacy, without ever feeling cut off from the world.

The approach is calm and understated, yet stepping inside feels almost theatrical: a galleried hallway rises upwards, hinting at the volumes and unexpected levels that make the house so characterful. The sitting room, positioned to the front, is a capacious, dual-aspect space where a large fireplace and wood-burning stove anchors the room, while the partly vaulted ceiling brings a sense of quiet drama. Contemporary black-framed glazing opens directly to the garden, the crisp lines setting up a gentle conversation with the property’s more traditional textures.

To the other side of the house, a generous family room, complete with built-in shelving and storage, creates a space that shifts easily between family functions. At the rear, the combined kitchen/dining room feel effortlessly warm: cream Shaker cabinetry, black granite worktops, slate underfoot and the deep, satisfying warmth of a gorgeous red Aga. French doors, again in that modern black framing, draw the garden into the room. Beyond, a second prep kitchen and a utility room add the kind of practicality that elevates daily life.

A large ground-floor bedroom - equally suited to becoming a dining room or another reception space, if preferred - opens straight onto the garden, offering a flexibility entirely in keeping with the house’s unpretentious intelligence. A cloakroom completes this level.

Upstairs, three double bedrooms radiate from the central galleried landing. The principal bedroom has a dressing area with deep wardrobes and its own en suite, all executed with understated elegance rather than unnecessary embellishment. The guest bedroom has an en suite of its own, while the third bedroom is paired with an adjoining study area: somewhere that could be a dressing room, a child’s play space or a quiet work zone – as always, the house seems always to invite choice rather than impose it. A family bathroom serves the first floor.

Outside, the gardens wrap themselves around the house, unfolding into beautifully tended lawns, fruit trees and several places to sit and take in the quiet. At the front, there is a carport with an adjoining store, plus driveway parking for three further cars.

For all its rural tranquillity, the house is surprisingly well connected: around ten minutes to Tring or Wendover, and fifteen to Chesham. Tring and Wendover both offer direct rail links to London Euston and Marylebone respectively, while Chesham marks the rural tip of the Metropolitan line into the city. It is this blend of peaceful isolation and effortless reach, creating a gentle but compelling contradiction, which gives Totnall Barn its particular magic: a home rooted deeply in its beautiful rural landscape, yet quietly attuned to the wider world.

ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING

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