Ash Drive, Kimpton Bottom, Kimpton, Hitchin

The property has been subject to an extensive programme of improvements in recent years, utilising many artisans to update the décor with beautiful joinery and complementary fixtures and fittings. Of particular note is the stunning kitchen and breakfast room, fitted with Mark Wilkinson cabinetry. The excellent standard of workmanship extends to the locally made solid oak doors and windows, an oak staircase and the minstrel’s style galleried landing.

The house is entered via double oak doors onto a magnificent entrance hall, which leads to the main accommodation. For formal occasions, a stunning reception room with an inglenook fireplace has windows on three sides and leads out to the gardens. Separately there is a dining room and, for family movie nights, a cinema room. The more informal family accommodation includes the open plan kitchen, which features an AGA, extensive storage, marble work surfaces and premium Miele appliances, leading to a sitting room with bifold doors opening onto the garden. There is a separate utility room and a cloakroom with WC, plus a well-fitted study with Strachan office furniture and shelving, creating a great space for working from home, and a games room which would make the ideal playroom or snug. It’s the ideal setup for big family gatherings and celebrations like Christmas, as well as offering well balanced accommodation for day-to-day family life.

Upstairs, the bedrooms are arranged around a spacious galleried landing, where there is ample storage for linens and towels within a pair of wardrobes. All of the bedrooms are well proportioned and there is a bathroom for each, as well as built-in wardrobes or dressing areas. The principal suite is appointed with Mark Wilkinson furniture and includes a dressing room leading to the en suite bathroom, which is outfitted for couples with a bath, separate shower and a twin vanity. There are three further en suite bedrooms and two further doubles, each either adjacent or directly opposite a family bathroom. Above the garage there is a useful space with a sitting area, bedroom and shower room which has its own access and is well suited to home working though could easily be transformed into a guest area or a space for grandparents or older children living at home.

Orchard House is accessed via electric gates opening to a sweeping gravel driveway providing expansive parking for a number of vehicles. The house is well positioned within the plot, surrounded by rolling lawns and a variety of specimen trees. The rear garden, which is a wonderful space for entertaining, has a favourable southerly aspect and comprises a range of terraces for garden furniture leading to a manicured lawn backed by mature trees which envelop the boundary, providing excellent privacy. Paths wind through deep, well-stocked borders featuring herbaceous shrubs and ornamental trees. To the side of the house there is an 10m x 5m outdoor swimming pool with solar cover – helping to heat the pool without electricity – set within a large terrace and, behind the attached double garage, a kitchen garden with raised beds and a home compost.

Location
Kimpton Bottom hamlet sits on the outskirts of Kimpton, a picturesque village with day-to-day amenities including a church, village store, Post Office, pubs and primary schooling. Harpenden has a comprehensive range of high street and boutique shopping including Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and a Marks & Spencer store, restaurants, coffee shops and sporting and leisure facilities including a sports centre with indoor pool, rugby, tennis, bowling and cricket clubs and three golf courses. Cycling, riding and walking can be enjoyed in the Woodland Trust’s Heartwood Forest and Rothamsted Estate. Communications links are excellent: the A1(M) and M1 give access to major regional centres, the motorway network and central London and Harpenden station (3.4 miles) offers trains to central London in around 25 minutes.

Distances
Kimpton village 1.8 miles
Harpenden 3.3 miles
A1(M) Junction 6 6.2 miles
London Luton Airport 6.6 miles
M1 Junction 9 7.4 miles
Luton 7.8 miles
St Albans 8.5 miles
Hitchin 9.8 miles
Central London 32.0 miles

Nearby Stations
Harpenden Station
Luton Parkway Station
Luton Station
St Albans City Station

Key Locations
Rothamsted Park
Rothamsted Manor
Harpenden Common
The Eric Morecambe Centre
Heartwood Forest
The Nickey Line
St Albans Cathedral
Verulamium Park
Luton Hoo
Knebworth House and Gardens
Stockwood Discovery Centre
Whipsnade Zoo
Shaws Corner (National Trust)

Nearby Schools
High Beeches Primary School
Crabtree Infants’ and Junior School
Manland Primary School
St. George’s School
Sir John Lawes School
Aldwickbury School
St. Hilda’s School
The King’s School
St. Albans High School for Girls
St. Albans Boys School
Beechwood Park School