Old St Michaels Drive, Braintree

** LIVE WITHIN LUXURY SURROUNDINGS ** A rarely available, well-presented two bedroom GROUND FLOOR apartment situated within the award winning Old St Michaels development. The property benefits from high specification fittings, integrated appliances, convenient location and is offered with the benefit of a Car Port parking space. Finished to an extremely high standard, the property was converted in 2009 by City & Country and to this day remains in excellent condition. Immediately upon entering it is striking just how spacious and luxuriously finished the property is, with character features blended with modern fittings, high specification bathroom suites, comprehensive kitchen with fitted appliances, and views over the adjacent pristine communal gardens. The property further benefits from a private courtyard terrace.

Accommodation -

Entrance Hall - Carpet flooring. Radiator.

Lounge/Diner - 5.59m max x 4.17m max (18'4" max x 13'8" max) - Carpet flooring. Two radiators. Ceiling spotlights. Feature fireplace. Range of windows to rear aspect.

Kitchen - 2.74m’0.61m x 1.83m’1.83m (9’2 x 6’6) - (9’2 x 6’6) Tiled flooring. Range of wall and base units with roll edge work surfaces. Integrated dishwasher, washing machine and fridge/freezer. Inset oven with four ring hob and extractor over. Inset ceramic butler sink with mixer tap. Under unit lighting. Splashbacks. Ceiling spotlights. Window to front aspect. Combi boiler enclosed by cupboard.

Bedroom One - 3.05m’1.83m x 3.96m’2.13m (10’6 x 13’7) - Carpet flooring. Window to rear aspect. Radiator.

En-Suite - Suite comprising low level WC with inset flush, wall mounted wash hand basin with mixer tap and walk in shower cubicle with rainfall showerhead Fully tiled. Extractor. Tiled flooring and part tiled walls. Obscure glazed window. Shaving point. Heated towel rail. Ceiling spotlights.

Bedroom Two - 3.02m x 2.79m (9'11 x 9'2) - Carpet flooring. Radiator. Window to rear.

Bathroom - Suite comprising low level WC with inset flush, wall mounted wash hand basin with mixer tap and panel bath with mixer tap and shower head attachment. Ceiling spotlights. Tiled flooring and part tiled walls. Heated towel rail. Window to front. Shaver point.

Exterior - To the front of the property there is a private patio area overlooking the communal garden.

History Of Old St Michaels - Old Saint Michaels was built as a Union workhouse in 1837-8 by Royston architects, William Nash. William was 38 when he designed Old St Michaels and throughout his career he worked on many other projects in East Anglia, including other public and institutional buildings, churches and houses. He based his design on an 1835 model plan produced by Samson Kempthorne. Old St Michaels is a rare example of a hexagon plan workhouse with a Y shaped main building and is the last remaining of its kind in Essex. The Kempthorne "Y" plan traditionally had a central "hub" from which radiated accommodation wings for the different classes of inmate defined by the Commissioners - infirm males, infirm females, able-bodied males, able-bodied females, boys, girls, and children under seven. Each complex also had an entrance or administrative block at the far end of one of the wings, infirmaries, and chapels and other larger buildings were often added to the basic shape. Ancillary single storied perimeter buildings gave each workhouse its distinctive hexagonal outline. The grounds were used as exercise yards, segregated according to class. At Old St Michaels a large infirmary using this plan was built in c.1849 and the buildings underwent constant modifications throughout the nineteenth century. in 1896-1897, new casual and receiving wards and a new boardroom were built to the south of the workhouse. At the same time, the flanking wings the entrance block at the foot of the "Y" were rebuilt as infirmary accommodation. A new kitchen and chapel were erected between the hub and infirmary in the late nineteenth century. In 1948, the workhouse became part of the newly formed National Health Service. The ensuing changes and additions were often rather unsympathetic to the original buildings. The buildings that exist today comprise the "Y" with its three, three storey ranges and front entrance block flanked by the later infirmary wings. Many of the outbuildings and boundary walls arranged around the hexagonal perimeter also survive, as well as part of the original infirmary, casual and receiving wards, and board room. Other workhouse original features include its baking and laundry, complete with weighing scales!