Ivinghoe Aston, Buckinghamshire LU7

At first glance, Hope Brook Cottage appears as a modest village cottage, but appearances are deceptive. Dating back to the 1700s, extended over the years since, the original old cottage now sits at the heart of a wonderfully generous four bedroom home, its rooms unfolding across an unexpectedly broad plan and into gardens of approximately a fifth of an acre.

There is an appealing informality to the way the house has evolved. Rather than concealing its different chapters, old and new sit alongside one another: stripped pine doors and exposed timbers, herringbone parquet and oak flooring, rooms of distinctly different proportions and a plan shaped gradually by the lives lived within it.

The largest of the later additions lies at the front of the house. Extending to approximately 37ft, this remarkable open-plan family room has an exposed timber roof structure, oak flooring and glazing on three sides. Rooflights draw daylight from above, while doors open directly onto the south-easterly garden. Its scale allows it to accommodate dining and sitting areas with considerable ease.

Beyond, the principal sitting room follows an L-shaped plan and extends to more than 31ft at its longest point. A wood-burning stove sits within the fireplace, and there is ample room for comfortable seating areas as well as a dining table.

The kitchen and breakfast room occupies the centre of the plan. Traditional off-white cabinetry is set against walls painted in a rich, deep red, with granite worktops and integrated cooking appliances. Alongside is a walk-in pantry, concealed behind an old pine door that carries a particularly charming record of the house’s more recent history: the heights and names of children who lived here during the 1980s, recorded onto the timber and still preserved today.

A study with a number of fitted bookshelves provides a dedicated place to work, leading in turn to a substantial utility room. Elsewhere, the rear hallway has herringbone parquet flooring, while a cloakroom completes the ground-floor accommodation.

Upstairs, a long landing connects four double bedrooms. The principal bedroom looks towards a neighbouring lake and the open countryside beyond and has its own en suite shower room. Each of the three remaining bedrooms is also a good-sized double with fitted wardrobes, served by a modern family bathroom.

The gardens are an important part of the house. Facing south-east and wrapping around the building, they have an established, picturesque quality that feels entirely appropriate to the cottage. A broad paved terrace immediately outside the house provides generous space for eating and entertaining, stepping up to an expanse of lawn enclosed by mature trees, shrubs and planting.

Around the side, the garden becomes more productive, with a greenhouse and raised vegetable beds while, to the front, there is an enclosed chicken run. There are pockets to sit, places to grow things and enough maturity in the planting to give the whole plot a notable degree of privacy.

A gravelled area provides parking for three cars and is complemented by a detached double garage.

The house occupies a secluded position within this Buckinghamshire village, surrounded by an attractive rural landscape. Ivinghoe Beacon lies approximately two miles away, while Tring is around six miles and Berkhamsted nine. Cheddington railway station is approximately four miles away, with mainline connections available towards London Euston, Milton Keynes and beyond. Its Buckinghamshire location also places the house within the county’s grammar school system.

Hope Brook Cottage is not a house whose story belongs to a single time. A period cottage has been enlarged, adapted and lived in over generations, acquiring rooms, materials and marks of occupation along the way. There is work here for its next custodian, but also much worth retaining: the old doors and timbers, the generous spaces, the stove, the gardens - and perhaps even the height chart on the pantry door. The opportunity now is to add another layer to its history, without erasing the ones that make it so appealing.

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