Station Road, Long Marston, Hertfordshire HP23

The Old Farmhouse has stood at the heart of Long Marston for more than five centuries. Grade II listed and originally a 15th century open hall house, it has been remodelled and adapted through the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, leaving behind a wonderfully legible patchwork of different periods. Today, its timber frame, mellow brickwork and steep tiled roof enclose a generous four bedroom home, with gardens approaching a fifth of an acre and the unusual addition of a double garage.

From the road, the house has tremendous presence. Wisteria spreads across the brick facade beneath a great sweep of weathered clay tiles, punctuated by two gabled dormers. Casement windows are painted in a muted green, while a low brick wall encloses the frontage and gives the house a pleasing sense of separation from the village street.

Inside, the accumulated character of the building becomes still more apparent. Heavy timbers traverse walls and ceilings, their irregularities revealing something of the structure beneath, while stripped pine doors, exposed brick and deep window reveals introduce further layers of texture.

The principal sitting room runs the full depth of the house and is wonderfully generous. Exposed ceiling joists and substantial blackened timbers articulate the space, while windows at either end draw light through the room. At its centre is a remarkable open fireplace, built in brick beneath an enormous timber bressummer and open on both sides to the adjoining family room.

The effect is almost that of an internal hearth around which the ground floor has evolved. On the opposite side, the family room provides a more informal place to sit and connects naturally with the kitchen and dining room beyond.

Here, traditional cabinetry is arranged beneath dark granite worktops, with a range cooker set centrally within the room. Exposed joists continue overhead and there is ample space for a large dining table, giving the kitchen the relaxed, convivial quality particularly suited to a house of this age.

A separate utility room provides the practical space required for everyday life, while a compact study creates a useful place to work. A contemporary bathroom completes the ground floor.

Upstairs, four bedrooms occupy the upper reaches of the old house, each responding differently to the historic structure around it. The principal bedroom is dual aspect and particularly generous, with a wall of fitted wardrobes and its own en suite bathroom.

The second bedroom is perhaps the most architecturally expressive room in the house. Here, the roof structure is fully exposed, with substantial curved braces and dark timbers creating an extraordinary framework beneath the vaulted ceiling. Against the simplicity of the white plaster, the construction of the old house becomes almost sculptural.

Two further bedrooms complete the sleeping accommodation, together with a separate WC. Throughout the first floor, changes in ceiling height, exposed framing and the occasional irregularity serve as quiet reminders of a house that has evolved over centuries rather than been conceived at a single moment in time.

The garden extends behind the house on a generous scale, with the principal lawn reaching approximately 80ft. Mature hedging and established trees provide enclosure around its boundaries, while a terrace immediately behind the kitchen creates a natural place for outdoor dining. The plot as a whole approaches a fifth of an acre.

Most unusually for a house of this provenance, there is excellent provision for cars. A driveway provides off-road parking for several vehicles and leads to a detached double garage.

Long Marston is an attractive village approximately three miles north of Tring, surrounded by the open landscape of the Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire border. The village has its own primary school, pub, cricket club, village hall and coffee shop, while nearby Cheddington, approximately two and a half miles away, has a railway station with direct services towards London Euston and Milton Keynes.

What makes The Old Farmhouse so compelling is not simply its age, but the evidence of that age still visible within it. Five centuries of alteration have left their marks: medieval timbers, later brickwork, the great central hearth and a roof structure that becomes architecture in its own right. It has been changed repeatedly, as houses that survive this long inevitably are, yet its earliest origins remain remarkably tangible. This is not a recreation of an old house, but the real thing; worn, adapted and still very much alive.

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