Melchbourne Road, Knotting, Bedfordshire, MK44

CAPTIVATING COUNTRY COTTAGE, NEARLY 0.5 ACRES, SPECTACULAR VIEWS AND A FASCINATING LITERARY CONNECTION - WITH SCOPE FOR ANNEXE, TOO

A lovely, extended, 3-bedroom, former Victorian farm cottage, with a studio linked to the house that could become a downstairs bedroom suite, and with nearly half an acre of beautiful gardens and paddock that has scope for further development. With a garden gate at the back leading straight into fields and with fabulous views all around, not least of Knotting’s 12th century church from its wisteria-clad, bijou roof terrace, it’s no surprise that the celebrated poet and author, Martin Booth, drew inspiration from living at Knot House.

So quietly peaceful and private is your new home that you forget that you’re at the end of a row of two other delightful cottages, and just minutes away from the A6. In less than 20 minutes in one direction you can be at Rushden Lakes shopping Centre; to the other, the county town of Bedford, with its fast trains to London in 40 minutes and its world-renowned Harpur Trust private schools.

Highly regarded catchment schools for all ages, rated ‘Good’ to ‘Outstanding’, are just 5 minutes away in Sharnbrook, along with farm shop, surgery, pub and restaurant. The popular St john’s Arms in Melchbourne is even closer.

Wander through your garden, into the fields, along to the wonderful, Grade I-listed Church of St Margaret of Antioch - open every day - and to the Strawberry Hill nature reserve in Knotting Green. Bask in an orchid-rich area alive with warblers and turtle doves, weasels and water voles – serenaded by the most beautiful spring sound in nature: the nightingale chorus.

For a place so close to every facility and amenity, this tiny Bedfordshire village of Knotting is an enviable retreat far from the madding crowd.

"We have a god-place built by god already / (he spanned the fields with two wide fingers)" - Martin Booth, "The Knotting Poems"

MORE ABOUT THE PROPERTY 

Glancing up at the gable of neighbouring Toad Cottage, you’ll see that the row dates from 1850. A ladies’ bike, its baskets spilling with pretty flowers, stands languidly against the front garden’s picket fence, letting visitors see that they’ve arrived at no. 3. Wonderful wisteria wraps around the white walls of your new home. Pink roses clamber towards the clay-tiled roof of the porch, with its Butler’s bell-pull - and you just know that Knot House has been much loved and cared for.

Step through into the hall and it’s confirmed. In the old house or in its seamless extensions, the finish is as beautiful as it is stylishly authentic. Designer wallcoverings from Little Greene and Graham & Brown nod to the Arts & Crafts movement, and to the nature that surrounds Knot House. A Cole & Son feature wall in one of the bedrooms reminds you of the twenty silver birches in the gardens. Another’s design hints at how you must feel here – on cloud nine.

Gorgeous, chequered quarry floors, heated underfoot - with classic, traditional-style radiators where they’re not - lead through draped doorways from room to charming room. Beautiful bricks are left exposed in parts, highlighting the curved edges of the chimney breast and window in the original living room.

Cook on the superb De Longhi range in a kitchen complete with old carpenter’s bench, pantry cupboard and under-counter skirts stylishly hiding the appliances. Eat in the inviting dining room, flung open come summertime through two sets of French doors to the terrace.

Watch the latest film in the family sitting room, which also opens to the garden. Slump on the sofa in front of a roaring winter fire in the snug. Work in the light-filled studio – or would you prefer this to be a downstairs bedroom suite, complete with its garden door and, perhaps, a shower room in the adjoining reading nook? A useful option for the future.

You already have three lovely bedrooms upstairs, with their reclaimed wood floors, vaulted ceilings and wonderful views over fields of gold. Wake up to an invigorating shower in the wet room – or wallow in the claw-foot bath – and to morning coffee on the roof terrace. Blissful!

And how fortunate you must feel as the wildflowers spring up in your gorgeous gardens, the tree fern awakes, the fruit trees blossom and you relax beneath the great oak and shimmering birches: “In every / leaf of the / silver birch / is a silver / hand longing / to clap" - Martin Booth, “The Knotting Poems”