Cottage for sale in Park Lane, Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire MK44

Charming stone cottage, with lovely gardens and outside office

A delightful, Grade ii-listed, 2-bedroom cottage in the prime North Bedfordshire riverside village of Sharnbrook, which has been recently thatched along with its attached neighbour, and new gas central heating installed. With back garden complete with treehouse and front garden with restored stone barn that’s perfect as a home office (it could also be adapted for Airbnb), Stoney is a joy for child and adult alike.

Just 8.5 miles from the County town of Bedford and its fast trains to London in under 40 minutes, Sharnbrook has every facility you could ask for, from Co-op to farm shop, traditional pub to hotel and deli., theatre to playing fields and tennis courts, not to mention surgery and schools for all ages.

Wander from the cottage to Sunday service at the Norman Church of St Peter, and to nature reserves and islands at Pinchmill. Or, without even leaving your front gate, to fields along the footpath that runs past your lovely, oak and thatched porch (akin to pavements that run directly past many a home’s front door, but much more pleasant), with your new home looking across the path to your gorgeous front, cottage garden, rather than over a road.

Lovingly and skillfully restored, Stoney is the epitome of the English country cottage. Step through one of the most perfect porches you’ll come across, through the front door in its old oak frame, onto the original, restored red brick floor of the sitting room, logs ablaze in the inglenook’s woodburner come wintertime, and instantly fall in love.

More about the property

Sharnbrook was the home of Joseph Betts, who was the inspiration for H.E.Bates’ Uncle Silas and who lived in the village all his life - in a thatched Cottage not dissimilar to Stoney, perhaps. The village is also the country retreat of a major Hollywood star, who you might come across while walking your dog along the wonderful River Great Ouse. How fortunate to live in such a beautiful cottage home in such a glorious environment.

It's difficult to imagine a home that’s more cosy, more delightful, where limited space is more tastefully utilised, from the bathroom, with its cute, claw-foot bath and overhead shower, to wardrobes and cupboards built-into recesses on a lovely, landing, made even more interesting by the huge chimney breast making its way ever upwards (there’s more storage space in the loft high above your head too).

Duck (or grouse) beneath the low doorway into your bedroom and be amazed how high the sloping ceiling is, in a room full of romance, where you can slide open the window and smell the roses. The single bedroom is as delightful, with a similar window seat for enjoying nature’s scents and sounds in the garden.

Latch doors are perfectly in keeping with wonderful timbers throughout, as are high-end radiators and handmade, solid wood kitchen furniture (including its carcases), oak tops and Belfast sink, while emphasising that, yes, Stoney has seen generations come and go, but it’s a cottage restored for modern-day living.

As you can see in the pantiled, stone barn, re-pointed with lime mortar, housing utility appliances, space for shower room and for home working, with everything laid in to make it suitable for guests - its own garden too, an old brick path winding under the jasmine-clad arch to cherry and plum trees, an unusual buddleia, bees busy amongst the roses and lavender, various eating and sitting areas here and in your back garden.

And there, the old apple, its boughs supporting the super treehouse, watches over younger fruit trees, a beautiful Acer and Magnolia and a bountiful vine clambering over the sitting room’s French doors. Relax beside the tiny pond with coffee or glass of wine and enjoy your peaceful, private part of historic rural England.