Day's Lane, Biddenham, Bedfordshire, MK40

FIRST-CLASS FAMILY HOME, WITH POOL AND COURT, IN SOUGHT-AFTER LOCATION

A superb, 5-double bedroom, detached home set in a tree-lined private road in Biddenham village, on the edge of the County market town of Bedford. With 2500 square feet of space, outdoor pool, tennis court, wonderful, south-facing garden, double garage and driveway parking, there’s no doubt that you have everything you need, yet there’s even scope for adding value. It’s little wonder that this is the first opportunity for nigh on half a century to call this lovely family home your own.

Lying within a loop of the River Great Ouse, Biddenham is steeped in a history stretching back from before Roman times. A heritage trail takes you along an ancient causeway, the Coffin Path, leading from the village green past the village pond, created in 1700 to provide carp for the table at Biddenham Manor, through protected fields to the magnificent, Grade I-listed Saxon Church of St James.

Biddenham has its fair share of lovely old properties, including the popular Three Tuns thatched Pub and Restaurant within a few hundred yards of your new home. Whilst having been a farming and rural community for most of its history, the village now provides a peaceful place to come home to for many commuters to London, Milton Keynes, Cambridge, Cranfield and further afield. How lovely to be able to walk or cycle from your new home to work in or travel from Bedford, with its fast trains to the Capital in under 40 minutes and its world-renowned Harpur Trust private schools, its shopping, sporting, music and leisure facilities, and its beautiful parks.

At home in Biddenham, it’s hard to believe all this is so close to you. And that catchment schools for all ages are within the village itself, along with a community hall, a super pavilion and all manner of sports and children’s play facilities. A lovely walk across the old golf course takes you to Great Denham, with its surgery and newsagent. Everything is within a short stroll from your front door - home, garden and village providing all a family could want.

ABOUT THE PROPERTY

Silver birch trees provide a beautiful welcome to this Virginia Creeper-clad home, one for each of the children who have flown the nest with many happy memories of growing up here. Pool parties and tennis matches, ball games on the lawn, climbing the majestic blue cedar, plucking plums from survivors of an old orchard, and grapes from the vine vying for pergola space with wisteria and roses. Don’t be surprised if your children come home with a stream of friends.

Plenty of space inside too. Five bedrooms, all with study and sleepover space, all with lovely outlook. The main bedroom has its own spacious shower room, with tumbled travertine walls and floor. The guest bedroom is adjacent to an Amtico-floored loo that has ambitions to become an ensuite. The huge loft space can be anything you want it to be. If you have grand designs for the future, there’s even scope to extend.

Regardless of the possibilities, though, once you step into the lovely, oak-floored hall, you’re filled with a feeling that this is a peaceful, comfortable home that is ready to welcome a new family just as it is.

It’s a home that’s made for dinner and garden parties, certainly, but primarily it’s a home for everyday family living, where no one will get under each other’s feet. Where you have space to be together and space to be alone. Here, you can gather around the kitchen table and still have room for a sofa. You can relax in front of a roaring log fire in the sitting room or take morning coffee and the Sunday newspapers into the super, south facing sunroom area. So peaceful!

Natural light pours into the house front, back and side. The tall window looking down over the hall and landing sets the tone. Glass doors span the width of the sitting room, sliding open in summertime to the garden. Eat, drink and be merry on the canopied terrace in perfect privacy, serenaded by birdsong from a host of beautiful trees, not least a gorgeous weeping silver birch that’s lovely to shelter under on hot days.

Beds and borders stocked full of acers, spring-flowering bulbs, Japanese quince and other delightful shrubs beloved by bees, provide endless pleasure for the keen gardener. This home is a joy for all the family.