Cottered, Buntingford

Believed to date to circa 1500, with later additions and renovations across the years, Bowling Green Farm is a charming, period home with a wealth of bygone, character features which blend harmoniously with up-to-date interior styling to create an appealing family home. The reception hall showcases exposed beams and posts and is centred around an inglenook fireplace, with an adjacent sitting room featuring a striking red wood-burning stove and offering a relaxed retreat with French doors opening to the garden. An impressive light-filled kitchen/breakfast room has bi-folding doors opening to a garden terrace providing a seamless inside to outside living environment. Fitted with modern wall and base level cabinetry, topped with stone worksurfaces, the kitchen has ample space for dining, along with a breakfast bar unit offering a sociable spot to sit. The ground floor also offers an office and a cloakroom.

A staircase in the hallway rises to the first floor landing where step-level changes create interest and give access to the five bedrooms. The principal room has a stylish, en suite shower room, along with a walk-in wardrobe and double doors which open to a south-facing balcony. A contemporary, freestanding bath tub and tonal-blue tiling strike a dramatic pose in the family bathroom, which is complemented by a well-appointed shower room to complete the upper level rooms.

The garden at Bowling Green Farm is particularly noteworthy being beautifully-designed and maintained to create an outdoor sanctuary for family members. Brick-edged, paved terraces adjoin the house on three sides ensuring opportunities for outdoor dining and relaxation at different times of the day, with swathes of lawn offering plenty of space for children to play. There is evergreen hedging and mature shrubs and trees to the boundaries creating seclusion and flower beds are well-stocked with an interesting selection of architectural plants. Black weather-boarded outbuildings offer versatile use options with a stunning barn and a gym, as well as a garage and an expanse of gravelled driveway offers plenty of parking space.

Cottered is a small, historic village with a thriving community offering a number of societies to accommodate varied interests, including badminton, golf and horticulture, with Cottered Ramblers meeting regularly to follow the many footpaths in the surrounding countryside. The nearby market town of Buntingford offers a wide range of day-to-day amenities, including supermarkets, a local market, public houses, restaurants, various independent shops and a medical centre. For more extensive shopping, recreational and cultural facilities Stevenage, Saffron Walden and Cambridge are all within easy reach. The village benefits from excellent road links with the A1(M) and M11 offering access to the major motorway networks, along with London Stansted Airport and there is a train station at Ashwell and Morden in addition to services from Royston. Schooling in the area includes well-regarded independent options at Bishop’s Stortford College, St. Edmund’s College, Heath Mount, Haileybury College and the Cambridge Schools.