Contemporary Home backing onto Parkland, Lavendon, Nr Olney.

Backing onto Lavendon Park and within a short walk of schooling and amenities is this detached property, extended, modernised, and with a multi-car driveway and a low-maintenance garden.

Set alongside other individual homes on Harrold Road, the house was once a modest cottage. Today, it stands out among stone and brick properties with its white rendering and dark-framed windows. The monochrome external aesthetic is mirrored inside, where you’ll find minimalistic style combined with contemporary features. There are edgy internal doors and sleek radiators, subtle wall lights and warm wood veneer floors.

Stepping into the hall, there’s a feeling of light and airiness, which is one of the things that first appealed to the owners when they bought the home 20 years ago. The staircase is ahead, with an alcove under for storage, and the cosy lounge is to the left. The lounge is a separate space away from the rest of the downstairs accommodation, suited to quiet nights on the sofa in front of a film.

The original layout when the house was built over a century ago consisted of just the hall and the lounge, the hall once the kitchen. There have been extensions over the years, and the owners refurbished many areas soon after they moved in, starting from scratch, redoing the roof, relaying floors, fitting low-energy LED lighting, and most recently replacing the windows in 2023.

Along the hallway, the expansive dining room has porcelain tiled flooring, a built-in wine rack, and bi-fold doors for seamless indoor-outdoor flow. The layout is flexible, with generous rooms affording options as to how they’re used. The owners considered joining the kitchen and the utility room, and new owners are given the opportunity to refit and reconfigure as desired. The utility houses the boiler and the alarm panel, with sensors on doorways, walkways, and the external store.

Upstairs are three double bedrooms, the en suite shower room and the family bathroom. The bathroom again provides potential, while the en suite is already up to date. There’s a shower cubicle, a bowl sink on a vanity unit, and it’s fully tiled in a dark grey. Both the en suite and the downstairs cloakroom have Porcelanosa fittings, and we love the very cool tap in the cloakroom.

One of the biggest changes at the property is the garden transformation. Before, this was simply a sloping lawn, but is now low-maintenance, landscaped, with a granite patio and a pergola-covered deck. There’s planting for colour, including a fig tree in the centre and an olive tree along the back, and horse chestnuts behind add a leafy atmosphere. The store is handy for bulky items, and there’s a side storage area for hiding bins. The frontage is also generous, with a block-paved driveway for multiple cars. There’s a low stone wall separating the plot from the footpath, and planting is mature and manicured. Gated access leads from the front to the back of the plot.

Harrold Road is on the edge of Lavendon, off the A428, yet within a stone’s throw of all the village has to offer, including two pubs, the village hall, the park, playing fields, and a local shop with a Post Office. For families, there’s Ofsted ‘Outstanding’ primary schooling, a ‘Good’ pre-school, and there are secondary schools in surrounding areas. For all ages, you’re in a rural position immersed in English countryside. There are walking, cycling and riding routes in all directions, and the owners have appreciated being between Emberton and Harrold Odell Country Parks. They also enjoy a mooch around Olney, which is a few minutes down the road, grabbing coffee and popping into the boutique shops. Spending much of their time travelling, it was primarily the location that drew them to Lavendon, being on major road and rail routes into London and Birmingham, and within an hour’s drive of Luton airport.

What’s special about Lavendon is that you can come home to peace, quiet and calm.