High Street, Great Barford, MK44

This detached residence presents lots of space for your family, versatile accommodation for whatever your lifestyle, a mostly south-facing garden for maximum sunshine, and a multi-car driveway and a garage for plenty of off-road parking.

The 1970s house has been under the same ownership for over 20 years, and this family has enjoyed the home during every chapter of their time here. Before them, as the name ‘The Old Police House’ suggests, the property was part police station, part police house.

Moving in as a young family, they’ve since extended the accommodation to suit 21st century life, to give it better flow, and to factor in their four children. The lounge was enlarged so there’s more space for sofas, but this is still a really cosy room, especially with the log burner.

Double doors lead from the lounge into the dining room. The owners have hosted 10 people for Christmas in here, and on warmer days, there are French doors for taking dinner straight out onto the pergola-covered deck. Their family now spans three generations, and this room is currently used as a playroom for their granddaughter. Being next to the kitchen, where parents will inevitably spend much of their time, you can easily keep an eye on little ones.

The kitchen is an expansive space, zoned into cooking and eating areas. If you do need a playroom, there’s ample capacity for dinner parties in here instead. The kitchen was refreshed a few years ago, with new quartz surfaces and upstands, and a Farrow & Ball paint job to the Shaker-style cabinetry. There’s an underset Franke sink, an AEG double oven, a Neff gas hob, plus gaps for a fridge/freezer, dishwasher and washing machine.

There are two flexible spaces separated from the main living areas: the office to the front, and the other next to the kitchen, currently used as a beauty salon. This is ideal for anyone with a home business, whether that be beauty or desk-based ventures. It also presents potential for a cinema room, a gaming centre, an art studio perhaps.

To the first floor are four double bedrooms and a fifth, single bedroom. The largest bedroom includes a walk-in wardrobe and an en suite shower room. Both the en suite and family bathroom have been replaced in recent years, each in pristine condition, as is the cloakroom with its leafy, leopard wallpaper. The owners have considered knocking through their bedroom and the adjoining one to create a principal suite with a freestanding bath.

There’s a selection of storage available throughout the home to an understairs alcove, a pantry cupboard in the kitchen, another understairs cupboard in the dining area, an airing cupboard on the landing, fitted wardrobes to two bedrooms, as well as two lofts.

Outside to the front, the garage with electric roller door supplies substantial storage, or space for a car to be kept under cover. There’s also a driveway for everyone to park comfortably. To the rear is the beautiful garden, stocked with a plethora of plants and shrubs, and featuring a mature willow tree. The garden isn’t overwhelming, yet offers opportunity for green fingers to get stuck in. There’s a quiet neighbour behind, the telephone exchange, which sees only the odd van popping in and out.

As for location, the property is positioned just a short stroll to primary schooling and amenities. Children can wander to the shop for sweets after school, ride their bikes around the village, take a football down to the green on the weekends, and play by the river in the summer. The village has everyday essentials such as local shops and a Post Office, restaurants and takeaways, a butchers, a prescribing doctors, and all-important pubs. The Anchor is the perfect spot to watch the canal boats, and the river affords activities like paddleboarding and canoeing.

Great Barford is in a particularly convenient position between Bedford and St Neots, close to the A421 and A1, and with Sandy station the nearest for mainline services into London. There’s countryside on the doorstep, sports, entertainment, supermarkets and retail parks within a short drive, and Milton Keynes city centre is just half an hour away.

Now all bar one of their children have flown the nest, it’s time for this family to hand over The Old Police House to new residents to appreciate all that they’ve had here.