Church Road, Barton-le-Clay, Bedfordshire, MK45 4LA

Picture-perfect C17TH cottage, opposite church - with pool, annexe, and outdoor office – in A village full of amenities A quintessential English country cottage, with nearly 3000 sq.

Ft., at least five bedrooms and a detached double garage currently converted into an office, gym and guest bedroom or teenage retreat.

Gorgeous gardens of over a quarter of an acre come complete with swimming pool and pond, and back onto a field that you have an option to buy.

Timber-framed and roofed in Norfolk reed - the most durable and long-lasting thatch - ‘The Cottage’ sits opposite the beautiful Grade i-listed, St Nicholas church, towards the end of a leafy no-through lane.

Within the conservation area of Barton-le-Clay, an historic Bedfordshire village with every facility and amenity, the property is just 3.5 miles from Harlington Railway Station yet surrounded by beautiful countryside.

The setting is tremendous, the home a total delight.

It takes just 20 minutes to cycle from The Cottage to Harlington Station and a similar time to drive to Luton, from where fast trains take little more than 20 minutes to reach London.

A bus will take you from the village to Luton Airport.

And a few minutes away, the A6 will provide speedy access to the new Universal Studios and Wixams Station, which will provide a fast link between Oxford and Cambridge.

The A6 also takes you to Bedford and the world-renowned Harpur Trust schools – private school buses will pick up children from the village, too.

There are also highly regarded schools in Barton-le-Clay itself, with both lower and middle schools just a few hundred yards walk from your new home.

With the upper school in Harlington, the village is well-placed for schools for all ages, and all are rated by Ofsted ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’ in all areas.

Moreover, you can leave your cars in your gravelled drive and walk to shops and supermarkets, surgery and pharmacy, pubs and restaurants. Play tennis in the park at the end of the field.

You even have a library. Four-legged family members are not left out - the village vets will look after them.

And your fit and healthy dog will be able to take you walking for miles into the Barton Hills, to Barton Springs, to the Iron Age fort at Sharpenhoe Clappers, and further into the Chiltern Hills – a designated area of outstanding natural beauty on the doorstep of your outstanding family home.

More about the property Built in 1601 when Good Queen Bess was on the throne, The Cottage is a youngster compared to the 12th century church that watches over it, with its beautiful, chequered-stone tower.

Once three cottages, generations of families who have lived here would be amazed to see it now.

Its charm and character remain undimmed, with its eyebrow windows peeking out beneath its thatch, and its beautiful timbers, solid oak latch doors and oak and terracotta floors.

Yet now three have become one, and three bathrooms have been added, along with a bespoke, granite-topped, painted Shaker-style kitchen, built around high-end appliances including a superb Lacanche range – “Serious cookers for serious cooks” – you have all the space and facilities today a modern family could wish for.

Quirkily, one of the wonderful, sloping-ceilinged bedrooms has an internal window that once may have been external.

All still have lovely views of the church, of the churchyard, enclosed by 19th century railings that survived the war effort, or of magnificent trees in the gardens front and back, from where tawny owls deliver their distinctive duet.

Fortunate teens - or guests - will love the vaulted-ceilinged annexe bedroom.

There’s space to work and to work out, to relax in front of the television or the beautiful inglenook’s woodburning stove, which sends warmth around the home.

And space to study - until the pool, in its wonderful walled spot on the other side of French doors proves too alluring.

Entertain friends to dinner in yet another beautifully beamed room, which opens in summertime through two sets of French doors to the flagstone terrace. And to the gorgeous gardens.

Beautiful borders and rockeries are alive with nature; roses and poppies vie for attention with lilies and lavender, ferns and foxgloves - as inside the house, beauty at every turn.

Roses and jasmine climb the back walls, wisteria the reclaimed-brick and slate gazebo, where you can eat, drink and be merry, come rain or shine.

Children can climb, swing and build their den hidden by variegated holly and blossoming lilac.

Relax beside the pond watching dragonflies flitting across the water, fish darting beneath the pretty lilies and irises. And then there are those pool parties. Happy family memories are made of this.

Agent note There’s an option to buy the lower field. Download the brochure to see the boundary guides on the back cover.