SELLER INSIGHT

We walked onto the plot of land on a Saturday morning and knew we wanted to live here. It was, and still is, a beautifully private and quiet setting. It was second time lucky when it came to purchasing the plot as we were initially beaten to the sale by another buyer. When that fell through, we knew it was meant to be. Most people’s dream houses aren’t a series of abandoned barns and many piles of bricks, but it certainly was ours!

“We had to stick to the footprint of the original barns, apart from where the dining area juts out – the garage wouldn’t have been large enough for a decent sized car otherwise. The shape works perfectly as it has formed the lovely, sheltered courtyard in the middle.”

“There is a funny story behind the fireplace in the living room. We spent too much time doing research and looking for a design and style that we could both agree on; after buying endless expensive design and building magazines I was looking through a ‘Hello’ magazine and lo and behold, there was Nigel Havers in front of his fireplace which turned out to be the one! We recently found the image while we were looking through some old plans and it still makes us laugh.”

“It’s a really easy house to entertain in with the kitchen in the middle of everything and there’s so much space, and if the weather’s nice, you can just open all the doors for even more. Christmas is our favourite time of year, there’s more than enough room for all the family to sit around the table and beside the fire. A 9-foot tree fits perfectly in the corner beside the log-burner. The first Christmas we weren’t used to underfloor heating and put all the presents under the tree only to discover on opening them that all those that were chocolates had melted! Now we keep a little table called ‘the chocolate table’ next to the tree and decide which presents are likely to be chocolates!”

“The garden has two raised beds for vegetables and a strawberry bed. Sometimes after our meal we will just sit on the wall and pick and eat them straight from the plants – you can’t get much fresher than that! We also have a pear tree, a plum, two cherries and two apples. There’s a small piece of land over the road that we own, where we keep chickens under two walnut trees which is really cool for them in summer. The trees produce an abundant crop each year but it’s a sport to get the walnuts before the squirrels! Green ones straight from the tree are gorgeous, but we always eat our own walnuts at Christmas too.”

“There’s a chicken coop and run included in the sale of the property in the main part of the garden. It would also make a great fruit cage or a dog kennel (with a concrete floor added) and run. Much of the garden is enclosed by a beautiful copper beech hedge and the front drive is huge – perfect for a party – but if someone wanted more lawn there is plenty of room there to create another.”

“Kirton Holme is a very friendly and welcoming village, despite it being small there’s a great sense of community. You’ll meet people walking their dogs or cycling around the village and, if you want to, there are things to get involved in at the village hall.”

“It’s a very calm and peaceful house on a very quiet road. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed living here and we know it’s going to be difficult to find something to equal it. But it seems too big for us now that our daughter has left home and we’re moving to be closer to her and her family. While we will feel sad to leave, it’s time for the barn to make another family as happy as we have been here.”*

* These comments are the personal views of the current owner and are included as an insight into life at the property. They have not been independently verified, should not be relied on without verification and do not necessarily reflect the views of the agent.