WELCOME HOME A beautifully

This month we’re enjoying taking a look around Manor Farmhouse, new to the market and brimming with character. This is a rare opportunity to acquire a character property in Barrowden beautifully presented inside and out...

Words: Rob Davis.

“I wish my wife had shares in Farrow & Ball!” says the owner of this month’s house, Tim Blake. “I can just about name every shade on the colour chart. Jayne is the property’s very own interior designer but if I do say so myself she’s done an amazing job!”

Absolutely... we agree! Manor Farmhouse is beautifully presented, spacious, sitting on a perfectly-sized plot and in the lovely village of Barrowden… there can be very few people who wouldn’t be thrilled by the prospect of living in the C17th former farmhouse.

And the couple have certainly spent enough time in the house this year. Tim has worked from home during lockdown, running his company which specialises in creating software for distribution firms, juxtaposing

his technological job with a life lived in this period property in one of Rutland’s most prestigious villages with its dry stone walls and limestone properties.

Nobody is sure of the exact age of the house but happily it has escaped a Grade II listing, meaning it’s a good deal easier to undertake work on the house. The couple did just that when they expanded the property back in 2000, giving it a sort of millennial treat.

The extension blends seamlessly onto the south wing of the house and provides an extra reception room that Tim uses as his library and study, plus the master bedroom suite with its en suite. Upstairs there are three more bedrooms, plus a family bathroom.

At one time the property had a thatched roof but this was replaced with a rather more practical Collyweston slate roof some

years ago. The couple themselves arrived at the property 24 years ago and replaced the old concrete floors with solid oak flooring and fossil stones. The couple reckon they spend the majority of their time in the farmhouse’s living kitchen, which comes as little surprise since there’s plenty of space to cook, dine and socialise together. The gorgeous farmhouse kitchen itself was created by Suzi Farrell of Willowbrook Handbuilt Kitchens and features bespoke timber cabinetry painted in… well… Farrow & Ball, obviously. There’s a two oven gas-fired Aga Rayburn plus integrated appliances including a Bosch dishwasher and Liebherr larder fridge, as well as a double butler sink.

The couple also enlisted local master builder George Smith to utilise reclaimed local stone to create the property’s very pretty garden room. It’s one of three reception rooms in the home and just one of the rooms in the property that Tim says is surprisingly rich in natural light despite the property’s age, character, its beams and stonework.

Manor Farmhouse’s garden is the perfect English ‘cottage garden;’ it is lovely and mature, perhaps the perfect size to ensure a sufficient amount of garden to be able to do something with, but not so overwhelmingly large that you’re tied to gardening every weekend. >>

>> Again that’s all credit to Jayne, who is just as talented when it comes to designing the outside of the property as the inside spaces. The enclosed, sunny and mature garden is sheer delight with a central lawn surrounded by well-stocked beds and sheltered by a high evergreen hedge, with a majestic Redwood tree at the far end.

With paved terracing from the garden room as well as from the double doors from the study, there are plenty of places to sit in the sun or shade; there is also a greenhouse and delightful garden shed. “Barrowden is not only a very pretty conservation village, but a super village to live in,” says Tim.

Top: The garden room was added by the couple during their 24 year tenure. It overlooks a lovely garden with mature planting.

“The church is lovely, there’s a village store and a little coffee shop and that helps to create a real sense of community.” “The Exeter Arms, the village pub, was taken over just before lockdown and the new owners have made it very welcome. We dined there the other week and it was superb… the new owners are doing a great job and definitely deserve the support that we know the village will give them.”

“We really do wish we could pick up the property – the whole village, in fact – and take it down south with us. Our sons have both left university and are now living and working much further south, so unfortunately we are forced to move to be a little closer to them, but we’ll miss Barrowden enormously.” “It’s a very functional but peaceful residence, it’s well-maintained and perfect for anyone wanting a character home in the best village in Rutland. We are moving to be closer to family and it will be heartbreaking to leave such a fabulous home and superb village with so many friends.” n

MANOR FARMHOUSE CHAPEL LANE, BARROWDEN

Location: Barrowden; Oakham 13 miles, Uppingham 6.2 miles. Style: 17th century limestone cottage with three receptions and four bedrooms.

Find Out More: Fine & Country, Seaton Grange Barn, Grange Lane, Uppingham LE15 9HT. Call 01780 750200 or see www.fineandcountry.com.