WELCOME HOME A country home

THE DETAILS Crawford House, Crowland

Location: Spalding 10 miles, Peterborough 10 miles, Deeping 8.2 miles, Holbeach 15 miles. Provenance: C17th Grade II listed building beautifully restyled by current owners, set in 3/4 acre. Rooms: Four receptions currently arranged as dining room, drawing room, breakfast kitchen, bar. Two studies, gym, six beds (one en suite), two bedroom annexe.

Guide Price: £1,200,000.

Find Out More: Wilson & Co, Hampton PE7 8GX, 01733 794343, thewilsoncollection.co.uk. IT’S THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, but so much for creatures not stirring... Daniel Bedford and Dominic Abbott’s home is a chaotic throng of siblings, parents and kids. Just like every festive home should be! They’ve made rather too good a job of restyling their home, rendering it a little too good at accommodating festive celebrations. And now, it’s become the centre of their extended family’s Christmas, thanks to the large dining room, 22” drawing room and of course... a dedicated cocktail bar!

Last year the couple were still in the throes of restoring the property, so it wasn’t quite ready for Christmas. And this year, having completed its restyling, they’ve both become so sick of the lack of dust, disruption and wet paint that they’ve decided to look for a new project, and so this will be their one and only family Christmas in the house... better make it a good one then! Daniel is from the Deeping area and worked locally designing Christmas hampers for a pretty impressive roster of luxury retailers, dividing his time between Lincolnshire and London.

Meanwhile Dominic is a project Manager and comes from Manchester, but also worked in London, where the couple met. The two returned to the area to renovate the first of three houses, although this is by far their largest project to date. “We renovated our last property, in Bourne, during Covid, when we were working from home. We were really happy with it and had no intention of moving but the property market was going crazy at the time, so, ‘just out of interest(!)’ we had the place valued. Soon we were looking for a new project, an older house, with lots of character.” And oh boy, did they find it! Crawford House was the one-time home of John Crawford, local bailiff. It was created in the C17th and is Grade II listed, with a coach house and a former stable converted in 2017 to create a two-bedroom self-contained annexe. “The previous owners had installed new wiring and plumbing, and made sure the roof was in good order, so really our remit was to reconfigure the rooms and bring back all of the lovely period features.” “We created a nice bedroom and a living room so we had somewhere to retreat to when we working on the other rooms.” “After reinstating chimneys we renovated fireplaces, restored the parquet floor in the dining room and sanded then oiled the timber work surfaces in the kitchen.”

“We created a dressing room and en suite with natural light for the master bedroom and set about using lots of period-congruent colours from Farrow & Ball’s palette like Brinjal in Dom’s study, Inchyra Blue in the master bedroom, and Mole’s Breath in the dining room.” >>

>> “We zoned the kitchen so that it worked better and installed premium appliances from names like Neff & Bosch, then replaced bathrooms with Porcelanosa fittings and tiles. At the back of the property we also created a gym and then a bar.” On the first floor is a master suite with dressing room and en suite, plus two further bedrooms and two bathrooms. On the second floor are three further bedrooms plus a shower room. The potential for multi-generational living is also incorporated thanks to a self-contained annexe to the front of the house with an en suite wetroom to the master bedroom. Throughout the property there are beautifully reinstated features from exposed stonework to flagstone floors and partially-vaulted ceilings, to 18th century wall panels and open fireplaces. The whole property is a masterclass in how to bring a home back to life, preserving its character whilst simultaneously making it suitable for modern living, working from home and entertaining. “We’ve really enjoyed living here and it’s a beautiful property, ideal for commuting to London but also ideal for those who want a busy family home. Sadly this is the only family Christmas we’ll get to spend here, so with the help of our five nieces and nephews, we intend to make the most of it this month!” n

Guide Pride: £875,000

Substantial Georgian property, Grade II listed and set in 1.8 acres. Four double bedrooms, Chiselwood kitchen, three reception rooms and many period features. Mature gardens with tennis court and the original coach house.

www.masonsandpartners.co.uk

n Peakirk, Market Deeping

Guide Price: £1,550,000

Sublime Grade II* listed Georgian refurbished residence, six miles from Peterborough with five reception rooms and six double bedrooms, plus walled courtyard and original features. Gated entrance and extensive lawns and terrace.

www.fineandcountry.com n Gibraltar Road, Skegness

Guide Price: £650,000

A spacious six bedroomed arts and crafts house in sought-after location set in an acre of grounds. Six bedrooms, three large reception rooms, in a sought-after location south of Skegness which leads to the Gibraltar Point Nature Reserve.