BARN CONVERSION AN ULTRA STYLISH

Offering over 4,200ft2 living space, modern decoration, a beautifully landscaped garden, five bedrooms and three reception rooms. There’s plenty of space and style for the next owners of this month’s featured property, Long Barn in Empingham...

THE DETAILS Long Barn, Barn End Empingham

Location: Oakham five miles; Stamford five miles; A1 2.5 miles.

Provenance: Former farm building dating back to 1658, converted for residential use in 1982 and modernised by current owners in November 2003.

Rooms: Four reception rooms currently arranged as lounge, sitting room and dining room plus living kitchen. Five double bedrooms.

Guide Price: £1,400,000.

Find Out More: James Sellicks, Market Place, Oakham LE15 6DT 01572 724437, jamessellicks.com.

THIS MONTH’S FEATURED PROPERTY should serve as a masterclass for anyone seeking to convert a barn, and turn a once utilitarian building into a contemporary family home whilst retaining its character and provenance. Long Barn is based in Empingham and among its many other selling points, the property also enjoys great views over farmland and is but a stone’s throw from the shores of Rutland Water. No wonder then, that the building – which dates back to 1658 – caught the eye of a developer back in the early 1980s.

The farm upon which the property once stood was sold in 1982 and its sale released three barns and a farmhouse for redevelopment, yielding a little community. Since then, just three families have lived at the property including its current owners, who moved in back in November 2003.

Back then the family’s son was of pre-school age and his sister was yet to grace the family with her presence. As attractive as the property was, the family managed to enhance it further by making a few internal changes to its layout.

“There aren’t many walls which remained in the same place,” say its owners. “But the changes were worth it, and the place has great flow and a really practical layout.” Among the changes the couple made was the incorporation of the south wing of the barn, creating a couple of further bedrooms a dressing room for the master suite and a study downstairs.

Over the years too, the couple have kept the property relevant to their circumstances, with a more football-friendly garden giving way to a newly landscaped outdoor space last year with brilliant hard landscaping courtesy of Alastair Peat of Alfresco Landscaping, including a couple of palm trees and fancy lighting to the terrace area creating a nice outdoor space to enjoy on summer evenings. The property is arranged over two floors and there are five bedrooms on the first floor plus an en suite for the master (plus that dressing room), as well as two further bathrooms. The ground floor comprises a large lounge incorporating home cinema with a mezzanine level that can serve as a space to enjoy music, work or read. The lounge has a feature fireplace as well as soaring ceilings to the lounge with exposed beams and roof trusses. An additional lounge to the south of the barn has lower ceilings plus a wood burning stove and there’s a dedicated dining room adjacent to the kitchen with French doors opening onto the terrace.

As well as having bags of period style, Long Barn has been brought right up to date by the family, no least by virtue of a state-of-theart kitchen designed by Stamford-based NGI Design with Cesar high-gloss handleless cabinetry and with engineered stone surfaces, as well as appliances by Miele. >>

>> Elsewhere, flooring comprises of porcelain tiles and timber, whilst bathrooms feature and Duravit fittings with a clean, modern look to each room and a total of 4,250ft2 of living space in total. There’s lots of space, but it’s useful space, too,” say the owners “In addition there’s built-in storage to the bedrooms a separate utility, a double garage and a couple of outbuildings.”

“Even the garden is a reception room in its own right, but it’s been landscaped to offer an ultra-low maintenance quality, with just an annual haircut for the hedging and a bit of a tidy up of the orchard’s apple and cherry trees. There’s a fair bit of lawn but even that’s taken care of by our robot lawnmower which we thought might be a gimmick at first but has turned out to be a fantastic bit of kit... I almost feel guilty watching it in summer!”

“We’ve made lots of family memories here, and as the kids have grown up, a place to play has turned into a place to return to during breaks from university, and a place to spend time as a family. Your priorities change and we’re now looking to downsize so we can spend more time in London and travelling internationally, but we’re very keen to keep a foothold in Rutland, we’ve lots of friends here. It’s been a great family home that has evolved and adapted to suit our needs, over the years!” n n First Drift, Wothorpe

Guide Pride: £2,250,000

St Andrew’s Lodge is a magnificent light-filled family home on a plot approaching an acre, comprising four bedrooms, and four receptions currently arranged as a drawing room, dining room, sitting room, garden room and living kitchen, www.pelhamjames.co.uk n Fineshade Abbey, Northants

Guide Price: £2,495,000 n Gretton, Northamptonshire

Fineshade offers graceful living space in a Grade II listed former stableblock with four bedrooms plus two self-contained cottages, and four reception rooms currently arranged as a breakfast kitchen, dining room, drawing room and reception hall, www.kingwest.co.uk.

Guide Price: £865,000

Stunning barn conversion offering a spectacular interior with views over the Welland Valley. Four double bedrooms with en suite bathrooms, reception hall, living kitchen, garden room and first floor living area. Gym annexe and home office, oak-framed garage, murrayestateagents.co.uk.