Detached house for sale in Lower Shelton Road, Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire MK43

Spectacular space and style in amazing chapel conversion - complete with outdoor office

An exceptionally impressive, 3-double bedroom, 3-bathroom home - the height of modern, energy- efficient comfort wrapped up in striking, Victorian, Gothic form. And this former Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, converted in 2018, in Bedfordshire’s Marston Moretaine, the village made famous by Captain Tom, comes with garden, outdoor office, garage/workshop and driveway parking for at least 5 cars. Over 2700 square feet of inspiring yet comfortable and welcoming space.

Your new home is well placed for travelling. Just 6.5 miles from Flitwick station, fast trains reach London in 41 minutes. Bedford and Milton Keynes, 7.5 and 12.5 miles respectively, are options for even quicker trips to the Capital, as well as providing world-renowned private schools and excellent shopping facilities. Milbrook’s Marston Vale line between Bedford and Bletchley is just a 1.5-mile cycle ride and the nearby A421 provides fast access to the M1. Hop on a bus from your road to take you the 4.5 miles to Cranfield University and Technology Park. The lovely market town of Ampthill, with its pubs, restaurants and Waitrose supermarket is just 5.5 miles away.

Yet so much is on the doorstep. You can walk to the little pre and primary school less than a mile away. As is the ancient Church of St Mary, so unusual for its detached bell tower, said by some to have originally been a watchtower used to protect villagers from the Vikings who sailed their longships to Bedford along the River Great Ouse. Co-op, community hall, indoor and outdoor sports facilities, as well as popular pub and Indian restaurant are all within a mile’s walk.

Lakes for fishing and watersports are nearby, and one of the county’s best golf courses is just 3 miles away at Millbrook. Several hundred yards from your front door is the Millennium Country Park, a delightfully peaceful conservation area and nature reserve, where you can also pick up the Route 51 cycle route that connects Oxford to Cambridge, as well as the Jubilee Trail, a 6-mile circular walk, along which The Old Chapel is one of the landmarks. It’s one thing admiring the building from beyond the front railings. It’s quite another to call it your home.

About the property

Step through double oak doors, 1858 etched into the arched glass above, into the impressive entrance hall, utility and lovely cloakroom to one side, study (or gym, perhaps) to the other, and there’s already a feeling that you’re stepping into somewhere special.

Through glazed double doors and you’re left in no doubt. Wow! Natural light pours through wonderful, peaked windows to one side and the huge glass doors that slide open to the canopied terrace and garden at the end. A spectacular spiral staircase (from Prince George’s Berkshire school) gently winds its way from the oak floor to the glass galleried landing.

Lighting is designed to suit task and mood. Lovely, painted kitchen furniture, topped by beautiful quartz, includes a super, corner larder cupboard and houses appliances to make your life easier, including hot tap, steam oven and induction hob with integral extractor. Breakfast at the island, dine in an area separated from the sitting zones by a stylish room divider. An equally stylish log burner takes its place in the far corner. Everything has its place, yet in a natural, unforced way.

Such space, yet so warm., with zoned central heating beneath the floors, high performance double glazing to the wooden windows, and high-grade insulation behind attractive brick slips which, added to two main walls (those of The Old Chapel and its even older neighbour), also ensures no transfer of noise.

Unusually, underfloor heating continues upstairs, as does space and style - on the lovely landing (made for your art collection), and in gorgeous bedroom suites (each one with those eye-catching windows), not least the main one, with its super dressing room, fabulous freestanding bath, huge shower and twin basins, not to mention far-reaching field views from its Juliet balcony. Wonderful arched timberwork, supporting vaulted ceilings, add something special to the 5-star comforts.

The Old Chapel is quite a place for entertaining, but it’s fantastic for everyday living too, for working from home in your outdoor office, and for relaxing outside in your south-facing garden, where you can look forward to weeping silver birch, willow, grasses and bee-friendly planting develop. It is, quite simply, superb