Penny Churchill takes a look at a house ideal for those commuting in to the City.
City workers who operate across multiple time zones in the increasingly competitive global financial marketplace are conscious of the need, in times of crisis, to be at their desks at any time of day or night — hence the attraction of train-journey times to London King’s Cross or St Pancras International as short as 20 minutes from Stevenage or 30 minutes from Hitchin.
If that strikes a chord with you, Mark Rimell of Strutt & Parker’s country department has a house which might tick that box: Crunnells Green House. Sitting in the ancient, rural Hertfordshire village of Preston, which stands on a ridge of the Chiltern Hills, four miles from Hitchin and seven miles from Stevenage, this lovely home is fresh to the market with a guide price of £3.25m.
Built in the style of Sir Edwin Lutyens in 1919, the classic Arts-and-Crafts house, which is unlisted, combines typically light and spacious reception rooms, each notable for its high ceilings and large windows, which allow the passage of maximum light.
The drawing room is particularly elegant, with its large open fireplace and original herringbone wood-block floor, which has been restored here and throughout much of the house.
Upstairs, the first-floor bedroom suite has been remodelled by the owners to provide a large bedroom with an ensuite bathroom and dressing room, each of which enjoys views of the Jekyll-esque gardens, which are arranged as a series of rooms and studded with rare exotic trees.
In all, the house offers some 4,000sq ft of accommodation, including four reception rooms, five bedrooms and a family bathroom.
An extensive range of outbuildings could be incorporated into the main house to provide additional living space, subject to planning consent.
Crunnells Green House is for sale at £3.25 million — see more details and pictures.
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