A stunning period home in a beautiful countryside setting (From York Press)

A stunning period home in a beautiful countryside setting

3:36pm Thursday 26th July 2012

TO GET to Storwood you have to meander down a country lane, high hedges and trees waving to one side, open country wandering away to the other.

There is a sudden sense of peace and calm as you approach this tiny village (or, more accurately, a small group of tucked-away homes).

And that sense of tranquillity deepens when I drive through the gateway and roll onto the wide pebbled driveway of West Farm.

“It is very peaceful isn’t it?”

Shelley Morgan says, well aware she’s at risk of stating the obvious.

“But come on in and have a look around the house.”

“This,” she says, as we step from the hallway into a bright and airy living room, “is a very sunny room.

It faces due south at the back and there is a west-facing window to the side so it really does get a lot of light.”

It’s a good-sized room, too, with solid oak flooring underfoot and high ceilings above. There are deep windows, one set of which overlooks the garden to the back and the paddock beyond. At its centre is a fireplace, with decorative shelving to the alcoves and period-style cupboards either side.

As it turns out, the living room is to set the standard for the rest of the house, its sense of space and style mirrored in many of the other rooms.

The formal dining room, for instance, also has high ceilings, a window overlooking the garden, more oak flooring and a handsome dresser tucked into a recess. This room was the property’s original kitchen – as Shelley and husband John discovered when they had the walls stripped back to upgrade damp-proofing.

“We found the remains of an old Yorkshire range,” says Shelley. “A bit of a surprise.”

Very likely. But then this house is full of them. Not least a local family of wrens who, if the dining room windows are left open too wide, will pop in and perch themselves on the tops of the dining chairs.

Shelley laughs at the thought.

“We have a lot of wildlife here; deer, barn owls, woodpeckers – and there is a family of house martins around at the moment.”

An enchanting thought. This, more and more it seems, is a real rural idyll. But, tearing ourselves away from wildlife-spotting, we continue to the kitchen – and find that this is a simply stunning spot.

“This is my favourite room in the house,” Shelley says. “The family spends a lot of time here.”

It’s not hard to see why. It’s a big, bold and yet cosy space with a range of fitted pine wall and base units, offset with contrasting granite worktops, running around a handsome Range-style cooker.

This kitchen area is to one side of the room – to the front there is a wide family/dining space with French doors onto a patio area and with views of the garden beyond.

With the more prosaic work of the ground floor taken up with a further family room, cloakroom and utility room it’s easy to sense how this area could be the real heart of the home.

The utility room, incidentally, is a real boon – it’s the ideal place to come into the house after a muddy walk (of which there are many in the surrounding countryside).

It’s time now to take in the five bedrooms the house has to offer, adding to the sprawling yet seamless attractions of West Farm.

The first is a pretty room, with sloping ceilings and a window facing to the east. “It’s lovely on sunny mornings,” says Shelley, “and when you open the window you get a lovely smell from the honeysuckle outside.”

And this is probably a good time to mention that while West Farm sits in a secluded rural spot, it is close enough to main roads to make commuting easily accessible.

“Pocklington is very close,” Shelley says, “and we are easily within reach of roads that get you to Hull and Leeds and York is just a short drive away.”

The best of all worlds, then – and visitors to this rural hideaway have another guest suite to choose from when we switch to the west wing (or the “family area” as Shelley describes it).

Here, there is a second-floor bedroom with en-suite, while below there is a master bedroom, a smart principal bathroom, a second good double bedroom and a fifth bedroom (which is presently in use as a computer room/office).

This substantial package is wrapped up by extensive land to front and rear – a big, mostly lawned, garden to the back with a paddock running to around half an acre and, to the front, a series of outbuildings including two stables and a log store sitting to the side of hard-standing and lawned areas.

The ideal country retreat!

AT A GLANCE...

West Farm, Storwood

Reception rooms: 3

Bedrooms: 5

Bathrooms: 3

Gardens: Large private lawned garden to rear with half-acre paddock; pleasant lawned area to front with hard-standing area and outbuildings including stables and log store.

Wow factor: Location, location – as well as that simply stunning kitchen/dining/family room overlooking the rear garden.

Price: £599,000

Contact: R M English

Phone: 01904 697900