YOU know a house is rather grand when it has two front doors. Of course that also provides you with a puzzle. Which one to knock on?

“You chose the right one,” Rosemary Luscombe says, answering our push of the bell.

“This one brings you right into the heart of the house…” As indeed it does – because stepping beyond the inner hallway, you come face-to-face with a brilliant vision in the shape of a beautifully- fitted kitchen running into a wonderful open family and dining space with light streaming in from deep conservatory windows.

‘Wow factor’ does not quite do it justice.

But then, as we are about to discover, there are quite a few highlights to this house.

We are at Oak Tree Close in Strensall, a tranquil, tucked-away spot in a quiet corner of this popular village.

Rosemary and husband Iain Robinson bought the house eight years ago. At the time, it was quite a different property… It was originally designed and built for a local estate agent as a smart home to retire into. Back then, in 1967, it was basically a two-bedroomed dormer bungalow.

And still was when Rosemary and Iain arrived.

“We were immediately attracted to it,” says Rosemary. “It was very pretty and it had a big plot.

“But,” she adds, “we wanted to do something more with it.”

That “something more” has included considerably extending, refurbishing and revitalising the property – turning it into a big, sweeping family home with a huge amount of space and style, with extra added living space, bedrooms and bathrooms.

If you are going to undergo that kind of transformation work, it helps, of course, to have a little knowledge of how to go about it.And Iain, as an architectural technologist, had just that kind of experience.

Shortly after they moved in, he set to and redesigned a whole new home… Starting with that quite brilliant open-plan kitchen, and conservatory family and dining space. It is a lovely light and bright area – the kitchen is a fine blend of cream base and wall units and imported Brazilian marble granite work surfaces, set around an impressive Range double oven and six-ring gas hob and an array of integrated appliances including fridge, freezer, dishwasher and microwave.

There is a comfortable seating area from which you can look up at the overhead, eye-catching open mezzanine area which adds to that great sense of space. Oh, and it’s very toasty on stockinged feet, thanks to heating set under the Travertine flooring.

Not surprisingly, Rosemary and Iain use this area a lot. “It’s just such a lovely spot,” Rosemary says. “So light and bright and it’s very quiet. We spend most of our time in here.”

Not that the rest of the house is without its attractions. The kitchen/family area opens into a large L-shaped lounge, running to some 23ft, with a beautiful bay window overlooking the garden and warmed by a working fire set in an open grate in a stone feature fireplace.

There is a formal dining area set to the back of the room, providing a good space for parties. “We have had a number of dinner parties with lots of people in here,” Rosemary says. “The house lends itself to entertaining.”

There’s certainly plenty of sleeping space for guests – along with lots of en-suite facilities – as I discover when we head up the stairs to the first floor (finding an open office space to the landing in the process).

Here, to one side of the house, there is a large double guest bedroom with en-suite shower room and a range of smart, fitted wardrobes and another good-sized room, presently in use as an office, with a large area off which is ideal for stashing away all the work files you don’t want on show. Or, as Iain points out, you could return it to use as a bedroom with walk-in wardrobe.

On the other side of the first floor – west wing, as it were – there are two further double bedrooms, both with shower rooms. And one of these provides us with another wow factor moment… There are French doors to one end of this room which open on to a sunny terrace balcony with stone steps running down to the garden.

“This is our secret spot,” Iain says. “The terrace gets the last rays of the afternoon sun and we sometimes come up here with a glass of wine and enjoy the sunshine and the nice outlook – and no-one knows you are here because it is very private.”

Breathtaking. And at this point we do need to gather breath – because there is more of this house to see.

We slip back downstairs to find the master bedroom, a superb, spacious ground floor room with French doors to a stone flagged terrace and the garden, an en-suite wet room style bathroom and separate WC.

At one point, this was a room planned for Rosemary’s parents to come and live with them and it certainly provides the basis for an ideal independent yet connected living area for older (or younger for that matter) family members.

That’s something else impressive about this house – its many rooms provide a great deal of flexibility, lending themselves to a variety of different uses depending on your own family circumstances.

Iain and Rosemary have certainly done a marvellous job here, the extension areas have been superbly designed, the bathrooms are all contemporary in styling, the living and dining spaces are delightful and the whole house is smartly presented.

And that is without mentioning the south-west-facing gardens to the back of the house with large lawned areas and established hedges and mature trees, coloured by flower beds in the summer and with a pond and waterfall.

And for those who like their home-grown food there is a vegetable plot which provides potatoes, carrots, parsnips and beetroot and raspberries, red and black currants and delicious rhubarb.

Sound like the good life? It would be in this house!

 

1 OakTree Close, Strensall

Reception rooms: 2

Bedrooms: 5 (one in use as a home office)

Bathrooms: 4

Gardens: Spacious, private, attractive south-facing rear garden. Hard standing to front and a large double garage

Wow factor: That stunning kitchen open to a conservatory family/dining area

Price: £565,000

Contact: Williamsons, 01904 234545