SIMON EVANS knew The Willows was just the place for him the moment he parked his car in the tranquil. leafy cul-de-sac. “This,” he said at the time, “is where I want to live.”

And that is exactly what happened… Simon and his wife Sue moved into the house on a memorable date – their daughter Natalie’s fourth birthday. And, proving that Simon’s instinct for where he wanted to make a family home was the right one, they have been in The Willows for 19 years.

It is is tucked away off Moor Lane, in Strensall, an exclusive collection of homes in a friendly community within a community.

The house which Simon and Sue bought sits on a good plot at the head of the cul-de-sac, a handsome- looking home surrounded by gardens to three sides and with a large hard-standing driveway and a double garage.

It’s not hard to see what prompted Simon’s instant decision – or why the Evans family have been so happy in their home. “The bits that we liked about the house when we first moved in are still here,” Simon adds.

“It’s very private, very quiet. You could be living in the country because it is so green. Strensall Common is just down the road for those who like walking and the village has good shops, the primary school is very good and it’s in the catchment area for Huntington School.”

Simon and Sue have spent a lot of time and effort in recent years on improving and refurbishing the property (not to mention quite a large amount of money), and it shows.

The kitchen, for instance, where we start our tour, is a stunner – light and bright (as is the rest of the house it is to transpire) and spacious.

It’s beautifully fitted with smart cream-coloured wall and base units and complementary work surfaces, a fine range of integrated appliances and with a central preparation island.

Plenty of room, too, for a huge American-style fridge-freezer. “It was the one thing that I really insisted on,” Simon said. “Sue wasn’t so keen – but now she thinks it was a great decision!”

What was an even better decision was – when the new kitchen was put in place – to make a substantial change to the layout of the ground floor.

“Originally we had a separate dining room which you got to from a door off the hallway,” Simon explained. “When we thought about it we realised that we never used the dining room…”

So the dividing wall was taken down and the whole area transformed into an open-plan kitchen/dining room.

“Now that is the room that gets used the most,” says Simon. “It’s become a great family space and a really good area for entertaining.”

If the kitchen/dining room is a wow then it’s matched by the living room – a superb, large, lovely and characterful room. You walk in to be greeted by an exposed brick inglenook-style fireplace with exposed wood beam mantel over and housing a living flame gas fire.

To the front are leaded windows, and to the rear, patio doors open onto the back garden and patio area (so once more this is a very bright room – and just to highlight the point the sun comes scampering out from behind the clouds to give us a taste of spring).

They didn’t scrimp on space when this house was built – the hallway is a decent size, there are good storage cupboards dotted around and the ground floor also has a useful study. Both Simon and Sue make good use of this room.

Until recently, Simon owned and ran his own catering company, providing refreshments for sports stadiums across the north of England – including at Hull City, which might explain the Tigers memorabilia in one of the bedrooms (Simon and their son have, apparently, become fans).

Sue and their daughter use the study as a music room, both playing the piano that rests here alongside a computer desk and bookshelves.

On the first floor there are four double bedrooms and a single bedroom (fitted with wall-to-wall and floor-to-ceiling wardrobes) or dressing room. The master bedroom is another delight, a big room with lots of light, overlooking the back garden and with a smart, and recently-fitted, highly-contemporary en-suite shower room.

Like the en-suite, the house bathroom is comparatively new, again very much a modern, comfortable and well-fitted room. I was very much taken by the view from another of the bedrooms; a view which gazes out onto a pond, silver birch trees and the willow trees.

The front of the house is lawned, with a walkway up to a gate that lets you into the back garden. Here there is a good-sized (but manageable) lawned area and a path from the house, under a long pergola, leading to the double garage.

There is a raised patio area, placed to capture all-day sun.

Then Sue leads me off to the ‘third garden’, this one to the side of the house. “It gets all-day sun here, too,” she says. “And because there is a high gate there it’s a safe place to let children play. The whole garden’s very child-friendly.”

It’s fairly private, too, an ideal area for relaxing, in a peaceful spot tucked away from the world. So, a big, light. bright house with good gardens in a very quiet and peaceful spot. All in all a super family home… just as Simon imagined it would be all those years ago.

at a glance

1 The Willows, Strensall

Reception rooms: 3

Bedrooms: 5

Bathrooms: 2

Gardens: To three sides and including hard-standing driveway for up to four cars and a double garage

Wow factor: Tough to call but the brilliant open plan kitchen and dining room just edges out the large and character-filled lounge

Price: £525,000

Contact: Ashtons

Phone: 01904 659222