Hive Cottage Lynn Road | East Winch | Norfolk | PE32 1NP HIVE COTTAGE MIXING OLD AND NEW In the village of East Winch between Swaffham and Lynn Is an extended cottage, light and airy within; A mix of tradition with characterful new It has so much space all the way through, With carrstone walls and old cottage beams This place is really more than it seems. The refurb’s included new hardwood doors And lots of smart brown porcelain floors, Outside there’s potential in the spacious barn, Here’s a fine family home full of great charm. • A Detached, Sympathetically Refurbished and Extended Norfolk Property • Conveniently Located Within Easy of Access of King’s Lynn & Swaffham • Reception Room, Dining Room, Garden Room, Study, Kitchen & Utility • Six Bedrooms, One En-Suite with Walk-In Wardrobe, Family Bathroom • Detached Outbuilding & Games Room Ideal for an Annex (Subject to Planning) • Off Road Parking, Attached Double Garage, Rear Garden & Gazebo for Hot Tub • The Accommodation extends to 2,321 sq. ft. 3 A carrstone cottage dating back to the 1850s has since been extended many times and now presents itself as a substantial six bedroom modernised home. It sits in the village of East Winch almost equidistant from Kings Lynn and Swaffham, and is only about half an hour’s drive to the beautiful North Norfolk coast with its miles of sandy beaches, and less than an hour to Norwich. Recent Extension The house is set down slightly from the road level surrounded by a gravel drive, with an attractive frontage of terracotta pantile roofs, and the old cottage carrstone end wall distinctly visible surrounded by brick of the later alterations. The adjoining double garage with three dormer windows above – the most recent addition by the current owners – has aluminium up-and-over doors which are a convincing foil for natural timber! Operated from an electrically controlled key fob, the open space inside is large, almost twenty feet square, and together with the adjacent entrance hall and study behind, master en suite and further bedrooms above, has almost doubled the size of the old property. “We have lived here twelve years,” says the owner, “we came when our three children were at primary school and it’s been perfect for our family growing up. We also run a business from here and the outbuildings have provided excellent storage.” You enter under an integrated storm porch through a partially glazed hardwood door flanked by glazed panels allowing light into the hall which has an inner hallway round to the left, and another half-glazed door into the study, or owner’s office, directly ahead. This has a door into the garage on one side and one to the back garden, on the other. Appealing ceramic tiles in mottled hues of brown cover the floor which extend across both hallways, into the office and the downstairs cloakroom with lavatory and washbasin, which you pass on your way to the kitchen. The spacious cloakroom conveniently has a door to the outside too. “We added the extension at the front just four years ago. The garage is so roomy that, with windows in place of the doors, it has potential to act as more living accommodation. It could be an annexe for an elderly relative, or even a more extensive one incorporating the upstairs bedrooms as well,” suggests the owner. The kitchen is a lovely light room with a big window over the garden to the south, and a cheery red tiled floor; it has a slightly rustic, French farmhouse appeal. “The kitchen is the only room we haven’t redone,” informs the owner. “It’s actually all good, quality stuff – the units are solid timber, and the floor and wall tiles are nice and robust. Someone might want to put new doors on the cupboards or paint the existing ones, I suppose, if they wanted to spruce it up a bit. It’s all perfectly functional.” The imitation granite one and a half bowl sink and drainer is sensibly positioned under the window and the electric cooker with ceramic hob has a concealed extractor fan above, in the corner. Leading off the kitchen through a half-glazed timber door, with more access to the back garden, is the utility room. With a tiled floor, this has a long larder cupboard and wall-mounted units for storage, and space and plumbing for a dishwasher, washing machine and tumble dryer. Open Plan Reception Rooms At the other end of the kitchen, a door opens into the dining room which is completely open plan with the living room creating a space of about twenty feet square, featuring a new staircase in one corner. Full of character as it is part of the original Victorian cottage, this expansive space has overhead timbers, and an exposed brick fireplace on a slightly raised tiled hearth, at the far end which houses a multi-fuel burning stove. The owners have recently laid top-of-the-range porcelain tiles, looking like timber floorboards, over the entire floor. Despite the cottagey feel, it is a light room with glazing to three aspects: a pair of windows overlook the front drive, a big bow window from the dining area is to the side, and to the south double doors, with a fixed panel on one side, open into the light-filled garden room. Another triple aspect room, this carpeted space enjoys a huge panelled curving bay window over the garden to the west, a pair of windows to the east, and a window We installed the new hardwood staircase, unusual in that it has open treads yet has a and half-glazed door onto the lawn to the south. “The garden room is great traditional style so in-keeping with the property; we put it in to connect with the new extension and in summer for social gatherings,” enthuses the owner. “The original cottage the old part of the house” has been extended three time: the kitchen and utility were added in the 70s, the garden room in the 80s, and we added the front extension in 2014. We also installed the new hardwood staircase, unusual in that it has open treads yet has a traditional style so in-keeping with the property; we put it in to connect with the new extension and the old part of the house.” Generous Bedrooms Venturing up these timber stairs which turn on a half landing around the owners’ contemporary glass chandelier, you arrive at a carpeted galleried landing which leads to the new extension bedrooms on one side and the old bedrooms on the other. Round to the left and up a couple of steps, the sixth bedroom which would take a double bed, is currently set out as a TV room and has a skylight overhead; so too, a large bedroom directly ahead. All the rooms in this part of the house have some sloping ceilings as they occupy part of the roofspace. Beyond this, across a little landing with a dormer window to the east, you find the master suite, a capacious room over twenty feet long with two east-facing dormer windows over the drive, and adjoining at the back of the room are doors into a walk-in wardrobe/dressing room, and to a sizable en suite. Each have rooflight windows, and the en suite has a double-sized shower with a sliding glass door, and a wall-mounted electric shower unit. There is a modern lavatory, and matching basin set into a contemporary vanity unit with cupboard space below. The floor is covered in large grey porcelain tiles, and the shower walls have rich mahogany coloured tiles. Moving back into the old cottage section, you find three more generously-sized bedrooms. Bedroom three is especially spacious and has a window over the front drive and a wall of built-in wardrobes. The other two bedrooms are at the back of the house overlooking the garden to the south and flank the family bathroom, one of which has a wall of fitted wardrobes. The bathroom is a long room with two windows also over the garden. It is fitted with a Heritage bathroom suite which includes a large panelled bath with centrally positioned traditional-style hand-held shower and mixer tap, a double-sized shower with a tropical rainfall shower head, a washbasin set into a vanity unit, and a lavatory with concealed cistern. White tiles clad the walls and terracotta-coloured porcelain ones are laid on the floor. A white heated towel rail with inset brass radiator completes the stylish suite. “All the solid internal doors are veneered hardwood and they are all brand new,” The original cottage has been extended three times: the kitchen and utility were added in declares the owner, “whilst the windows are all double-glazed UPVC. It’s a very the 70s, the garden room in the 80s, and we added the front extension in 2014” warm house with oil-fired central heating.” Carrstone Barn Outside, the easily managed and secure garden has some areas of mixed paving on several levels close to the back of the house where a raised pond contains some pretty large Koi carp, kept safe from the heron by some netting. A small section of lawn directly outside the garden room continues to an old carrstone and brick barn under a terracotta pantile roof, along the rear boundary. In one corner, the owners’ hot tub sits on a covered expanse of decking. “We only very recently installed the aluminium-framed glass roof over the hot tub,” explains the owner.