A huge farmhouse that mixes Georgian charm with an 80 foot party barn and a swimming pool
If the Christmas and New Year period left you hankering after a home where you could really go to town with your celebrations, Julie Harding has the answer: a house with a huge party barn.
Toby Keel
The phrase 'party barn' does tend to get overused by estate agents these days; anything with an outbuilding bigger than a B&Q shed can find itself being marketed as a full-scale entertainment destination.
It's refreshing, then, to come across a place with a party barn that hits the spot, such as this one in Cambridgeshire for sale at £2.5 million. Hardwicke Farm comes with an 80½ft by 22½ft entertainment barn that really does boast the wow factor, and could see use well beyond the odd birthday party. A space like this — with its huge windows, vast floorspace and spectacular vaulted ceiling — could be used for anything from birthday parties and family get-togethers to craft workshops or yoga classes.
Additionally, the outbuilding housing this party area incorporates a games room, store rooms and kitchenette, plus bathrooms, and an adjoining two-bed annexe with a sitting room means guests can stay the night after fun-filled gatherings.
Vast gardens are part of the deal at Hardwicke Farm
Is there more? Do you really need any more? Very well: there's also a swimming pool, reached via expansive terraces and gravelled areas that include a disused tennis court which could potentially be reinstated.
The new owners will be well set if they are party animals or seeking an extra income stream, but they'll also have the main house on this property. It's a pretty Georgian farmhouse dating back to 1810, set in the Cambridgeshire village of Great Gransden.
The current owners have completely renovated the place to a very high standard, with polished wooden floors, high ceilings and a real sense of grandeur within the house.
There are five bedrooms, with three en-suite and the other two sharing a bathroom. The huge master suite has a vast bathroom with a tub overlooking the grounds, and a dressing room that's almost as big as the other bedrooms.
Downstairs, as well as the kitchen/breakfast room, dining room and drawing room, there is a music room, study and a family room.
And while there are parts of Cambridgeshire that can be considered remote, Great Gransden is not one of them. It's close to Sandy, with its excellent road and rail links to London, while Cambridge itself is only 13 miles away.
For sale via Knight Frank at £2.5 million — see more details.
