History and Character
Featured in Country Life magazine, The Grange has lived many lives. Built in 1906 it was used by the Armed Forces during the war, later became a private school and was subsequently converted into apartments. Converted back into a family home in 2010, the current owners have continued upgrading the home for modern family life and multigenerational living, combining comfort with contemporary luxury.
Lifestyle Potential
The Grange offers numerous lifestyle possibilities. The house itself is a substantial family home, well suited to multigenerational living. The lower ground floor is currently a self-contained leisure complex with its own kitchen and sitting room and private entrance, ideal for extended family, guests, or for use as a business venture. Twelve ensuite bedrooms across the upper two floors offer clear hospitality potential, particularly with the planned opening of Universal Studios in Bedford. It’s easy to imagine The Grange as a boutique hotel, particularly as all four floors are easily accessible by lift as well as a staircase. An added benefit to a buyer is that the current owners are open to selling the house as seen, including all furniture, fixtures and fittings in the sale.
Ground Floor
Stone steps rise to the front door and entrance vestibule with its original mosaic tiled floor and door to the reception hall. This magnificent double height space has original oak floorboards and ornate plaster ceilings, and an oak staircase sweeping up to the galleried first floor landing. The entrance hallway leads off to four reception rooms.
Principal Reception Rooms
The principal reception rooms are elegant, generously proportioned and full of period character, while reflecting the home’s refined contemporary styling.
The drawing room to the right of the entrance hall has mullioned bay windows drawing in light from two aspects, and shelving either side of the marble fireplace provides space for art and books. The room measures over 27ft long and has ornate plaster ceilings, deep ceiling mouldings and picture rails.
The dining room positioned to the left of the entrance hall is also over 27 ft long with a marble fireplace, exposed floorboards and mullioned bay windows. This room has a range of bespoke carpentry including the dining table and a fitted wall unit with folding doors opening to reveal a mirrored bar with a fridge and shelving.
The morning room has dual aspect views over the garden, an oak floor and limestone fireplace.
Home Office, Study and Snug
The Grange is well equipped for home working, with two dedicated office spaces, one of them fully fitted with office furniture and bench seating beneath the window.
The snug is fitted with a bespoke range of cupboards and shelving, has side-facing windows, and a door leading to the fire escape.
Kitchen/Breakfast Room
The hallway continues into the open plan kitchen/breakfast room which overlooks the rear garden. Finished with new LVT flooring, the kitchen is fitted with a bespoke range of cabinets topped with quartz work surfaces. Extensive storage includes a pantry and a cleverly concealed breakfast bar. Two central islands provide both seating and preparation space, with one seating up to 8 and the other incorporating a prep sink and butcher’s block. A vast array of appliances includes a range cooker with induction hob, a warming drawer, a microwave, two dishwashers, two fridges, a wine fridge and a freezer, plus two Franke sinks and a Quooker boiling water tap.
Utility Room
A well-composed utility room has a range of base units beneath the window and full-height cupboards spanning the opposite wall, providing plenty of storage for kitchen appliances. There is also space and plumbing beneath the work surfaces for white goods. A cloakroom sits just off the utility room.
First Floor Bedrooms
Ten of the 12 bedrooms at The Grange have ensuite facilities, making the house well suited to modern family life, while also offering clear potential for hospitality or other business use, if desired.
The first floor is arranged around a galleried landing set over two levels, with the lift and a staircase to the second floor positioned on the lower landing.
There are nine bedrooms on this floor. The principal bedroom suite (Bedroom 3 on the floorplan) is particularly spacious and includes a dressing room and ensuite shower room, together with fireplaces and intricate plasterwork to the ceiling. Three of the remaining 8 bedrooms on this floor have dressing rooms, and Bedroom 4 on the floorplan is currently arranged as a treatment room.
A family bathroom is also found on this floor.
Second Floor Bedrooms
A staircase lined with fitted bookshelves leads to the second-floor landing, which has access to the lift, a fire exit, a built-in storage cupboard, a bathroom and the roof space. The remaining 3 double bedrooms share this floor, all with ensuite facilities. Two have walk in wardrobes and the third has a dressing room fitted with contemporary wardrobes.
Lower Ground Floor
The lower ground floor provides a self-contained annexe, well suited to staff, guests or multigenerational living. It has two separate external entrances. One opens into an expansive boot room with built in cupboards, while the other leads directly into the kitchen beside a cloakroom. Currently arranged with leisure in mind, this floor includes two games rooms, a sitting room, and a potential cinema room wired for surround sound.
The kitchen has a range of full height cupboards and a central island with a breakfast bar. It comes fully equipped with two ovens, a Bosch hob, a fridge/freezer, a wine cooler and a washing machine. In addition, this floor has several store and control rooms for the telephone system, network servers and lift system.
Gardens and Grounds
The Grange has a peaceful, elevated setting, surrounded by three acres of gardens and grounds with open views across the surrounding countryside. Access is via electric gates at the end of a lane just off the A6, serving only The Grange and one neighbouring property. From the pillared entrance, a newly tarmacked driveway leads to a gravel parking area in front of the house and continues up to a large gravel area with a double garage, space for extensive parking, and the outbuilding currently used as a gym. The gardens feature lawned areas bordered by established planting and mature trees, and several paved terraces provide plenty of space to relax or dine outside. There is a paddock enclosed by post and rail fencing.
Garage and Large Outbuilding/Gym
A brick built double garage with remotely operated doors has power and water connected. Adjacent to the garage, a substantial timber framed outbuilding is fully powered with double doors opening at either end. Currently used as a state-of-the-art gym, this versatile space would work equally well as a place to house a classic car collection.
Additional Outbuildings
Three further brick-built outbuildings with power connected form an L-shape around the rear courtyard. One is a boiler room housing the new and upgraded gas-fired heating and hot water system. The other two are useful for storage, workshop space or other practical uses.
Situation and Schooling
Local amenities in Milton Ernest include a lower school, a garden centre, hotel/public house/restaurant, a church, and a village hall. It is approximately 5 miles from Bedford town centre which has the Harpur Trust schools and a railway station with services to St. Pancras International 41 minutes.
