The Snuggery at Burlton, near Ellesmere, is a picture postcard example of what most of us imagine an English country cottage should look like.
A simply beautiful home with an equally beautiful large garden, how it looks today is a far cry from what greeted its current owners, Bob and Arlene Morton, 20 years ago.
A cruck-beamed home which is believed to date back to the 16th century, it was empty and crumbling when they bought it.
Bob said: “There was water running down the walls and the electric was still on. It’s amazing it didn’t go up in smoke!”
It took Bob, a retired policeman from Liverpool, his wife Arlene and their three grown-up daughters 18 months to restore it to its former glory. Bob and Arlene lived in a caravan on site.
Bob said: “At night I would often be out with a lightbulb and a piece of wire doing the staircase till 11pm.”
The Mortons made a great job of the restoration and for two decades The Snuggery has been a much-loved family home.
As they are now moving in order to be nearer family, they have put The Snuggery up for sale through Monks of Shrewsbury for £339,000. (Details correct at time of publication - October 2006)
It has a porch, sitting room, family room/second reception room, third reception room/conservatory, kitchen/diner, utility room, main bedroom, second double bedroom, family bathroom, large gardens and a garage with studio which could also be used for ancillary accommodation.
Features include a vast number of beams, two inglenook fireplaces, oak floors and original windows. The home is larger than it looks from the outside and has a wonderful warm and welcoming atmosphere.
The landscaped garden includes a pond with waterfall, greenhouse, summer house and more than one patio/seating area.
From the front porch you walk into the family/second reception room with multi-fuel burner in an inglenook fireplace and ceramic tiled floor. This space can be used either as a dining room or as a third sitting room. To the right of this is the conservatory which is light and airy.
To the left of the family room/second reception room is the main sitting room with deep inglenook fireplace which is backlit. This room has cruck beams, handcrafted coving and a dog basket sitting on the stone hearth and a ceramic tiled floor.
At the rear of the central second reception room is a flight of wooden stairs to the first floor. Behind this is the smart kitchen/diner with large ceramic floor tiles. This space is the heart of the home. Off the kitchen/diner is a utility room and a door out to the garden.
Upstairs there is a small landing which is heavily beamed and the floors are oak floorboards. The internal ledge-and-brace cottage doors are made of elm.
To the left of the landing is the master bedroom. A spacious and light room, it has wall and ceiling beams, a casement window to the front and two side windows. The next room along is the second bedroom. To the right of the landing is the pretty upstairs family bathroom.
Bob said: “We came from Liverpool, at Aintree by the race course. I always wanted a cottage. When we bought this it was in a right state.”
The property had no bathroom, no bedroom and no landing and no proper drainage. The restoration work included taking down and restoring the entire front exterior wall, reroofing the place and then reinstating the beams.
Bob said: “The man next door is 87 and he has lived there all his life. He told me ‘Your front room was the cow shed and your bedroom was the hayloft’.”
- Further details on The Snuggery from Monks on (01743) 361422
- Details correct at time of publication - October 2006
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