Nina Drewe could be forgiven for feeling a little bit strange when she and her husband Andrew bought The Farmhouse at Bind Lane, Billingsley, as it had been the home she grew up in.
Buying it from her parents seven years ago (they had decided to convert a farm building to live in nearby), the Drewes decided to put their own stamp on the place. They improved, redesigned it, exposed many beams and beautifully decorated and furnished it with great taste.
They have done a wonderful job and the property (which has five paddocks in around eight acres) is absolutely stunning. It’s position is also impressive as it has gorgeous countryside views over farmland and a lake.
As the Drewes are now having to move to be nearer schools, they have put The Farmhouse, Bind Lane, Billingsley, Bridgnorth up for sale through Berriman Eaton for around £695,000 (Details correct at time of publication - November 2006
It has a reception hall, guest WC, utility, study, sitting room, cellar, boot room, shower room, drawing room, dining room, farmhouse breakfast kitchen, four bedrooms, two bathrooms and three loft rooms.
Outside a driveway links to a shared drive of around half a mile to the lane and then a private drive. The house has formal surrounding gardens, a private parking area, store, paddocks and its own water supply.
Andrew is a managing director of an insurance firm while Nina stays at home. Nina said her parents had bought the house during the 1970s and overhauled it then. She said: “We rewired it and put central heating in. They (her parents) had night storage heaters and a lot of radiators were on their last legs, so it was bit cold and the windows were single glazed.”
The Drewes waited 12 months before tackling their first planned job. The old kitchen was smaller and at the front of the house. A sitting room behind it now forms the stunning farmhouse kitchen with Aga.
Nina said: “We found the Aga in a cow shed at Pony Club at Burwarton. We had it completely stripped down and rebuilt.”
The original kitchen is now a cloakroom and utility. The Drewes also put new bathrooms and a cloakroom in place and had a fake fireplace built for the dining room, incorporating slate found in the cellar. They also created the drive and landscaped the grounds.
Nina said: “In the house we exposed a lot of beams which had been covered up. My parents had already found the inglenook fireplace in the drawing room.” A section of wattle and daub has been left exposed as a feature in this room.
Nina’s parents had already converted one of the loft rooms, so she and Andrew carried on with the other two loft rooms and added a bathroom. This now makes a wonderful guest suite or teenager’s bedroom den area.
In fact all the space at The Farmhouse has been utilised to perfection. The dry cellar opens to a cosy second sitting room or snug, which has another large inglenook fireplace with oil burner. This in turn leads to the handy boot room with plenty of storage space and a shower room with separate access to ground level outside.
The Drewes used a small team of local builders for each job. The kitchen and windows were by Richard Guest of Highley.
The property itself is older than it looks. Nina said: “It was a country farm pub. They had mining along the stream and it used to connect the Billingsley mine with the Highley mine.” The property had also been extended at some point.
Nina said: “The house has been re-fronted, hence it’s not listed, but it does date back to 1693. There was a dwelling here and I think it got run down really badly and then it was re-fronted (with Billingsley brick) during Victorian times.
The home has a wonderful warm and welcoming atmosphere and it is a house that looks great in winter, as well as in the warmer months. It is so lovely and pleasantly decorated that the new owners need only move their furniture in.
Steps lead up to the front door. This opens to the entrance hall with stairs off to the first floor. Off the first floor landing a door opens to stairs to the loft accommodation. The basement rooms are also accessed from the ground floor entrance hall.
To the left of the hall is the utility and cloakroom. To the right is the magnificent front facing drawing room. Behind this is the dining room with three sets of French doors out to a raised decked area for Al Fresco dining and, adjoining that room, behind the utility and cloakroom is the farmhouse kitchen with fitted appliances and Belfast sink.
The cellar, snug room and boot room are on the lower ground floor, while the three loft rooms and loft bathroom are on the second floor.
- Further details are available from Berriman Eaton on 01746 766499.
- Details correct at time of publication - November 2006
By Cathy Stanworth
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