GARDEN Cottage has fascinating features by the bucketload, which is what attracted owner Kathryn Bowler to it six years ago.
The former gardener's cottage has been sympathetically converted by knocking through to the adjoining barn, which makes for an interesting property with lots of nooks and crannies.
Kathryn explains: "It's a very quirky house. It's kind of a back-to-front house, with the main features at the back, which makes it feel very private and quiet.
"When I saw it, I just liked the character of it. It has lovely old beams and the lounge is quite spectacular."
This is a house of many levels with the lounge on the first floor.It is, indeed, spectacular, having an impressive staircase which leads to a galleried office and then up to an upper sitting area, with dormer window. From here you can look down on the main lounge and admire the original exposed ceiling trusses with their wooden hooks.
Back down the stairs, the main lounge has an attractive fireplace with hand-crafted solid oak surround and open fire grate for cosy winter evenings.
On warmer days, throw open the French windows and step out onto the small balcony, which looks over the cottage garden and Derbyshire countryside beyond.
There are more French windows looking out into the back garden in the ground floor dining room, which also has a beamed ceiling and a feature fireplace, this time fitted with multi-fuel stove.
"The stove is very good because it heats the core of the house. It's at the gardener's cottage end and the chimney goes up between two bedrooms so it warms the wardrobe, airing cupboard and even the rooms," says Kathryn.
The breakfast kitchen is very spacious and features a beamed ceiling, limestone flooring, birch-effect units and a polished granite-effect rolled-edge work surface.
The cottage has four bedrooms, two of which are on the ground floor and are served by a walk-in shower room with twin shower heads. A second staircase leads to two first-floor bedrooms and a bathroom.
There is a pretty cottage garden, which has been designed for low maintenance and has lots of interesting features, including a natural stone rockery, pergola, mature trees, well-stocked borders and a split-level koi carp pond.
"It backs on to open fields and it's nice and private," says Kathryn. "There are beautiful views in both directions, and you can just see Alport Heights."
Kathryn enjoys the peace and tranquillity of village life, while knowing that all the necessary amenities are not too far away.
She says: "Idridgehay is in the countryside but it's very convenient for Derby, Ashbourne, Wirksworth, the Peak District and Matlock; they're all commutable."
She now intends to move nearer to family, who live in Cheshire, but has no plans to leave the county.
"It's a lovely house and I like living here but it's not for me any more," she says. "But I'm Derbyshire born and bred, so I'd quite like to stay in the county."
WHERE: Garden Cottage, Wirksworth Road, Idridgehay
TYPE: Four-bedroomed semi-detached cottage with secluded garden
PRICE: £450,000
AGENT: Scargill Mann
PHONE: 01332 207720
