For Sale3 Bedroom Barn Conversion in Middlebirks Barn, Clapham, North Yorkshire, LA2 8HD£600,000

Converted in 2000 by the Rural Buildings Preservation Trust, the property then passed into private hands and after their purchase in 2020 has been extensively upgraded and attractively presented by the present owners. The accommodation offers a stylish breakfast kitchen and a generous sitting/dining room. The first floor has a principal bedroom with ensuite shower room, two further bedrooms and a house bathroom. Within the property is a suite of rooms perfectly suited to guests, a dependent relative or to be incorporated and used as a whole, as is now the case. This comprises a ground floor living kitchen and shower room with a separate set of stairs to a fourth bedroom/optional snug. Outside, gardens surround the barn with stores, parking provision, lawns, seating areas and a kitchen garden with greenhouse and raised bed to grow your own veg. This unrivalled rural location will suit those seeking peace and quiet, appealing to anyone intent on total immersion within nature and the changing seasons. Although deep in the countryside there is a strong local community and a great selection of villages and towns within a convenient drive for day-to-day shops and services. For walkers, runners, cyclists and bikers, this is a fabulous base for exploration, all available from the doorstep. Communication links by road and rail are to hand ensuring you remain well connected whilst enjoying your rural idyll. Vendor Insight We have greatly appreciated the peace of this setting. We live with the seasons and appreciate all that each new month brings. The views change daily, hourly; the morning mist across Ingleborough, the sunlight on the fells, the rain as it sweeps across and the newly fallen blankets of snow. It’s all wonderful. Location Immersed in the recognised highly picturesque Forest of Bowland ‘National Landscape’, Keasden is a little valley leading up the hill from Clapham Station towards Slaidburn over Bowland Knotts. The word ‘Keasden’ comes from Old Norse language meaning ‘Valley of the cheese’. From the house there are panoramic views of Yorkshire’s very own Three Peaks: the impressive Whernside, Ingleborough and Pen-y-ghent. There are 46 National Landscapes in the UK. These are places with national importance, protected for the nation’s benefit: cherished by their communities, celebrated by the nation and locally managed by expert teams. It provides Middlebirks Barn with a privileged setting. Whilst embracing the rural nature of this position, hop in the car and there is a good choice of places to eat out, local shops, artisan food producers and retailers and general amenities to be found in the nearby villages and towns of Clapham, Austwick, Ingleton, Settle and Kirkby Lonsdale. St Matthew’s Church at Keasden acts as the centre of this thriving rural community and hosts events throughout the year. At Middlebirks Barn you can decompress with the peace and stillness of a country lifestyle, but still access excellent road and rail links to maintain business and social connections. By road, join the M6 motorway at either J34 if heading south or J36 if going north – both under 20 miles distant. The A65 is under 4 miles away which provides the main route into the rest of Yorkshire and the east of the country. Travelling by train is also convenient, Clapham Station is under 3 miles away offering routes to Lancaster (and Morecambe) or to Leeds. If you prefer to proceed straight to a main west coast line station then Oxenholme and Lancaster are within 25 miles depending on the direction of your onward travel. Keen on exploring the great outdoors? This is a fabulous location for getting out and about, whether on foot, bike or car. The opportunities for exploration are seemingly endless when one considers not only the surrounding Dales, but the proximity of the Lake District National Park (you can be standing on the shores of Lake Windermere with a drive of around an hour or thereabouts, as it’s 35 miles away), the Arnside and Silverdale AONBs (National Landscapes) as well as the green and gently undulating Lune Valley. Vendor Insight It’s lovely to return here after a busy day at work. We can feel ourselves relax as we come off the motorway, the roads and then lanes becoming smaller and quieter as we make our way home. Step inside Where seen, the views of the surrounding countryside and the Three Peaks profoundly affect the interior, windows draw you forward with the views being a constantly changing delight. There’s a choice to enter through the kitchen, handy if returning with groceries or into the main reception room, which is lovely when welcoming visitors. The breakfast kitchen is stylishly appointed and has floor to ceiling storage, Silestone worktops and integral appliances for your culinary endeavours. The main stairs rise from here and there’s a good store cupboard built in underneath. From the kitchen table there’s a view over to Pen-y-ghent, what could be a better way to start the day as you enjoy a morning brew? Two limestone steps lead up the large square reception room, a very atmospheric space with oak flooring, exposed timbers and stonework and a multifuel stove with room for both seating and dining – a great family room and also perfect for entertaining. The large feature window frames an easterly view to Pen-y-ghent and opposite this there’s a westerly aspect into the adjoining copse of trees; in this way the room enjoys both sun rises and sets. The first floor has three bedrooms, potentially four, depending on how you choose to use the space on offer. The principal bedroom has feature wall paneling and two skylight windows, being southeast facing, it’s a bright room and has the benefit of an ensuite shower room, fully tiled with a shower cubicle, vanity unit and loo. The second bedroom is known as the ‘woodland bedroom’ as there are great sunsets to be enjoyed through the trees. The third bedroom is a single and presently used as an office with room for two workstations. The family bathroom is attractively fitted and has a claw and ball footed bath, a marble topped vanity unit and a loo. Pine floorboards and wall boarding bring a rustic touch balanced by contemporary tiling and a heated and illuminated mirror. Completing the picture on the first floor is the fourth bedroom, this highly versatile space is currently used as a cosy snug with a multifuel stove. It’s a wonderful room in which to hole up and watch a film on a rainy afternoon. The owners have a sofa bed in here so when hosting overnight guests they can have a degree of independence as a second set of stairs lead down to the living kitchen which has a kitchenette with space for a microwave, fridge freezer and washer. Off the kitchen is a shower room with a wooden floor, shower, wash basin and loo. The kitchen has a door to outside so family and guests can come and go as they please. It would also make a super place for hobbies or as a home office as the sense of separation from the main house would offer distraction free working and provide a distinctive work life balance. Step outside The gardens are gated and secure for dogs and children. The soundtrack of birdsong in surrounding trees makes this an incredibly restful garden, enhanced by the breathtaking views. A choice of seating areas are available designed to catch the sun at different times of the day, creating spots for morning coffee and evening gatherings. The entrance gate opens to a gravel area with space for four cars to park as well as room to turn. The south facing ‘top garden’ attracts sun all day long. It’s lawned with several mature trees which offer a shady spot for an outdoor lunch in the height of summer. Adjacent to the house is a dry stone walled and gated area known as the ‘cobbled garden’, it’s here that the owners have their Japanese Ofuro soaking tub and pizza oven (both are wood fired) set up as the views from here are extraordinary, panoramic and wide open taking in all Three Peaks. If a degree of shelter is needed but you still want to be outside, then the barn’s former wain door, now a feature door and window, has a small overhang to sit beneath. The ‘bottom garden’ sits to the north of the house and offers an alternative setting for your outdoor furniture as well as being home to a greenhouse and raised bed. There might not be a better view to be had whilst you potter amongst the plants as all Three Peaks are to be enjoyed as you work. At the back of the house the garden adjoins neighbouring woodland. Plants have been chosen here that thrive in a shady setting. There are two outdoor stores, both of which have power and light. Outside there are lights, power points and a cold-water tap. Vendor Insight We live with the seasons. Living here the nature of the environment itself is our main source of enjoyment and fulfillment. The swallows returning each May, their young fledging mid- July... we have hares playing in the field, a resident barn owl that bobs around, sparrowhawks that’ll gladly sit on the fence posts...the protected landscape, now a National Landscape (formerly the AONB) on the fringes of the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Conservation is important here and plays a major role all around the barn. The Keasden Curlew is a key part of this, featured in a recent episode of Country File; when we hear its call, we know that spring is on the way. Directions what3words education.emerge.blitz Use Sat Nav LA2 8HD with reference to the directions below: Travelling along the A65, at Clapham, turn off opposite the village signposted Clapham Station 1/Keasden 2 ½ miles. At the station, bear left under the railway bridge and up along the valley road. From the station, keep an eye out on the left after about 1 ½ miles for a drive with a farm sign Jackbeck/Long Bank Farm. Turn here, as the drive forks, bear right and cross the open field. At the top of the hill is a copse of trees on the left. Middlebirks Barn is immediately afterwards, on the left. Included in the sale Fitted carpets, curtains, curtain poles, blinds, light fittings and domestic appliances as follows: Induction hob, self-cleaning oven, microwave and dishwasher (all Bosch), AEG fridge freezer and CDA washer/dryer. Within the second living kitchen, the Bosch fridge freezer and Blomberg washing machine are included. Available by way of further negotiation is the woodfired Japanese Ofuro soaking tub. Services Mains electricity and water. LPG central heating from an Ideal combination boiler in the living kitchen. LPG bottles are located to the rear of the property. The heating is capable of remote control via the NEST App. Heated towel rails in the bathroom, ensuite and ground floor shower room. In addition to the radiator in the kitchen is a blown air skirting heater. Multi fuel stoves in the sitting room and snug. Private drainage to a septic tank located within the boundary. Please note The property and garden have full residential consent. Middlebirks Barn has a right of way from the public highway to the boundary over tracks owned by neighbours subject to upkeep responsibilities of differing percentages as follows: From the public highway (Keasden Road) to beyond the cattlegrid where there is a fork in the track, Middlebirks Barn has a right of way with a third responsibility for upkeep. The main/long track that crosses the middle of the fields (and including the small section where it turns off and to the house) attracts a 50% responsibility for upkeep.