A pink cottage in a sea of green in Weston Colville, South Cambridgeshire

Pleasingly set back from the road and in a semi-rural setting, thatched Green Cottage is a grade II-listed house directly opposite the cricket green in the centre of Weston Colville.

The property – believed to date back to 1779 – boasts two reception rooms, a kitchen/breakfast room and a delightfully unorthodox split landing opening out onto three double bedrooms and a bathroom.

It is on the market with Cooke Curtis of Cambridge for £450,000.

The cottage is set behind a mature front garden, with a drive to one side – which provides access to the southwesterly-facing rear garden, mainly terraced with shrub borders and a mature tree – as well as two parking bays at the front of the property.

The front door, which has a weathered age plaque over it, opens straight into the dining room with its beautiful inglenook fireplace, exposed timbers and pretty cottage windows. The adjacent cosy sitting room also has exposed timbers and looks out over the garden.

Richard and Julia Henderson have lived in this picture-perfect abode for 31 years.

“When we bought it, it was completely unrestored,” recalled Julia. “We extended the kitchen and built on the bathroom and bedroom above. The two downstairs rooms and the two bedrooms above them are completely original.”

Planning consent for the kitchen and boot room to be reorganised to provide a large kitchen diner, overlooking the rear terrace, expired in 2015, but plans are available to view.

Discussing her favourite features, Julia said: “I think the bedrooms are lovely. They have sloping ceilings, but they don’t come right down so that you can’t put your furniture under them. They’re higher than that, so you can slide a chest of drawers in and get your bed up against the wall.

“Also, the windows at the front [in the dining and sitting rooms] still have their original glass.”

Julia is Cambridge born and bred while Richard hails from Northumberland. The couple were antiques dealers and used to have a shop on Mill Road.

Why have they decided to leave a house they clearly cherish?

“To be closer to friends,” replied Julia. “We’ve been here 31 years – our daughter grew up here and we made friends in the village and the area through kids at school. You make lifelong friends through your children. They’ve gradually moved away and we want to get the other side of Newmarket so we’re a bit closer to them.”

The couple plan to move to a modernised, extended 1970s house – quite a change from an historic, listed property – but still in the countryside.

“I wouldn’t want to move into town, I like to be quiet and in the country, but with easy access to Cambridge and Bury St Edmunds,” said Julia.

Asked what she and Richard would do to the house if they were staying longer, Julia responded: “We would definitely take our big shed down at the back, which goes the full width of the garden, and make the garden bigger. We no longer use it. We used to use it for storing antiques and restoring them, but we don’t do that anymore, so I think we’d take that out and have more garden.”

Julia concluded: “We’ve been very happy here but it’s time to move on for us.”

cookecurtis.co.uk / 01223 508050