Modernised 1950s home for sale in Stapleford, Cambridgeshire
Simple from the front, the interior of this substantial, four bedroom home has been imaginatively updated and improved to provide beautifully proportioned accommodation fitted to an extremely high specification.
The new hardwood flooring that covers the downstairs living space is a particularly welcome feature.
The views from the front and back upper windows are part of the reason Dr Amit Sethi – the medical director of BUPA Global and a non-executive director of Cambridgeshire & Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust – decided to buy the property in September 2010, as a peaceful dwelling near Cambridge for him and his family.
The extensive rebuild and renovation took about nine months, with builders working seven days a week.
“We replaced the foundations and drainage system right from the ground up,” explained Amit.
“We redid everything and roughly increased the size of the house by about two-and-a-half times... took the roof off and essentially rebuilt the house.
“It was a complete rewire, replumb, all new piping – everything was done from scratch.
“We preserved the original staircase and the original garage doors because they were made of such a solid wood.
“We preserved the front, too, because we liked it, and we moved in in May 2011.”
The previous owners were an elderly couple who had lived there, Amit believes, since the late 1950s.
“They hadn’t done anything to it – it was very much in its original state,” he recalled.
“There was a heating and hot water system and they had a toilet fitted and so on, but not much had been done.
“But it was an extremely solid, well-built house – as houses of that era often are.”
Amit worked with local architects on the ambitious project, which has resulted in a thoroughly modern interior with oak doors throughout, a handmade bespoke kitchen, bifold patio doors opening out onto the decent-sized garden, an advanced air-conditioning system and raised outside decking.
“In the summer, the bifold doors are permanently open for inside-outside dining,” explained Amit.
Is there anything else that could be done to what seems like the finished article?
“The only other thing is the loft,” he said. “It’s massive, and what you could do is convert that. But the rates have changed now for loft conversions and it would be a big job. That’s all you could do, really.
“I guess you could do something with the outdoor space or the kitchen – or change it cosmetically – but I would struggle to do anything else with it.”
Manchester-born Amit – a Member of the Royal College of General Practitioners – is a GP and moved to Hinchingbrooke from London, prior to relocating to Stapleford, in order to take up a post at Hinchingbrooke Hospital. He has very much enjoyed living on Haverhill Road.
“It’s so set back that we don’t hear cars go past,” observed Amit. “It’s a very quiet road and it’s an incredible home.
“The garden’s peaceful, it’s a really friendly village and a lovely place to live.”
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