Location

The house is located on the edge of the village of Roydon, part of a cluster of well served West Norfolk villages. Roydon is best known for its common and nature reserve, with thriving wildlife habitats of heaths, carr woodland, grassland and bogs, with footpaths to enjoy the wide open space and spot a snipe, Eurasian curlew or hen harrier. The village has a popular public house, The Three Horseshoes, whilst the close neighbouring villages of Congham and Grimston provide a post office, village shops, vets, GP surgery and the renowned Congham Hall Spa within sight of the house.

Royal Sandringham is about four miles, with Howards butchers within the village selling Sandringham Red Poll beef and Sandringham lamb. Sandringham itself is well known for its shop, restaurant, Sandringham House and the endless walks through woodlands.

The local and historic market town of Kings Lynn is close by, and was once a major port and centre of trade, resulting in some fabulous and architecturally notable buildings. The town has a range of retail offerings, local amenities, supermarkets, golf club and other sports facilities, and a main line rail service to London Kings Cross, and to Cambridge.

The Norfolk coastline can be accessed to the north, about 10 miles away in Snettisham, with the coastline as a whole providing excellent bird watching, sailing, golf at Old Hunstanton and Royal West Norfolk, and a plethora of gastro pubs through to Michelin starred dining at The Neptune in Old Hunstanton.

Description

Every now and again, there are houses that you arrive at and it just makes you smile. Roydon Lodge is one of those houses, with the pretty Georgian front welcoming you on arrival, it is a house to be proud of. The smile continues on entering as not only is the house easy on the eye externally, internally you are greeted by renovated rooms of style and neutral colour schemes providing calm, practical and refined living space.

The renovation project was extensive. From complete replacement of all windows to double glazed units, mostly sash windows, to the incredible extension to the east of the house to create an amazing living space, right down to the plumbing, electrical systems, underfloor heating and insulation lined walls, everything has been thought through and well executed.

The entrance hall sets the tone. A formal area with pannelling, fireplace, limestone tiles and an elegant staircase it is the perfect entry to the house. The star of the show is the open plan living/kitchen/dining room, a new addition to the house but in a traditional style which blends with the surroundings. Measuring 14.6 m long x 6.3 m wide this is a focal point of the house that absorbs all of family life from children to animals to supper parties and large Christmases. A super kitchen space, by Neptune, includes a large island unit with breakfast bar, an Everhot cooker and the important far reaching view from the sink. A dining area is at the centre of the room whilst at the far end is an expansive living space, complete with fireplace with woodburner. The room is flooded with light thanks to roof lanterns and three of the walls being almost entirely made up of floor to ceiling French doors, and/or sash windows. Handily off the kitchen is a larder.

Next to kitchen is the conveniently placed playroom with bespoke joinery and glazed doors to help keep an eye on things, across the hall is a cinema room with a large retracting cinema screen and intimate dark panelling, a study/living room with impressive fireplace, and at the end of the house is the large utility/boot room, essential for rural family living. The ground floor has a brilliant layout for either converging together, or finding a quiet space to relax.

The first floor continues the neutral, fresh and comfortable feel, with plenty of natural light. A long landing, with exposed brick and flint work behind glazing to remind you of the age of the house, links all the bedrooms. The principal bedroom is a fantastic room, with vaulted ceiling emphasising the space, an original fireplace and a chic en suite shower room and dressing room, with bespoke wardrobes, and double walk in shower. At the opposite end of the house is a further double bedroom with en suite shower room, and free standing roll top bath within the room. A further three double bedrooms all have character, with original fireplaces and clever joinery making the most of the room, and a family bath/shower room at the centre of the house. A secondary stairs leads to a second floor bedroom, and to handy attic storage.

Outside
Roydon Lodge has a fitting approach for an impressive village house. Through brick pillars, with pannelled wooden gates, over a gravelled driveway, the house stands squarely in front of you and is immediately admired on arrival. An expansive gravelled area, with plenty of parking, leads up to the house, with central landscaped area with lavender beds, box topiary and formal pond which all serve to frame the front of the house.

The gardens of the house stretch from the south to the north, and have been designed to create many areas of interest. Lawns to the south are bordered by young trees including silver birch, beech and oak, with a circular lawn complete with Magnolia Grandiflora, and surrounding beds of sedum and ornamental grasses. This can all be viewed from the kitchen and the adjoining paved limestone patio, on one seamless level out of the house, with further beds of lavender, plenty of instant box balls, and low yew hedging leading up to a decked terrace. This terrace is the ideal area for outside dining and entertaining, large enough to have multiple seating areas, leading round to the swimming pool and summer house, providing further enjoyable features. The land continues, with open areas of lawn, wildlife pond, belts of young trees and hedging, and into two paddocks currently hosting resident al pacas, goats and sheep. Directly behind the house is a sheltered courtyard garden, with flowerbeds and paved limestone patio providing another seating area to enjoy under atmospheric lighting.

The property includes a range of useful outbuildings. The animals are able to come and go from the paddocks into the stabling, whilst at the front of the house is a large traditional barn. This hosts three large store rooms, whilst the majority of the building has been converted to create a brilliant indoor space that could be used in many different ways. For the current custodians, it has something for all the family with climbing wall, indoor golf area, gymnastics, and pool table, the room is complete with heating.