A delightful, spacious, modern home with a traditional outward appearance stands in a hamlet about 5 miles southeast of Sleaford. Occupying a tranquil, secluded position it provides 3 – 4 bedrooms, the principal en suite, 3 - 4 reception rooms, and a fitted kitchen. The house has an adjoining double garage and a wonderful connection with the west facing garden.

Nearby Heckington is well served for shops and amenities whilst larger Sleaford has sought after state schools. Good road links are not far with the A17, the A15 and the A52 easily accessed, the latter taking you to Grantham (30 mins) where fast train services to London take around an hour, and where you can pick up the A1.

“We had the house built especially for ourselves 16 years ago. We lived in the house next door and owned a small paddock, which our daughter used for her pony and then horse, upon which stood a two storey stable block dating to the late 18th century. This was connected to The Nag’s Head pub along the roadside – long since gone – and we toyed with the idea of converting and extending the stable block but in the end it made sense to start from scratch. We did save as many of the old bricks as possible to use in the build, which is why the front of the house has rounded corners – they are from the stable entrances, curved to protect the horses.”

“It’s a sturdily built house and well insulated, even under the ground floor, in the walls as well as the roof. The windows are all double-glazed uPvc so draught proof and low maintenance. We have oil fired central heating with a big, bunded tank – a Watchman which indicates the level of the oil.”

“The house is extremely spacious, light and airy. We chose cherry wood floorboards for their beautiful rich colour, which are very strong and came from Italy, laid in the dining hall and the living room and ceramic tiles laid in the kitchen, utility and conservatory.”

“We have enjoyed the layout with the spaces flowing effortlessly between one another with lots of double doors, and opening the French doors from both the living room and conservatory really bring the outside in during the summer.”

“The kitchen has LED lighting, an InSinkerator waste disposal unit, a water softener under the sink as well as a Tri-tap which gives you nice filtered water. There is an integrated dishwasher, double oven and ceramic hob with extractor fan above.”

“The living room fireplace is marble and has a Baxi fire installed. These burn wood or coal and there is a bore on the external wall so you can remove the ash tray from outside – an ingenious way to eliminate ash dust in your living room!”

“The study at the front is very close to the downstairs shower room so would make the perfect fourth bedroom if required. All the rooms are very generous sizes including the bedrooms and the storage is superb. There are walls of built-in wardrobes in the two front bedrooms and the main bedroom at the back has a walk-in dressing room. Another cupboard is on the landing but also a large, walk-in cupboard which, if a window was introduced, could make another small bedroom maybe for a baby, or a study or even be turned into another en suite – there are many options!”

“The garden is quite large with a long frontage as the house is well set back from the road. It is very sheltered and peaceful with a number of mature trees - not all belonging to us by any means – around the sides. There is a beautiful horse chestnut at the front, and a maple at the back which is ours, lots of shrubs and a dyke which dries up in summer. The back garden receives sun from lunchtime onwards as it faces west but we find we have plenty of shade under the trees. We have grown our own vegetables and there are blackcurrant bushes and some rhubarb.”

“Little Hale is very small but there are a lot of things going on in the little Methodist church such as coffee mornings and craft classes so there is an opportunity to meet up with everyone. A shop, pub and school are in Helpringham less than a mile away, but Heckington, a couple of miles north, has absolutely everything you need. There is a bus stop and a post box just up the road from the house with buses going into Sleaford a few times a day – ideal for children getting to and from school.”

Location

Little Hale is a quiet little community but does have various events taking place at the Methodist chapel where you can meet residents of the hamlet, and for those with a dog there are rights of way into open country. Less than a mile south is the village of Helpringham which has a shop, a school and a pub whilst Heckington, about 2 miles north is very well served and has everything you might need from a Co-op, a doctors’, a chemist, a post office to a DIY shop.

Schools

Helpringham Primary School is only a mile from the property and is rated Good by Ofsted. For secondary education there are excellent state schools in Sleaford with the grammar schools Carre’s Grammar School and Kesteven & Sleaford High School (for Girls), as well as St. George’s Academy, all Ofsted rated Good. Similarly, superb grammar schools are in Grantham, Spalding and Bourne all about 18 miles (30 mins) away - The King’s School (for boys) and Kesteven and Grantham Girls’ School, co-educational Bourne Grammar and Spalding High School (for girls) are rated Outstanding by Ofsted with Spalding Grammar (for boys) rated Good.

Services: Mains electricity, water and drainage; oil-fired central heating
Local Authority: North Kesteven District Council
Council Tax Band: E
EPC Rating: C
Tenure: Freehold