A British couple who built their dream five bedroom, New England-style home from scratch after being inspired by living in Massachusetts are now selling it for £1.25m.
After spending five years living in Massachusetts, Anna and Craig Dwyer returned to Britain.
They said they were looking to find a home ‘with the same feeling and atmoshphere’ and when they couldn’t find it as they wanted, they decided to buy a 1920s two-bedroom house in Saffron Walden, Essex.
The pair then demolished the property and replaced it with a large four bed house with weatherboard cladding and a wrap-around porch.
Anna and Craig Dwyer built their dream New England-style home after being inspired by living in Massachusetts
The pair , who spent five years living in America, are now selling the five bed property in Saffron Walden, Essex for £1.25m
The house has 2,900 sq ft of living space over three floors. On the ground floor there is the large open plan kitchen
The American feel also includes a vaulted entrance hall, a 35ft kitchen/dining/family room and a state-of-the-art cinema room.
The house has 2,900 sq ft of living space over three floors. On the ground floor is the large open plan kitchen and family room, utility room, cinema room, a bedroom and shower room.
The first floor has the 27ft-long master suite and large bathroom and a second bedroom, which has an additional mezzanine sleeping area reached via a moveable ladder above its shower room, with another large bedroom and bathroom on the top floor.
Outside there is a 120ft garden with a wide terrace and lawn.
Anna said: ‘In the mid-1990s Craig and I spent five years living in Massachusetts.
‘Our son Tom was born there. We have so many fond memories of that time, and the architecture of the place has never left us.
‘When we arrived back in the UK, we wanted to find a property with the same sort of feeling and atmosphere.
‘We were drawn towards Saffron Walden because of its excellent schooling, but despite renting for years, we couldn’t find anything suitable.
The property also features a 120ft garden with a wide terrace and lawn
The couple bought a 1920s two-bedroom house in Saffron Walden, Essex and turned it into their ideal home
According to estate agents the propert is in an excellent position in Saffron Walden
‘So we decided to build from scratch instead.
‘This meant getting planning permission to raze the existing building to the ground and design a new one to go in its place, helped by some architect friends.
‘Most important for us was to have a large porch around the front door, like the ones in New England.
‘But we also wanted aspects like the wooden external cladding of the houses together with large open-plan, versatile rooms, and plenty of light flooding into the building.
‘Our past life in the US is reflected throughout this property – everything from a Mustang advert in one of the shower cubicles, to an American style Liebherr fridge/freezer and large walk-in larder, to the Adirondack chairs in the garden around the firepit.
‘This has been the perfect family home.’
The house has weatherboard cladding, a wrap-around porch and a family cinema room
On the ground floor is the large open plan kitchen and family room, utility room, cinema room, a bedroom and shower room. while on the first floor has the 27ft-long master suite and large bathroom and a second bedroom
The New- England style home is now for sale for for £1.25million
Sally Smales, from estate agents Mullucks, said: ‘This is a stunning and superbly designed family home in an excellent position in Saffron Walden. In fact, the huge family room is one of the most beautifully designed spaces I’ve seen in my career.
‘If needed, it would be a simple matter to reconfigure the interior to create a total of six bedrooms, and there’s masses of room in the mature, south-facing gardens to create an outbuilding or two.
‘It’s like a little bit of New England has come onto the market in the old English market town of Saffron Walden.’