A childhood dream come true
When Kathryn Flear was a little girl, she wrote a letter about the things she hoped for when she was older.
Years later, her mum was clearing out the attic when she found the list again. The childhood note said Kathryn wanted a big £33,000 house with lots of different rooms and a swimming pool.
And incredibly all of Kathryn’s dreams came true when she and her husband, Andrew built the stunning property they named Beckbridge in Endell Drive, Kirton Lindsey.
“I don’t remember writing the letter,” said Kathryn. “But I did always have a dream of having a big house even as a child.
“This house has always been the dream home and you could say it was a labour of love and still is.”
Kathryn’s husband, who owns A N Flear Builders/Sub-Contractors, had already built and sold several new build properties when they came across a plot of land on a private estate of five houses on Endell Drive in 2001.
The location was perfect and the plot had outline planning permission but the couple needed some inspiration to decide what type of property to build there.
Kathryn said: “We drove round every village in a twenty-mile radius to look at designs of properties and finally found a house in Epworth that we fell in love with.
“We approached an architect to draw up the plans and it turned out that he had designed that property anyway!”
Once the plans were approved by the council, Andrew and Kathryn’s father, well-known retired Kirton Lindsey builder Barry Reynolds, took a year out of their working lives to build Beckbridge.
As soon as the property was habitable, Kathryn, Andrew and their two children Tom (now 26) and Shani (24) moved in.
“When we moved in, we didn’t have a kitchen and some of the rooms weren’t finished, but we couldn’t wait to get in and make it our home,” said Kathryn.
A year later the lounge still wasn’t completed as Kathryn’s father had promised to build them an open fireplace in the room.
Kathryn said: “Our family got permission to pull down a barn in Blyton brick by brick. It was an incredibly hot summer’s day but we loaded up the trailer and brought all the reclaimed bricks back here.
“Dad got to work building the fireplace and I wasn’t allowed to go into the room until it was complete. When I finally saw it I was over the moon; Dad had built an Inglenook fireplace with a beam over the top. It was stunning.”
The executive style contemporary detached home has a spacious open plan kitchen/family room with utility room, living room with feature Inglenook fireplace with oak beam, dining room, study and downstairs shower room. There are five bedrooms, three with en suites and a family bathroom.
Although all the rooms have a luxurious feel, the bright and airy open plan kitchen is particularly impressive with lots of extras to make life a little easier. There is a built-in coffee machine, wine chiller, drop down TV with DVD player, space for an American style fridge freezer and granite work surfaces with matching splashbacks. The separate island unit houses a six-ring Neff gas hob with chimney extractor above, a built-in wine rack and spice rack and an attached granite breakfast table with illuminated shelving.
Kathryn said: “I designed the kitchen and I love it. It’s very striking and contemporary in red and black with cream units and it leads into the family room with red leather sofas and a large TV on the wall.”
The house is positioned in generous gardens to all sides, giving a good degree of privacy. There are two additional bedrooms in the annexe above the triple garage and an outdoor heated swimming pool with a pool house.
The swimming pool was added in time for Shani to celebrate her seventeeth birthday with a pool party.
In fact the house has been filled with lots of happy memories, of family celebrations and time spent with friends.
“We entertain a lot and as we have lots of family living in Kirton Lindsey, we always have people round,” said Kathryn. “We especially love having big family Sunday lunches.”
The house is certainly a good place for entertaining. Last year the couple celebrated their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary, by renewing their wedding vows and having a party for twenty guests back at home.
And when Tom and his wife Sophie got married in October last year the wedding reception was held at Beckbridge with forty invited guests.
The house itself has evolved over the years to meet their family’s needs. The original games room above the triple garage was converted into a two-bedroomed self-contained annexe two years ago to accommodate Tom, Sophie and their two-year-old daughter, Sian.
“The house was perfect for our children to spend their teenage years here and it’s good to know we are putting the place to good use now,” said Kathryn, who looks after Sian two days a week, adding: “Sian had a lovely time playing in the pool this summer.”
Now, however, the couple have decided the time is right to move on and have put the house on the market.
Kathryn said: “We always said this was never going to be a forever home. It was a family home for the kids to grow up in but Tom is ready to move out soon and Shani will have left by next year.
“We don’t want to be rattling around the place on our own, so we have decided to test the market now.”
Ideally the couple would like to build a smaller property within a six-mile radius of Kirton Lindsey to stay close to their family. But as no plots are available, they are open-minded about their next move.
• Beckbridge on Endell Drive, Kirton Lindsey is on the market with Brown and Co with a guide price of £499,950. For more information contact the estate agents on (01652) 654833.
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